Friday, December 19, 2014

Strength From Others

I have had the opportunity to talk to many people around the US- friends, family and total strangers who have or are suffering from Lyme Disease or some kind of illness.  A couple things I learn from each conversation is this: we all have the desire to fight our battle and support the other in theirs, knowledge of other health and healing options and the most powerful is the strength that I get from hearing their stories and advice.

My friend I have met since moving here has fought breast cancer and conquered it but recently found that her cancer is back.  Though her future is uncertain she has the most POSITIVE, AMAZING attitude and is a ray of sunshine to everyone she comes in contact with.  She is working on fighting her battle with a natural approach and it has been inspiring to chat with her and collaborate on ideas.  She is a fighter and I am blessed to have her as a friend and inspiration.

I was at my Grandma's funeral last week (the only good thing about a funeral is the reunion) and I was able to talk to my cousin Brittany who I learned has been challenged with chronic fatigue.  We both knew how each other felt and the frustrations it brings.  I was amazed at her positive energy and how she has responded to her trial and was so grateful that although we don't want to go through hard times, we were able to connect and build each other up.  She gave me a new light and reminded me that it's okay to take it easy, it's okay to not be perfect- I don't have to be Wonder Woman and to feel empowered in what I have learned and who I have become through this journey.  Thank you Britt!

Everyone goes through some kind of trial and I think for the most part we would all take our own over somebody else's.  The wonderful thing is that we have each other to learn from, lean on and be strengthened by.  Thank you to the many people who have been a support and strength to me- I hope I can be the same to you.


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Keep on Fighting

As you know from my last post I had a little bit of a relapse which brings A LOT of frustration but also reminds me of what is important and gets me back on track.

It has been about 4 weeks and I am doing better, not great like I was in the summer, but good.  I stepped back on a few less important things in my life and I took time off from the gym, more that I like, I feel my muscles shrinking and honestly I don't like that. I love to have muscle and some definition and I was really starting to build my legs.  It had been a long time since I was able to lift hard and because of the muscle growth my pants starting fitting tight in my legs.  NO I am not complaining about that...okay once in a while I would ask myself if my pants had always been this tight and question if it was fat or muscle- but since I don't get on the scale EVER (hallelujah that is a burden off my shoulders!) I don't know my weight, what I do know is my waist didn't get tighter just my legs, so I am good in the hood!  Now my pants are loose in the legs and I feel them more soft...AAAHHH I don't like that but for now I have to be okay with it- it just gives me something to work on when I get back to the gym.  Right?!

Back to working out...I have only intentionally exercised about 4 times in the last 4 weeks because every dang time I would work out I would be fatigued the rest of the day.  I remember those days when I first got sick so I allow myself to rest and take it easy without being too critical of the softness occurring in my body.   GULP.

I am eating well again, I will admit I got a little loose and ate more sugar than my body was use to, which doesn't help the situation...sometimes it is really challenging to eat so clean all the time but in order to feel good I have to eat good.   Really good.  I am proud of myself, I just completed a 2 day cleanse yesterday and boy does that help.  I haven't done a 2 day in a long time, only 1 day-er's and I needed that deep cleanse.  My body feels good, my mind feels good and I won't complain that I lost over an inch on my waist, it feels flat.  Cleanse days can be challenging but they are totally worth it.  Cleanse days also help me get back on track with my eating and since the sugar is cleaned out on day 1 of the 2 my cravings for sugar are gone.  Parasites LOVE sugar and it feeds them so more sugar in the body, more nasty parasites and the worse I feel.  I don't even know why I eat sugar anymore, actually I do it tastes so good, but every time I eat it I get a headache and feel my energy drained instantly.  I don't like feeling that way but it goes to show how addicting and damaging sugar is.

Speaking of addicting, I think I am addicted to sports.  I LOVE sports.  I LOVE coaching and LOVE being involved in or attending athletics.  Soccer is over and volleyball is almost over which will be good for my healing but not for my heart.  Yay for basketball.  Athletics are such a good thing to be involved in for anyone- it builds character, teaches team work, hard work and a lot of life skills.  That is why I love coaching, I want to help others be the best they can be and teach them important lessons they can learn and use for the rest of their lives.  Fall has been beautiful and I am not looking forward to winter.

