This is PART ONE in a series on my journey to mental and physical wellbeing.

It’s been nearly 12 years since I posted on this blog site.  My last post, Learning to Feel Amazing, was published in May of 2013.  I’m not sure how it’s been so long, but I can tell you I feel like I moved into a world where the air was thick as jello, and months (years) passed by where I felt like I could barely make it through.

When did life become a monster that you have to constantly feed?”

–Good Girls, S1:E4

Fifteen years. That’s how long I struggled with mysterious, life-disrupting health issues. Fifteen years of fatigue that no amount of sleep could fix, pain that no doctor could explain, crippling anxiety, and a slew of other symptoms that seemed unrelated yet kept stacking up like a puzzle with missing pieces. Fifteen years where I struggled quietly, while outwardly I looked mostly fine (only those who were closest to me saw my reality). I used every ounce I had each day to do my best raising two kids, keeping up with my job, maintaining my home, and drumming up extra energy for family, friends, and joy.

In these years, I was given handfuls of diagnoses—most of which turned out to be completely wrong or at a minimum irrelevant. I was prescribed medications that not only didn’t help but often made things worse; I was told my lab results were “normal” when I knew something was off; I underwent multiple rounds of treatments that, in hindsight, I never needed. I spent tens of thousands of dollars, wasted weeks in waiting rooms and treatment programs, and at times, lost hope that I would ever feel normal again.

But then everything changed.

Through sheer persistence (and, honestly, a lot of frustration), I discovered functional medicine—a completely different way of looking at health. Instead of treating symptoms in isolation, this approach focused on finding the root cause of my issues. For the first time, everything made sense. I wasn’t just unlucky or lazy. My body wasn’t just “different.” There were clear, fixable reasons why I felt the way I did.

And once I addressed those root causes, my life transformed.

Why I’m Sharing My Story

If you’re reading this, you might be going through something similar. Maybe you’ve been suffering from a random collection of confusing symptoms, dismissed by doctors, handed medications that only mask the problem, or told that “it’s all in your head.” Maybe you’re exhausted, in pain, sick of the mental struggles, or just desperate for answers.

Know that you are not alone. I aim to share my story and my learnings, in the hopes that it helps you.

Over the next several posts, I’ll take you through my entire journey—from the first symptoms to the countless doctor visits, misdiagnoses, unnecessary treatments, and finally, the breakthroughs that led me to real healing. I’ll also share everything I’ve learned along the way—how to connect symptoms to root causes, what tests and treatments actually made a difference, and how you can advocate for yourself in a medical system that doesn’t always have the answers.

What to Expect in This Series

In this blog series, I’ll cover:

• Early signs and first warnings
• Initial encounters with conventional medicine – the promise & the pitfalls
• The growing collection of ailments, all seemingly unrelated
• The roller coaster of misdiagnoses and ineffective treatments
• The surgery that started me on the path to healing
• A trip to Mayo Clinic
• A podcast that pulled me back from the brink of desperation
• The doctor who finally figured out what was going on
• The value of functional medicine and why it should be at the forefront of care
• The shocking improvements across all areas of my health
• Practical advice for anyone still searching for answers

If any of this resonates with you, I invite you to follow along. My goal is to make this series relatable, informative, and, most of all, hopeful. Because if I could find answers after 15 years of struggle, so can you.

Be sure to subscribe or check back soon—in part two, I’ll share the very first symptoms that started it all and the early warning signs I wish I had recognized sooner.