Real Women Series

After having a frustrating day feeling stuck about my lingering whiplash, post-concussion syndrome symptoms, and my hormone levels being dangerously out of whack, I had a chat in the afternoon with an alternative hormone doctor who finally listened to me and heard me. 

 (I think my whole office heard me on the phone with him too because our conference rooms have paper thin walls. The guy across from me probably heard me talking about the cysts on my ovaries, and how one burst once, but I’ve learned to be open about these things.)

 I cried when we spoke. Tears of joy because he knew within two minutes of speaking to me what was wrong with me, and where all of these issues were coming from. He said all of my illnesses were connected (some I had as a young child, and as they continued to build upon one another, I had been telling doctors for years they were all correlated, but they would brush them off as nothing, or misdiagnose them several times).

 He said “don’t worry. I am here for you and we will get through this. We will get you better very soon.” 

 A day that turned out to be hard ended on a very high note. That’s when it dawned on me, instead of sharing all of my health stories and my learnings, why not round up other ‘real women,’ like myself, who have had serious health issues, so others can learn from their experiences, as well. 

 I know I am not the only one who has struggled to get to the bottom of some of my issues, all of which have been great learning experiences for me, and have now empowered me to help other women, but at the same time, they have been extremely frustrating, emotional, and trying on my patience (and probably my husband’s). 

 That’s why I think it’s so important to share our stories because we are not alone when facing some very frustrating and scary health issues, but oftentimes, it feels like we are. There’s always the feeling of “well, maybe the doctor is right, maybe it’s all in my head?” 

 As I have said before, I learned at a young age you need to be your own health advocate. 

 I reached out to my community to ask women if they wanted to share their stories. I said I wanted five and honestly expected to get one – within an hour I had all five lined up, so it showed me there are many of us out there, and we all have our own unique stories to share. 

 You will be hearing from one of them each week through interviews, journal entries, or a “day in the life,” in my stories, so you can learn how they have used a “non-toxic” approach with natural remedies and mindfulness to regulate their health. 

 I hope you follow along for my first five and you can learn from their stories! I will be posting my first one next Friday, but you can check my stories for a sneak peek. 

 xx - LY