My Journey Through Chronic Illness - From Endometriosis to Lupus to Lyme & back
Health, wellness, and fitness have been a passion of mine since my late teens. At first, it was all about staying lean but in my early 20s, my body began to speak louder. I developed severe abdominal pain that was eventually diagnosed as endometriosis. After two surgeries and a difficult pregnancy, I started researching how I could support my health naturally. Small shifts in nutrition and exercise helped manage my symptoms and planted the first seed of curiosity: maybe there was more to healing than prescriptions and procedures.
Still, life didn’t slow down. Between a full-time teaching career and raising my daughter, I was constantly in motion. Stressed, overextended, and wired yet tired, I leaned on caffeine to function and wine to unwind. I was doing everything I could to be “healthy,” but my body was telling a different story. I began experiencing crushing fatigue, hair loss, easy bruising, and rapid weight gain. I couldn’t recover from basic illnesses. I was constantly sick, completely drained, and honestly, barely holding it together.
At 36, I was diagnosed with systemic lupus. The rheumatologist told me I’d never get better, handed me a stack of prescriptions, and offered little hope. I never filled those scripts. Instead, I found a naturopath who actually listened to me. She ran functional labs, gave me a personalized plan, and most importantly, gave me hope. Within months, my energy returned, my hair stopped falling out, and I started feeling like me again.
That’s when I discovered CrossFit. It changed everything. Not only did I regain my physical strength, I found a powerful mindset shift. I learned I could do hard things. I built community. I adopted a paleo lifestyle. For the first time in two decades, I was thriving.
Then, in 2020, while geocaching with my daughter during COVID lockdowns, I found a tick embedded in my left armpit. Since I didn’t get the telltale “bullseye rash,” I didn’t think much of it. But after several months of worsening flu-like symptoms, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and prescribed a 30-day round of doxycycline. At first, I improved. But the recovery didn’t last. Over time, I developed mysterious, persistent symptoms: extreme fatigue, neurological issues, hormonal chaos, food sensitivities, and the slow unraveling of everything I had worked so hard to rebuild. My legs felt like cement. My brain was foggy. I couldn’t keep up in CrossFit anymore. And no one could tell me why.
The conventional care model failed me again. I was told it was “just menopause,” “just stress,” or that my labs “looked fine.” I knew better. I’d lived in my body long enough to recognize that something deeper was going on.
That’s when I enrolled in the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) program, not to launch a business, but to figure out what was wrong with me and become the CEO of my own health. Through functional lab testing, I discovered I wasn’t just dealing with Lyme. I had two tick borne co-infections, Bartonella and Babesia, and a completely dysregulated stress and immune response. My gut was a mess. My hormones were flatlined. My body was inflamed and overwhelmed. But for the first time I had answers.
Today, I’m still on this healing journey and I use everything I’ve learned to help others facing similar battles. I work virtually with clients navigating complex chronic illnesses, especially those dealing with Lyme disease, co-infections like Bartonella and Babesia, and autoimmune conditions that traditional medicine often overlooks. Most of my clients are high-functioning, health-conscious individuals who’ve spent years searching for answers, trying protocol after protocol with little progress. They’re not just tired, they’re frustrated, exhausted, and often feel invisible. I’ve been there. I understand the complexity, the fear, and the hopelessness - and I’m here to help you finally uncover and eliminate the imbalances that are keeping you in the cycle of being chronically sick.
Healing isn’t linear. It takes time. And it requires a truly personalized approach that honors your bio-individuality and the reality of your lived experience. But it’s possible. There is hope - and I’m living proof of that.
I’m sharing all of this not because it’s easy to talk about - it’s not. I’m a private person by nature. But I know someone out there needs to hear this. Maybe you need to hear this. Because you don’t have to settle for a life of managing symptoms. You don’t have to keep pushing through the pain and pretending you’re fine. There is another way. And I’d be honored to walk that path with you.