My Great Story
About ten years ago now I had some transient tummy troubles that I of course ignored, and after a few twist and turns, they quickly tumbled into full-blown Crohns. Initially, I consulted alternative and natural methods. While they offered insights, they just couldn't get a handle on my rapidly declining health. So I did the adult thing and turned to a Gastroenterologist.
As with most doctors, they sucked a pint of blood in search of answers. Nothing showed up. Per the doctor's advice, I did a few rounds of exploratory antibiotics to see it was an infection or parasite. Although against my upbringing, I was desperate and willing to try anything to relieve the pain.
It didn't work.
I dropped to a measly 90 pounds on my 5'7 frame. I hit rock bottom. Even the thought of water made me nauseous. My state of "living" was challenging, to put it mildly.
The doctor suggested a course of prednisone to bring down the inflammation and hopefully bring up my weight. This magical poison did the trick, but not without consequence. I was an edgy bloated monster, but thankful for the "halftime" it provided in my one man game of survivor. Eventually, I succumbed and did an endoscopy (stomach camera) and colonoscopy (butt camera) in hopes to find where this "shit" storm was coming from. I was given a firm Crohns diagnosis.
"We'll probably need to remove a section of your small intestine. Most likely the first of possibly eight surgeries in your lifetime. We'll also need to keep you on immune suppressants for the rest of your life. " all of the doctor's told me.
THE. REST. OF. MY. LIFE.
There had to be other solutions. I knew there was something more, anything more, to help me out of this shitty situation. Not to mention that going through with the surgeries had a whole slew of potential adverse outcomes. One gastroenterologist after another gave me the same protocol and dismal prognosis. With no roads left to take, I decided to carve one myself.
I hit dead-ends, tried A LOT of "Crohn's Diets" or "autoimmune diets" and of course buckled up in the elimination diet hard.
Everything failed or proved to be precarious bandaids.
The diets that had worked for others fell short for me.
I kept looking for the needle in the haystack and believing and hoping that something would help me. And it did.
The diet that found me was not intuitive, and it was everything I would have never tried. It was everything I was told not to eat. In the beginning white toast, white rice, no fats or protein of any kind and it made total sense. Give my intestines a break. Yeah, duh. Every three days of doing the "white" diet my guts had the opportunity to heal a layer. Sooo cool!!! Oh yeah, and the other side benefit was fewer bathroom sprints. #winning
I'm where I am today because I was able to trust my gut and heal myself through food. Food was my cure. Sure, it took time and a considerable amount of faith and dedication, but I recovered. I took on something the doctors couldn't offer me at the time, health without pills or surgeries.
Cutting it out and covering it up wasn't going to work for me. I needed to get to the core issue. That's just who I am.
As life has a way of doing, it brought me full circle. Here I stood right back to where my parents started me at, respecting my body and living a healthy natural lifestyle.
After going into remission naturally, I made a pact with myself that I would help others seeking to find relief naturally. If you are here, I already know You're Great. Let's play.
Cheers,