Winter.  Oh boy.  Does the change of seasons and change in barometric pressure affect anyone else with Lyme or similar illness?  I would love to know how others feel.  My body seems to be a little off when the weather changes- I don't look forward to winter and the cold.  I like the sun and vitamin D.

Through the frustrations of having down times in my health I find that inner fight to get back to feeling great.  I am reminded to put things aside that aren't as important in the big picture, focus on what is important and really listen to my body.  I am making progress and I am going to keep fighting because my health is worth it!  Why does life have to be so challenging sometimes?  :)

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Finding Balance is TRICKY!

I have a list of things I need to do right now but yay for me I am letting some of them go trying to take it easy...easier said than done... so I thought I would share an update of my health and life and why I am in this tricky situation.

You may know from a previous post how awesome I was feeling this summer!  I was better than I had been in years so of course, like most of you, when I feel good I do more!  I have added quite a bit to my plate besides working full-time as a mom: 3 kids in soccer (5 practices a week and games on Saturdays), piano, I am the Young Women President in our church- which means I am in charge of all the youth girls ages 12-18, teaching lessons and planning/carrying out activities, meetings to attend and people to serve.  I help coach volleyball at a high school, volunteered to teach PE at my girls' school on Fridays and of course I have my home business.

My husband wonders why I "complicate my life so much" by adding more things but I don't seem to see it that way.  I am an achiever, a goer, a doer and a perfectionist.  I like to help others, including my own family.  I was in a place I could barely survive, I couldn't do anything for anyone including myself so feeling good and having energy was so a breath of fresh air and I was going to seize the moment!  I am blessed to stay home with my kids, I do know that is the most important job I could have and I enjoy it... for the most part but lets' be honest here- do I get the same satisfaction from hearing "You are the meanest Mom EVER! I hate you!  Ewww GROSS, I am NOT eating that!" with screaming and crying and fighting, as I do, "Thank you so much for changing my life.  Thank you for helping me find confidence and health.  I cannot thank you enough for sharing this with me.  Thank you for coming to practice and helping us.  Thank you for teaching me.  You are great and we love having you a part of our program."  Uh no, I don't.  The reason I add things is because what I add is for ME!  I LOVE coaching and being involved in volleyball, it's who I am.  I love helping others build their health and confidence- these are things that I like, things that help me feel good, appreciated, and it builds me up.  We all need our cup filled, right!?

The problem here is that my mind and my body are on two different playing fields.  My mind, my emotions and desires tell me I CAN do ALL of this but my body disagrees.  My body has been through a traumatic injury and the stress and over-doing it has re-injured my vagus nerve, my  neurological system, which has put me in a downward spiral.  My fatigue is back with a vengeance- no matter how much I sleep I still feel exhausted.  My ears, my throat, my neck and head all bother me, my stomach is nauseated and my ambition is shot. This weekend was pretty tough and it hit me hard.  Lucky for me I have the nutrition that I need to keep me going, I have my sauna- oh my gosh can I just say how much I lOVE my sauna!  It is so wonderful to be able to sit in there and relax.  I can feel it healing my neck and head, I am able to meditate and think about my plan of action and how I am going to heal.  I KNOW what I need to do... I must step back, reduce the activities and the stress and not give my body more than it can handle-which to my mind is ridiculous.  It's the doing  that is tricky.  I have a hard time giving things up that I love and want in my life.  I have a hard time feeling physically restricted.  I don't like not being able to do what I want to do.  I sound like my kids, I know.  haha

So here are my options:  to apologize to those that I have committed to help and hope they understand so that I can step back and work on my health (again) OR  fall back into the dark place I was just a short time ago where I didn't know if I could even build my health.  The choice is pretty clear although it may be hard...but just like we tell our kids, "I can do hard things".  I have battled for my health and I will do it again but thankfully this time will be much easier since I know the road I am traveling.  Finding balance is tricky, isn't it!

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Why Cleanse?

