It is now the 2024. It has been 17 years since I was first diagnosed with MS. It’s been 11 years since I started this blog and it has been 8 since I came off all the pharmaceuticals and started using diet, exercise, cannabis & CBD, mushrooms, nature and a bunch of other “hippy dippy shit” to try and manage my disease . When I made that shift, when I began implementing changes and focusing on naturally managing my health, I had no idea whether it was the right decision. I didn’t know if I would regret breaking up with big pharma. I didn’t know f I would find myself back in a doctor’s office begging for help once again, but I knew that something had to change.
I was 70 lbs overweight, I was on far too many prescriptions, I self-medicated daily with alcohol, had taken to smoking cigarettes again, and was unable to walk my service dog around the block. As I describe in my chapter of “Beating Multiple Sclerosis: Empowering Stories of Self Healing and Thriving”
“My life had become pathetic.
I lived on our couch, watching endless hours of television.
I hated myself.
I hated what my life had become.
I hated myself for allowing it to get that bad.
I hated myself for hating myself.
I had no motivation to do anything that would better my situation. The brain/body connection was severed. Contrary to how I had lived my previous thirty six years, I became a victim, looking for someone else to fix my problems, rather than taking care of them myself.”
Looking back, I am so fucking proud of myself for taking the leap and making the changes. For buckling down and doing the things that needed to be done. From learning about cannabis and other plant based medicines and growing our own, to overhauling my diet, to my unwavering commitment to move my body every single day, I have gone beyond any expectation of what these changes might lead to.
I had hoped that I could find something to help with the pain. That is what I was looking for.
Relief from the pain.
And instead, I got a whole new life. Beyond getting my body’s abilities back (no arm-crutch needed now:), and having a brain that seems to get sharper the more I lean into my protocols and stick to my routines (I’ve been micro-dosing with mushrooms (psilocybin along with reishi, lions mane, turkey tail, cordyceps and chaga,) I’ve completely changed my beliefs when it comes to my health. I went from believing that doctors had the answers and pharmaceuticals were a good thing to understanding that nature often has a solution and that I have the power within myself to not only manage,but to heal shit.
Old me lived in fear of my disease. New me has no fear regarding my MS, or anything else that may cross my path medically. The new version of me knows I can handle anything that comes my way and that nature is always the way to go. I know that if I continue to live as I am, putting myself and my health at the forefront of everything I do, I will continue to heal and improve and that is a stark difference from the me that feared the state of my health and it getting worse, every single day for a decade.
I’ve been absent from here for the past four years, but I have been busy writing and talking elsewhere. As mentioned above, last year I contributed a chapter to the book titled Beating Multiple Sclerorsis; Empowering Stories of Self Healing and Thriving, I invite you to give it a listen on our podcast (Weeding Through Life ) This year I did a one year follow up interview with Agata (the creator of the book)- a check in on my progress one year later, which can be heard HERE. I also had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer May from Alchemy for the People about my journey with cannabis and my book Segway Into My New Life – Click HERE to listen to that wonderful exchange.
As I pivot and adjust my focus from being solely self-serving to trying to create Camp Sunshine 420– a space for others to experiment and learn for their own journeys, I felt I needed a clean for slate to share what I have learned. I wanted to step away from being labeled as living with my disease and move into a space focused on healing and learning to live with ease, so I am closing down this blog (the site will still be here with all the valuable information I’ve created over the years, but it will be static with no new posts or content being added.) I will be launching a new site shortly. In the meantime, I will continue to document my progress over on my IG (also have an account for the retreat which can be viewed here) as well as continuing to bulk up my content over on our you tube channel, and adding new topics to the podcast.
**This is my personal blog and all opinions are my own. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one here on my blog. The content here is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is solely intended to inform people of what is working for my body and my disease. Everyone is different and everyone needs to go on their own journey with this disease. THIS IS MY JOURNEY**