I suspect this is the first of many blogs - possibly for years to come - so now I feel the pressure to write something that I will enjoy reflecting upon. It's October of 2010 and I am just beginning my journey towards my degree. Seriously? Another journey? I feel like I barely had time to finish the last one and now I'm starting another.
Two and a half years ago I turned my life upside down in the hopes of saving my life. I had been living with the horrible symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis for 4 years when my arms had gone numb and paralyzed. I should have been scared out of my mind, but as busy as I was in those days with the kids, my job, the house, and everything else, I secretly enjoyed having an excuse as to why I couldn't do anything. I remember standing in my living room watching my 2 year old daughter play. She had gotten up to get a toy across the room when she tripped and fell - hard. She hit her head on the coffee table and cried so hard no sound came out until she caught her breath. I couldn't pick her up or hold her. The only thing I could do was get down on the floor and cry with her. My arms would not move. I can only imagine what she was thinking. She couldn't understand why I wasn't picking her up. The only thing she knew was that I wasn't helping her. I had never felt so helpless and so useless.
In that moment, something snapped inside me and I think that was my rock-bottom moment. When I got the use of my arms back a few days later, I went to the book store and found a book called the MS Recovery Diet. I read about how people had healed themselves through diet, exercise and overall wellness. That day was DAY 1 PART 2 of my life. I quit my job of 11 years, quite smoking, stopped all medication (Beteseron injections), and ate nothing but chicken, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds for an entire year. In only two weeks, my symptoms subsided and within a month I felt better than I ever had in my life.
Now that Part 2 of my life is complete and I have no signs or symptoms of MS, I can begin Part 3 of my life which involves getting a nutrition degree so I can learn more about the health effects of food and share with the world what I have learned.
Jeanene,
ReplyDeleteI cannot even imagine going through any of that and for you to go through all of that and still come out strong in the end is just so amazing. I have never met anyone one with such will power to want to change there life and actually stick with it. I have so much sympathy and compassion for what you have gone through and what you accomplished. If you can over come MS then you can definitely get your nutrition degree. It takes people like you who have had a life experience to give hope to other people who are going through the same thing you did. You will make a difference in a lot of people's lives and for that, people will forever be grateful for you.
Jeanene,
ReplyDeleteYour first blog was fantastic. It makes me want to be a stronger and better person. Thanks for giving me some inspiration. Great job.