Cleansing is a tricky topic and I thought it meant the same thing that most of you do:  sitting on the toilet all day and torturing yourself with lemon water and cayenne pepper.  That's probably why I never tried a cleanse until 2.5 years ago and even then the cleanse that I am now an advocate for is not even a cleanse, it's a NUTRITIONAL CLEANSE which is totally different and I will describe what it is on my next post.

I want to point out a few bits of information as to why cleansing (nutritional cleansing of course) is not just something you may want to think about but something that is essential to the body if you want to live a healthy life from the inside out.


This is from the DC Digestive Health Examiner:


"The body is attacked by thousands of toxins everyday from electronic devices, to food, to air, and the clothes people wear, etc; the list could continue forever. The digestive system has the amazing ability to get rid of the waste to prevent build up. Although the colon rids the body of waste, it is the liver that filters toxins and sends them to the colon to leave the body. The lymphatic system, which plays a role by bringing waste from other parts of the body to the elimination organs and creating T-cells to engulf bad bacteria. But, what would happen if the colon gets clogged, the liver is overloaded, and the lymphatic system is backed up?
When the large intestine is not functioning, it congests the lymphatic system, forcing the waste to re-circulate within the body. When the liver is clogged, it allows toxins to go into the body, instead of filtering them out. Toxins can get into the blood stream and cause inflammation in other parts of the body. As a result, the body resorts to another well-known organ to purge the waste: the skin. Acne, rashes, eczema are signs the body is trying to rid itself of toxins. Toxins can be stored in body fat, preventing people from losing weight and fully detoxifying the body. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, Crohn’s, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Candida are conditions, which can occur from a heavy toxic load."
Toxicity is unavoidable and causing more health problems today than ever.  The US has the highest obesity rate, it is now considered a disease.  Cancer, illnesses, prescription drug use, miscarriages, surgery, allergies are all at a very high rate and do you ever ask yourself why?  I remember asking my mom a few years ago why cancer was becoming so prevalent, it seemed that everyone knew someone or had someone in their family with cancer.  We couldn't come up with an answer until I started researching toxicity and cleansing and it all made sense.  Our food, water, air, make-up, electronic devices as stated above are all toxic.  You can't get away from it, even if you "eat healthy" or restrict your calories your body is still being bombarded by toxins DAILY, put on overload and cannot rid the toxins it was once able to on it's own which leads to fatigue, illnesses, weight gain and a lower immune system.  

Do I write this to scare you?  No.  I write it to inform you what I didn't know until 3 years ago and I opened my mind to other possibilities.  Do I know for certain that if you cleanse you will not get any of those problems listed above?  No, but what I do know is that nutritional cleansing is preventative and gives your body a better chance to fight the illnesses that come along.  You are building new, healthy cells- that is what is meant when I say "cellular level".  Your body rebuilds itself every 6 months, you can build a healthier body by building healthy cells.  I can say this with confidence because if you read "My Story" on my blog in an earlier post you know what I'm talking about.  
I share this information for a couple reasons:
1- I know what it's like to not feel your best and wanting to but not understanding why when you are eating healthy and exercising.  There's more to it, start searching.
2- I know too many people who are SICK, tired, sick of being tired, no energy, struggling to live happy and healthy.
3-  I sincerely want to help and educate you so you may find the answers you are looking for like I was.  I don't want anyone to have to go through anything like I did, and if you do I want to be there to help you find a way to fight it and get your health back.  It's a battle worth fighting.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Progress…Hooray!

For the past year as I have worked on getting back to the gym and building my strength and endurance on a regular basis I have had quite a few frustrations.  Just as I begin to feel good and complete more intense workouts my body tells me it's too much and I am put back in fatigue mode.  I have to slow down, take a day off here and there and start over.  This frustrates me because of my competitive nature and desire to be fit and strong.  I have dealt with it and tried to have a good attitude that "at least I am able to work out and function."  I have really had to work on having a positive attitude and being grateful for what I have, and I am…with that said, I do have some exciting news!  
During our move to Idaho I was unable to go to the gym for about 3 weeks which I feel gave my body a nice break.  Since being here I have some accomplishments!  I have joined the gym and have been getting some good workouts in again.  I have taken up biking and on my first ride I went 20 miles!  I was waiting for the soreness and fatigue to set in but IT DIDN'T!  My next ride was 15.7 up the canyon with some massive hills followed by swimming all day with the kids AND I played volleyball for 1.5 hours.  Honestly, I was super nervous and waited for the shut down.  I was not sore and I have not had my fatigue attack with my body telling me to slow down.  Today I ran stadium stairs with push ups, lunges and squats and I am THRILLED!!!  This may seem silly to some of you but to me this is FANTASTIC NEWS and such a good feeling.  You wanna know what helps?  Fuel pre, mid and post workout and not just any fuel but THE BEST, CLEAN food that helps the body recover quicker, build lean muscle and replenish with nutrients.  AMAZING.  Every athlete, competitor, trainer and so on should be using this- TRUST ME.  

