At the end of March, I had emergency surgery to remove a large abscess and infection in my colon. Despite going to my local Emergency Room two days in a row with severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and low blood pressure, I was sent home rather than being admitted to the hospital. A week later in a different town and a different hospital, my life was changed and saved. My infection was so severe that part of my colon and intestines needed to be removed. I am now adjusting to life with a temporary colostomy.
My Unexpected Life Saving Surgery
Not too long after I celebrated my 50th birthday, I found myself facing a very unexpected, life-saving surgery to repair a ruptured colon, remove a large abscess, and a huge raging infection. What I thought was an episode of constipation turned into an event that almost took my life.
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Toxic Mold and Chronic Illness
Recently, I made a trip to see my alternative doctor. I wanted to find out if I could eliminate what I thought was a mold allergy. You’ll never guess what he told me! Actually, you might guess, because you might have the same problem I do with toxic mold exposure! [Read more…]
7 of the Best Goals for People with Chronic Illness
It’s a new year and that means many people are setting New Year’s resolutions. Others hate setting resolutions but feel better about setting goals. I tend to be one who sets goals or intentions rather than resolutions. As I was thinking about my goals I came up with these seven goals for people with chronic illness. [Read more…]
My Toxic Home Update
Not too long ago, I shared a post titled, What If Your House Was Making You Sick! I told you how we moved a few years ago and my health took a turn for the worse. My pain and fatigue increased and I felt so much anxiety especially during the Spring and Fall.
Exercise Options for Those With Chronic Illness
When you’re suffering from physical pain and exhaustion the last thing on your mind is to get up and exercise, at least it was for me. Previously, I shared a post about the benefits of exercising when you have Chronic Illness, Why You Should Exercise When You Have Lyme. You can read that later but for now, let’s talk about options for exercising when you’re fatigued, in pain and you don’t have the motivation to stay consistent. [Read more…]
How I’m Preventing the Flu Naturally
Goodness, gracious, this is a really bad year for the flu! With the onslaught of reports on the news, I began to get a little worried. Honestly, I was ready to cancel all of our outside commitments and just put everyone in the safe bubble inside our home but that’s not at all practical and I think we would just get on each other’s nerves. Instead, I came up with a plan for how I would prevent and treat the flu naturally. [Read more…]
Budgeting Your Energy When You Have Chronic Illness
Budgeting your energy is not the same thing as managing your time. While we all need to manage our time wisely those of us with chronic illness don’t have the luxury of knowing exactly how much usable time we’ll have in a given day. That’s why I prefer to budget my energy each day.
5 Intentional Steps to Creating Great Health Habits
I have a feeling that you and I might have something in common. We want to pursue a healthy lifestyle, we have great intentions but when push comes to shove, consistent exercise is hard! Making healthy dietary choices can sometimes be overwhelming.
Preparing Your Bathroom for Seasonal Sickness
Is your bathroom ready for the icky-sicky bugs that are going around? Mine usually is but we haven’t had the flu since 2003 and we haven’t had a tummy bug for about 8 years. I believe we’ve done so well because we’ve been very diligent about taking a good quality probiotic. [Read more…]