Let’s face it….we’ve all dealt with some sort of health issue or health scare and sometimes it comes as a shock. I’m living proof you don’t need to let that shock take over your life and cause you any more harm! At the fabulous age of 25 I was getting bone marrow biopsies at a Cancer Hospital in Manhattan and they thought I had leukemia. Years later, after about 20 diagnoses (none of them cancer, whew!) I’m a healthy and happy 32 year old woman who loves life and is grateful for those many years of chronic pain- because without them- I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t even know how to help you or talk to you or hug you or cry with you. I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t even know what inflammation was. I’d probably still be eating Splenda and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spray. Ewwww!

Anyhooo, today I wanna chit chat about how I can hopefully help you keep that smile on your face, keep your head up, your eyes sparkly and arm you with a whole lotta hope and happiness. Here’s a few things you can do to ‘LET IT ALLLLLLLL GO’……

Stay with me here. Put on some good music, dance around your home, grab the wooden spoon and use it as your microphone…get in front of your mirror and shake it. That’s step 1. Then you can move onto the rest of the below. But you’ve gotta dance and get in a good mood before you can move on….

Ready?

Good!

Here we go!

1. Let Yourself CRY.

Yes, I said it. CRY. O boy the amount of tears I’ve shed the last decade from health issues….I can’t even begin to tell you. For awhile, it was a nightly thing, but after a few tears, I’d pull myself together and take a nap or get into my bathtub for a warm bath. I learned that we can hold in our feelings-it just makes our bodies more sick! We’ve gotta release those feelings and I’m proof you don’t even need anyone to cry to. I’ve been single for the entire time I’ve been ill and for a few years before hand, therefore I never had anyone to cry to or hug or anything like that. Sure, I had my friends and parents and my sister once in awhile but sometimes it was just good to cry to myself, by myself and I accepted it as part of my healing journey. Don’t be embarrassed to cry and release your feelings- you surely don’t want to keep them inside of you to make you feel even worse. Let it out and then get cozy in your bed!

2. Recognize a Breakthrough.

Day by day your new changes will become a part of your new, healthier lifestyle. The day will come when you’ll crave veggies and look back on your processed, packaged foods and think ‘OMG how did I once eat those chemicals?’ Trust me. It will happen! Notice and recognize the breakthroughs you’ll have. One may be doing Infrared Saunas and Epsom Salt baths weekly or buying organic foods or going to bed earlier and feeling amazing. Whatever shifts you have, recognize them and applaud yourself for succeeding and taking small steps to wellness.

3. Make a Game Plan.

Get a binder. A really, really, really big binder. Get tabs and write the years on the tabs along with the doctors name and KEEP all of your records! This way you can photocopy them anytime for doctors to have and you can also bring them with you to any new doctors so you can get answers and have them put the pieces of your puzzle together quicker. Trust me. It’s worth it. Do it now and you’ll thank me in a few years when you’ve got all your records in one binder.

4. Be Your OWN Doctor.

I cannot stress this one enough. At the age of 12, my white blood cells were 1.2 —- YES 1.2 when they should be above 4.0 but guess what? My parents didn’t ask for the blood work and I doubt they even looked at it and the doctors MISSED THIS!!!! The doctors didn’t even flag this or alert me or my parents about this. So, yes I’ve probably had Lyme disease since I was 12 from a mosquito and no one EVER caught it….yet my blood work showed proof that my immune system was failing and my gut was literally a mess from rounds of antibiotics as a child from colds, the flu, etc. Totally awful, right? This could ALL have been prevented!! Lord, I could have saved my 20’s and 30’s and been a ‘normal’ person without being in a doctors office and hospital every week. Ha! Again, it’s no one’s fault here but mine. I should have caught it- but I TRUSTED my doctor. Well, that’s not the only time this happened. I had progesterone toxicity at the age of 31 and my doctor missed it on my results, so people, listen to me…..BE YOUR OWN FREAKING DOCTOR. Do the research, yes it’s a full time job, but if you really want to heal, you’ve gotta do the work and you’ve gotta know what the heck is going on inside of your body because doctors are busy and they’re human and they miss things. My parents worked long stressful hours from when I was 25-30 and for 5 long, awful years I had to do all of this myself…go to doctors, do the research, etc. and even after they retired and started coming with me to my appointments, I still had to research and try to understand what was going on. There’s no magic pill or doctor who’s going to snap his fingers and make you POOF perfect. You’ve gotta get into it and learn it–because you’ve got that bod pod for the rest of your beautiful life and you surely want it to be healthy and fabulous forever. Right? When you start to understand the WHY’s behind the changes you have to make (such as cutting out gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, etc.) you’ll be more motivated to make those changes because you see how they impact your body and overall health. Plus, as your health improves and your symptoms disappear, you’ll be inspired to continue  working towards your health goals.

5. Do What Makes You Feel Good.

What’s making you happy? The sunrise, sunset, ocean, a trip to Italy, iced tea, steamed veggies, a roasted turkey, an afternoon with friends, new lipstick, a pretty bouquet of flowers? What is it? Write it down. Make a list of the things that make you happy….it can be anything that makes you smile. Listening to music, talking to your mom, flirting with boys, going to the movies, etc….Think about what it is that moves YOU and do more of it. Make a list and keep that list next to your bed so that you can keep on adding to that list every time you think of something else that makes you SMILE! Then, you’ve gotta do more of those things. Don’t tell me that you don’t have enough time; because you DO! Say NO to the things that don’t make you happy- that will give you so much more time and you’ll be able to squeeze in those ‘smile/happy’ things….Happy vibes = Happy cells. It’s true. Your cells listen to all you do and your mood…so keep on keepin’ on and make sure that smile is super big each and every day!

xo