Here's a link on the Energy System shown below:

Here's a sweet podcast to listen to on "What Attracts Athletes to Isagenix"- beginners to Professionals and Olympians:




Friday, May 30, 2014

A Few Tricks In My Bag

Now that you have read my story and hopefully have a better understanding of who I am and why I take more of a holistic and natural approach to health and healing I will share a few tricks in my bag for my healing.  

1- My IsaLean SHAKES are a must every day.  I give them to my kids, my husband and I usually have 2 a day.  They provide the highest nutrient  dense food you can find anywhere.  Clean eating based on the 40-30-30 idea of eating the perfect combo of carbs, fat and protein I know that when we consume the shake daily we are getting a balanced meal (or supplement for my kids and hubby) to improve digestion, strengthen the immune system and  satisfied the body so we have less cravings and MUCH MORE.

2- Cleanse For Life:  a tool for the body to aid in detoxification.  Herbs and botanicals that provide the body the help it needs to balance the pH level, decrease inflammation and more.

      Side Note: I use A LOT of my Nutritional Cleansing products but those two listed are TOP choice.

3- Coloidal Silver:  kills bacteria (have you heard of Norwex…the cleaning products?  Yeah, super awesome…it contains silver as well. I use it for my cleaning and washing dishes and drying hands…LOVE Norwex!!).  Back to Silver- we swish, swallow, put on rashes, cuts, burns to kill bacteria.  The body loves it!

4- Far Infrared Sauna:  I have told a lot of people about this and most of them haven't heard of it.  I wanted to share a link that will explain what it is and why it is beneficial.  Check it out:
http://www.naturalnews.com/022847_body_skin_detoxification.html

I use my sauna I bought from my natural path just about every day for 30-40 minutes.  I put my kids in there for 10-15 minutes and read books with them, they love it.  The sauna has numerous health benefits (you can read in the above link as well as the link to the side) and I am happy to share it with anyone who may want to try it out.  

For more information on any of these tricks in my bag and MORE feel free to comment, email, text or call.

Monday, April 28, 2014

My Story to Tell

Everybody has a story, something they battle with and I love hearing them.  There is so much to learn from someone who has had a trial and becomes stronger; it explains who they really are and why they believe the way they do.  I love connecting with people who will open their heart to me, share their story so I can become a better person.  Through these stories we can find hope, peace, knowledge and the fight we didn't know we had to get through our own trials.  I want to share my story so I can be reminded of my fight but more importantly I want to help someone else who needs strength to get through their battle.

Let me give you a little background: I have played sports my entire life.  I thrive on working out and working hard.  I am competitive. I am fit but I have always struggled with what I wanted my weight to be and my body to look like which has caused some self perception distortions as well as an emotional relationship with food.
I played college volleyball then got my BA in Physical Education and Health, taught high school and coached for years in Utah.  I got married and had 3 kids during the span of 8 years then in August of 2008 we moved to WI from Utah and this is where I will begin...

Although I don't remember when "it" started I do remember approximately one year after living in WI, I noticed a drop in energy.  I remember laying on my living room floor feeling so exhausted I wanted to do nothing; no ambition, no motivation and no energy which was very unusual for me.  I would lay there and think, "What is wrong with me?  This is not normal.  I don't like this; I've got to get up and get going!" so I did.  Every day I would go to the gym even if I was tired because I thought if I didn't work out I would gain weight.  If I gained weight I would get fat and I dreaded the thought of that and what came with getting fat.

