So fast forward a few years, I was 37 with two small children, a good husband, a good job as a PA in oncology working with the doctor who treated me when I had lymphoma in 1997. Working in a field I thought was meant for me and that I would stay in forever really, but feeling extremely overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, and just plain sick and tired of being sick and tired. I remember the day I decided something needed to change. It was a Saturday and yet again, despite how much sleep I got I felt extremely tired. The tired where all you want to do is lay back down and go to sleep, but you can’t, because you have kids and a family that depend on you. It made me so irritable to not be able to take a nap and then guilty at the same time because I felt like I was not being a good mom. Frustration set in because my health seemed to be getting worse. I figured by now things should be improving. My daughter was a year, my son almost 4, and I was not nursing anymore.

More and more symptoms came, and blood work gave no answers. Anxiety, a panic attack at work while I was seeing a patient. I had to leave the room and eventually have my husband pick me up and drive me home. Then that constant fear of having another one. I cut out caffeine, tried accupuncture, a medication, counseling for a year and a half. I still felt stuck like I was going to feel like this forever. I was tired of having allergies, and yes more acne, and then some weird stomach issues started which I never had before. It felt like my gallbladder was failing! I ate generally healthy and since my 30’s started to learn more about nutrition and making better choices and more whole healthy foods were in my diet. I was removing toxic products since my kids were born, and I have always exercised. In fact I have run two marathons and close to 20 half marathons, so what the heck was going on with me.

I tend to be stubborn so I was not going to stop trying to feel better.

Around this time I started seeing some facebook posts about some supplements my friends were taking and being successful with. As a traditionally trained PA I learned nothing about alternative medicine, supplements or even nutrition for that matter. I never felt supplements were needed. After months of watching, reading, researching, I kind of said what the heck, why not because my current situation of feeling crappy and anxious the rest of my life no longer was appealing! Something had to change and to make matters worse I was not happy anymore in my current job situation. I knew something more was out there for me, and I wanted more time freedom to still help others without the confines of the 8-5 and missing out on my kids lives, but at that time I just didn’t know exactly what that was yet.

In October of 2014, I made a decision that would totally rock my world, but at the time I was quite unsure, but was just trusting my gut instinct on this one b/c it felt like something I was being called to do. I did something I knew very little about and never thought I would do. I joined a network marketing company! GASP!! This company also sold supplements! double GASP! It was like two things I never thought I would have in my life. The two reasons I joined were #1. the products were safe, I researched to death and still do and found the ingredients to be natural vs synthetic, nothing artificial, non gmo, gluten free and quality and #2. I trusted my friends success and saw so many different testimonials about the products and still see daily testimonies about these products helping others! If you want to learn more you can find great info here https://media.plexusworldwide.com/plexus-2017-summer-product-catalog/html5/index.html?page=1&noflash

I started some of the products but one at a time, because that is how I roll. I had to make sure nothing crazy was gonna happen and I wanted to see what each one was doing for me. Within 10 days I was sold. I knew my body needed them and I knew they were gonna help me, so I continued and the things that occurred were mind blowing to me. Once my symptoms slowly faded one by one and then other amazing things happened that I didn’t even know would, I started learning more about our bodies, their awesome healing capabilities, our gut microbiome, and how our systems all work together. In PA school they broke us down in to systems and I never learned how everything is tied together.

During this time of regaining my health, and growing a business at the same time, my dreams were renewed, I had goals again, I was able to cut my PA working hours and even got out of traditional medicine all together. The way I wanted to help people totally changed, and I was able to do that with my company and as a PA and they mirrored each other vs conflicted each other. That is when I knew this was it, this was why I felt unsettled before. I now work in a wellness center with a Doctor who treats patients based on the belief that our bodies can heal themselves if we take care of underlying ROOT causes of illness. It is amazing what the body can do if you give it half a chance, and that the stem of all of this it based on our GUT bacteria(watch video to learn more)! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw7Zc4Jl0KY

These past few years have taught me quite a bit and wanted to share:

Listen to that gut feeling, that stirring, it is trying to tell you something
Fear is gonna halt you in your tracks but until YOU decide you have had enough it will stand in your way every single time
The BEST things happen when you get out of your comfort zone
You can have a life filled with dreams, goals and passions and you can find a career that lines up with them
network marketing is the greatest business filled with people who are compassionate, caring, supportive, smart and have the same goals in mind as you with the bottom line being if you are blessed be a blessing!

So, get out of your own way. Educate yourself on something before you automatically dismiss it as something you don’t need or won’t help. Have the thought of what if this could change everything for me, because it did for me and my family!

This picture of me above is when my anxiety was at an all time high and my health started to go down hill from here. It was 2011.

When I had finally had enough