Are You Feeling It Too?

During our empty nest years our health can challenge us. It’s just a fact of life that we can’t do everything at the same level as we use to do. Our bodies due to stress and time begin to break down. It starts with just the little aches and pains here and there, right?! Well, for some of us, those little aches and pains turn into bigger issues. That's how it happened for me...

My Story
For a number of years I’ve had some hip pain but I chalked it up to over use from running. I stopped running and tried biking instead. I loved biking but over time my thumb started hurting and I couldn’t shift the gears without pain. That's when I started swimming, thinking that was a good idea since "everyone" says it’s the easiest exercise on your body as you get older.  I was really starting to feel like I was 100 years old.  At this same time, I noticed that my neck was bothering me and it especially flared up when I was swimming. Keep in mind, I’m a terrible swimmer so I thought for sure it was just my technique. 

Come to find out it wasn’t my technique at all….

I finally decided to get it checked out. Fortunately, during this time my husband was a business consultant for a brain and spine surgeon, who also practiced functional medicine. Functional medicine doctors get to the root cause of the pain rather than just treating it. This is a very simplified definition. 

So after two MRIs, we discovered that my hip and thumb pain were from inflammation, nothing structural but my neck was in bad shape. To my surprise I have degenerative disc disease. I also discovered that my disease could've been avoided had I been treated earlier. 

28 Vials of blood later
After 28 vials of blood and weeks of waiting, the doctor uncovered that I had an overgrowth of yeast in my stomach which led to leaky gut, which in turn caused my auto immune disease.  I also wasn’t absorbing most vitamins and minerals from my food. I wasn’t getting the nutrients from food that my body needed to function properly so it had to get it from some where, so it stole from itself. Thus the deteriorating of my discs. 

I’ve since been treated for the yeast and I’m still working on healing the leaky gut. But the neck was too far gone. Unfortunately, I have to have surgery to replace the 4 discs. 

What I want to point out here and the moral of this story, is that even though I’m now going through a new transition, the same tools apply. I still implement the 6 Love What’s Next Pursuits into my everyday. 

I continue to exercise
I continue to exercise…Move It Or Lose It Pursuit. Of course it’s not the same exercise I’m use to doing, but I still move my body and eat what my body needs now more than ever. 

I find ways to add in my Simple Bliss Pursuit, those simple pleasures that bring me so much joy. I can’t have caffeine or dairy any more which was pretty devastating at the time (you all know how much I love my Starbucks Lattes) but I’ve come to love a decaf, coconut milk latte almost as much. 

I lean on my friends
I draw on support and love from my friends and family (Humans Pursuit) and I’m constantly working on what I love to do the very most, my Limitless Spark, and that’s helping women navigate successfully through their midlife transitions. I enjoy more than anything seeing a client, someone who I’ve come to admire and adore, uncover what brings them unimaginable joy during their new season in life. It’s incredibly rewarding and brings me so much joy!! Through my Limitless Spark, I’m able to add the Stash Some Cash Pursuit into my life because I’ve created a business out of my new identity and purpose. 

I embrace this new stage because I know how
My life doesn’t have to stop because of this new transition I’m working through. I’ve got the tools to embrace it and still find joy amongst all the changes it’s brought into my life, which is all any of us can ask for, right?!

If you have a big transition you're working unsuccessfully through, let's chat. Together we can create a game plan for you so you too can embrace your new stage in life.  It will be the best free hour of time!  Go to my calendar and set a date for us to talk! 
My Calendar

Share with us in the comments box below your transitional stage that you're navigating through and how it's going. Does my story resonate with you?