I had three kids and knew that being a mother was tiring but this exhaustion seemed different yet I didn't have any reason to think that anything was really wrong.  The bouts would come every month for 5-6 days then I would go back to normal for 3 weeks.  Life continued, I got pregnant with my 4th child and I continued being very active, working out daily and going 24-7 despite my lack of energy or my bummed left knee that would always hurt.  I wasn't going to let the exhaustion or bummed knee get to me.

When my baby was 18 months old we moved to a new house and new neighborhood and I found myself on the floor more often.  I also noticed that my period was different which was very unusual and although I was working out and eating healthy I could not get rid of 5-7 lbs that I typically could get off when I focused on my eating and working out a little more. I brought it up to my OB during a visit but he didn't seem to think it was anything to be concerned about.  Once again I brushed it off but deep down I knew something was wrong.  Around this time (October) I was introduced by a friend and neighbor to Nutritional Cleansing.  I noticed she lost her baby weight and some, looked healthy and energetic and I wanted to know what she was doing.  Isagenix and Nutritional Cleansing was something I hadn't heard before and although I was very curious and I trusted her I was VERY skeptical so I began to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research on my own.  I was looking for answers: more energy, better control with my eating, weight loss, something (but not just anything) and this was my answer.

After 2 months of research I was ready.  I ordered my first cleanse and did the 11 days over Christmas break, talk about discipline!  On my first cleanse day I actually threw up and didn't have a lot of energy so when I called my friend to ask if this was normal she was a bit surprised and told me throwing up  wasn't- I chalked it up to catching a bug from the kids and continued to push through my cleanse.  I actually loved it.  I loved the discipline although it was challenging.  I loved how lean I felt and even more I loved what I was learning about toxicity in our food, air, environment and how it is affecting our body.  I loved the ingredients in the products and was BLOWN AWAY when I listed to a Product Analysis Podcast by Peter Greenlaw.  He discussed key ingredients in the products, why they are in there, what they do for the body and why our body needs it.  After my 11 days I lost 8 lbs and 13" and I knew this was an answer to my prayers for NUMEROUS reasons.

I continued cleansing regularly, taking a shake every day and telling everyone I could about Nutritional Cleansing because it was making such a big difference in my life.   I felt fulfillment educating myself and others about what I was learning everyday as I studied nutrition, toxicity, Isagenix and our bodies.  I was able to help people reach their health goals and be more confident with themselves.  I was happy but I still couldn't figure out why I continued to have my week of exhaustion every month. I soon realized it occurred when my hormones were at their highest every month.  Little did I know that Nutritional Cleansing was going to be more of a blessing than I realized.

Close to 1 year after I started Isagenix, in September of 2012 things took a turn for the worst.  My exhaustion turned to CHRONIC FATIGUE, migraines and pain (which I had never had before) from my shoulders through my neck to the top of my head.  I couldn't sleep because my neck was so sensitive that it kept me awake, tossing and turning.  My back and hip began to hurt, I was extremely nauseous and had GI issues and even more frustrating my vision was getting blurry and I kept forgetting things which wasn't like me at all.  I was internally torn knowing that I should be feeling so good because I was taking such good care of my body, making huge changes to my diet as well as my family's yet I was worse than I had ever felt in my life.  Frustrated, being challenged mentally, physically and emotionally I didn't know what was going on but I knew I had to figure it out, this was NOT okay!

