Today marks thirteen years since my gallbladder was removed! Before this event, I’d like to say my health was okay. My knowledge of nutrition was little to non-existent. I was fairly active having danced my whole life and done some running. I was wearing hearing aids in one ear at that point. That summer, after eating a delicious Italian meal on vacation, I was on the floor in the bathroom. I came home and had another similar episode. Off I went to the ER. I spent over a month trying to figure out what was wrong. The doctor put me on a bland diet, which was extremely difficult. Scans came back, and I was told to head to the local ER, and I would get surgery the next morning to remove the gallbladder.
The way it was described to me about the gallbladder’s necessity in the body was that it was like the appendix in the body. (Spoiler alert. It HAS LOTS OF FUNCTIONALITY IN THE BODY!) I was also informed by my GI doctor at the time that my diet did not need to change. I recall this as I specifically made sure to ask after I had just had a bland diet for over a month. Little did I know that this was actually the start of my journey into my own personal health.
I started my journey by reading Michael Pollen’s Food Rules, and It Starts with Food. I went on to receive two cochlear implant surgeries in 2010 and 2015. Within a month of my second cochlear implant, I was in the hospital with kidney stones! I found out I had PCOS somewhere in this timeframe as well. I continued to read books about the food system and what I was consuming.
Two years later, in 2017, I was in a traumatic car accident, and this event drastically changed my life. I was severely injured and had a very long recovery process. Even to this day, I am still managing injuries from the accident. Multiple surgeries on a broken arm with a very poor healing process. Chronic pain anyone? The doctors could not figure out why I wasn’t healing. I was displaying multiple different symptoms. I ended up with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Um, when did I get bit by a tick?! It was during this time I was also attending school for an integrative nutrition degree. Here is where I truly began my own healing process and was able to connect all the dots. This is where I wish my doctors had been able to educate me on my healing journey. This is why I was so thrilled I was becoming a nutritionist.
I learned why not having a gallbladder impacted my digestion all these years! I learned that high-fat meals are difficult to digest when I don’t have that extra bile to break the food down. I learned my PCOS is truly an endocrine disorder and that I don’t have to have all the symptoms of PMS each month. I learned how nutrition can either add to the inflammation or decrease inflammation in my body. I learned that food really does play a role in my mental health. Having all this knowledge and being able to implement it really showed me that healing is possible. I’m still in my healing journey as I feel my health is always evolving. I am always learning and improving as best as I can.
Now my shelves are filled with nutrition books. I’m constantly learning something new from research, readings, and my peers. Nutrition is bio-individual and not cookie-cutter. What worked for my friend may not work for me. What works for me may not be what works for you. This is the fun part about being an integrative nutritionist. Taking all the pieces and putting them together to make the best nutrition healing plan for myself. Now the fun part is getting to do this for others and helping them heal as well!
If interested in working with me, click the link below. We can chat and see what best fits your needs!
Leave a Reply