My Journey to Nourish to Heal

Looking back, I believe my health journey began when I was a teenager.

I was put on birth control at a young age, and I remember immediately feeling like my body didn’t handle synthetic hormones very well. Even then, I knew something about it didn’t feel right for my body.

But like many people, I pushed forward with life.

In my twenties, I was working full time, going to college full time, and living the kind of busy lifestyle that didn’t leave much room for nourishing my body. My diet consisted of the typical convenient foods of that time — boxed cereal, boxed dinners, and plenty of fast food.

I was working long hours and constantly running on empty, both physically and nutritionally.

Motherhood Sparked My First Real Changes

When I had my first child at 34, everything started to shift.

My son developed several food intolerances, which sent me down a path of trying to understand how nutrition and diet affect the body. I wanted to help him feel better, and that led me to begin cleaning up our family’s diet.

I found a pediatric naturopath for my son, and shortly after that, I began working with a naturopath myself.

Not long after, we welcomed our second child, and life became even busier. But despite my efforts to improve our diet and health habits, I began experiencing more symptoms.

My joints hurt.
I was exhausted.
And something clearly wasn’t right.

The Autoimmune Diagnosis

Eventually I had blood work done, and the results showed liver antibodies and the possibility of autoimmune disease. I was referred to a gastroenterologist, and suddenly my health concerns became much more real.

This was a major wake-up call.

I began following an autoimmune paleo diet and was told that my hormones were dysregulated, my cortisol was elevated, and my body was under significant stress.

Despite continuing to work with my naturopath and taking various supplements, I still didn’t feel better.

My digestion was a mess.
I was bloated and constipated.
And I felt increasingly frustrated.

I was trying everything I knew to do, but I still didn’t have answers.

The Moment Everything Changed

In April of 2023, everything changed.

While doing a routine self breast exam in the shower, I felt a large lump in my left breast. It was the first time I had ever felt anything like that before.

I happened to be due for a mammogram, so I scheduled an appointment.

After several mammogram images, the imaging center sent me for an ultrasound. The technician stepped out and contacted the radiologist, and shortly after I was told there was concern with the images and that I needed to schedule an ultrasound-guided biopsy.

A few days later, my doctor called and asked me to come into the office for the results.

I already knew.

The biopsy confirmed it — it was breast cancer.