I started with my OBGYN since I knew symptoms were related to my hormones.  I got blood work, ultrasounds, more blood work and all of them came back perfect.  My OB sent me to a Family Dr and I knew the moment he sat down and started talking that he wasn't going to help me.  He looked at my chart, asked me a few questions and told me he thought it would be a good idea to get on depression medication.  He even told me a story about a woman who thought she didn't need them and ended up back in his office a few months later, tried them and felt so much better.  I told him, "I have worked hard to balance my pH, cleanse my body and this is not what I am going to do when you don't even know what is wrong with me.  Thank you."  I left and called my OB for another suggestion.  Over the course of 3 months I went to my OB 3 times for more tests all which came back normal; his last suggestion before I gave up on him was that maybe I had Seasonal Depression Disorder…I am not going to lie, I may have, WI has LONG, dreary winters and I love and need the sun but nice try Dr. that wasn't it and I knew it.  It was at that moment that I felt He along with the other doctors I had seen didn't believe me.  He sent me to another family physician who I actually liked and she took the time to listen to me, do more blood work on different panels and realized that my ANA panel was positive.  That means that my autoimmune disease test was positive.  She called me and told me not to freak out but look up Lupus because that is what I may have according to my symptoms and I need to make an appointment with a Rheumatologist.  I was a little freaked out but at least had some relief that we knew what it was so we could work on fixing it.  I called the Rheumatologist... and the chase continued.  I sat on the table, he looked at my joints, my neck, my head and checked my chart over and over.  It was very obvious by his body language and observing him that he was puzzled and didn't know what was wrong with me.  He finally told me that I don't have Lupus nor MS nor Rheumatoid Arthritis so he didn't know what was wrong but that he felt I should get a cat scan and go see a GI Dr.  I refused the scan and made an appointment with the GI Dr. for the following week.

By this time I was so frustrated, tired, mad and starting to feel a little depression from the lack of help I had received.  NOBODY understood what I was going through:  I felt like a 90 year old woman on her death bed and I didn't know how long I wanted to hang on.  I don't remember ever feeling that way before in my life and I didn't like it.  I had no control and couldn't do anything about it.  I was sick and nobody believed me.  I wondered if my husband, my friends, my family believed me because the doctors weren't and they couldn't find anything wrong.  I would get up and try to go to the gym to get myself going but it only made it worse.  It took everything I had to get up, take care of the kids and try to live a "normal" life.  I put on my happy face because I didn't want people to know how bad I was suffering on the inside because on the outside I looked fine. On my couch, on my floor, on my bed I would cry and pray that someone/something would help me.

My prayers unknown to me were being answered.  I had a friend suggest that I see her natural path Sue as I was going through this but I pushed it aside, continued seeing doctors who I thought were going to do a test, find out what was wrong and get me on my healthy way.  I was skeptical of Sue and her ability to help me, it sounded a little hocus pocus when my friend would say, "she works on you through energy, she can read your energy and tell you everything that is going on inside of your body!"  Really?  Well after 3 months of getting nowhere with doctors, feeling alone and that nobody believed the pain I was going through and that I REALLY WAS sick I decided to make an appointment with Sue.  I had nothing to lose.  In the meantime I did make an appointment with a GI Dr which was just as pointless as the rest.  The only "good" thing that came of that is a couple days after my appt. with him I had blood in my stool so he got me in for a colonoscopy…awesome.  I had had one before when I was first married for some bad stomach issues but the results were fine, so I knew what I was in for.  Let me just say that NO a colonoscopy prep and Nutritional Cleansing have NOTHING in common.  The Dr.  did find a pre-cancerous polyp which he removed and advised I get a colonoscopy every 3 years.  Ugh.

The November day arrived for me to meet with Sue and I was nervous but more sick than anything.  I needed help and I didn't know that I was going to get it immediately from her.  I found a babysitter for my little girls and was with Sue for 4.5 hours!!  Her Quantum biofeedback was the COOLEST thing I have EVER done.  Our bodies are made of energy and this machine reads that energy and can look through every panel of your body and tell you what is going on.  She told me things about my body (like I am lactose intolerant) that I didn't tell her.  She is not an MD and does not diagnose but she did tell me that it was showing I had Lyme bacteria all over my body and as we went through the panels it was the cause for all of my issues.  Late stage Lyme and I was affected neurologically.  My body was a mess but at the same time she said my environmental toxin levels were lower than she had ever seen and she could tell that I was giving my body good nutrition…THANK YOU ISAGENIX!  I knew it was awesome but what I didn't know was how I got Lyme?  I never saw a tick, nor a bulls eye rash.

Long story short, my vagus nerve was severely damaged by the Lyme which was causing my neck and head to hurt and since it is the source of all automatic responses it is also the source of my blurry vision, plugged ears, memory loss and digestive issues but before I even left her office I felt better and I knew this was the answer to my MANY prayers.  My next concern was how I was going to pay for all the treatments since insurance didn't.

My symptoms returned a week later and I went back to see Sue.  My husband wasn't sold on the idea of me having to pay so much for an undetermined amount of time and questioned if I was sure this was the right thing to do.  I knew people thought I was crazy and they were concerned for my health and wellness but what they didn't know is what I was feeling inside and how I KNEW without a doubt that is what I needed to do.  Once again Sue helped me feel better, educated me, gave me some supplements and discussed a plan… antibiotics came up.  I was hesitant to take antibiotics and Sue wasn't sold either, but knew I wanted to do everything I could to get rid of this hell inside me.

I began researching Lyme Disease, hours on end.  I wanted to know everything about it, how to treat it, what it does and I wanted to talk to others who have gone through it so I could be prepared to fight this.  I was able to get in contact with numerous people all over the US who have Late Stage Lyme and the symptoms and experiences with doctors all seemed the same.  I learned that the natural healing route was the most successful; nutrition, rest and cleansing were a must.  I had a new appreciation for Isagenix and knew it has been placed in my life for a reason.  Every doctor, nurse, person who had experience with illness and natural healing all focused on cleansing.  I would continue cleansing but I needed antibiotics.

Sue wasn't able to give me a prescription for antibiotics because she was not an MD so I had to find someone who could.  I went back to my GI Dr and without telling him I knew I had Lyme I asked him to test for it.  He reluctantly agreed to test for that as well as Celiac Disease but was certain the Lyme could not be the cause of my problems.  My test showed up negative so the Dr. would not write me an Rx for antibiotics so I went to my next option.   I was referred to Dr. Whitcomb in Brookfield who was a practicing physician turned homeopath who specializes in Lyme Disease from a woman whose son had Lyme.  It made me sick to think of spending $300 for 1 hour with him but I knew it had to be done.  I was able to be diagnosed by him from my symptoms and was told to go gluten, dairy and sugar free.  He gave me a plan, talked about the need to cleanse (I had taken in all my Isagenix products to show him and he was very impressed and told me to keep doing it) and said he wanted to see me in 1 month.

I felt a flood of emotions regularly: frustration that this disease is so controversial yet so detrimental to the body.  MAD that insurance won't pay for natural medicine when that's what works best for some (most) people.  Guilty for spending so much money on me.  Sad for the people who had been suffering for years with no relief. Worry that I would have to deal with this for the rest of my life but happy I found what was wrong so I could work on getting better.

For the next year I would have good days and bad days but I learned many life lessons along the way.  I took a month off the gym and rested my body, eventually I was able to get back 1-3 times a week.  It was during this time that my obsession of the gym was thrown out the window.  I realized I would be okay if I didn't make it daily.  I couldn't go daily, and I knew it wasn't because I was lazy but because my body was telling me it needed rest, from working hard to fight.  My feeling toward my body changed, I was more appreciative and felt blessed for the good days I had and took advantage of those days.  I had my bad days,  bad weeks and I would struggle to find peace that I was ever going to get over this.  Would I ever be able to work out as intense as I'd like again?  Would I have energy to play with my kids, go hiking, biking, play volleyball, work in the yard even half of what I did before?  I felt a lot of discouragement at times but I knew with the support of my family (thank goodness they believed me and did everything they could to help) and my knowledge that my God would help me, I could get through this.

It is now May 1, 2014 which is 1.5 years after I found out I had Lyme and I am doing well…not 100%, I still have my days of fatigue but instead of 5-6 days a month it is down to 3-4.  Well enough that I wake up in the morning ready to go to the gym instead of having to get up wanting to sleep longer.  I am able to go to the gym or exercise 5 days a week, play volleyball, play with kids, coach volleyball, and be a wife and mom without feeling like I need to go to bed by 7 pm.  I have energy, I have motivation and ambition, I feel like there is hope and that I can overcome this battle as I continue to eat clean, cleanse, exercise but rest when I need to.
I have the energy, motivation and passion to help others achieve their health goals and I feel extremely blessed to have the knowledge, experience and tools to do so.  Life is good. Life is hard and challenging but my challenge has made me a better person.  I am strong.  I am a fighter.  I am blessed tremendously to have Isagenix and my natural path as tools to help my body and mind heal.  Health is a battle worth fighting for and I am winning the fight.