Let me start out by saying: “You never know when things are going to change!”

As far back as 2009, I have had a constant buzzing in the left side of my head.  After everything I had read I took it to be Tinnitus and being that I don’t generally run to the doctor all the time I just left it as I had read numerous reports on how there really is no way to get rid of it.

In 2012 I paid my family in South Africa a visit. Because of a great exchange rate, I decided to go for a complete medical checkup.  You know – the heads to toe kind of deal.  Well turns out all was not well and I was diagnosed with Hashimotos. Given 21 pills a day to drink and sent home.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid gland is gradually destroyed. Early on there may be no symptoms. More at Wikipedia

Being a “Google is my friend” kind of person, on my return, I spent hours and hours online finding out more about Hashimoto’s and what I could do with it. I read about a Chinese doctor in New Jersey that works with and had some success with Hashitomots patients, however, I was in Colorado and he was in NJ. I found myself a local Chinese medicine person who had really great reviews and started myself on the track of “recovery” drinking Chinese teas and acupuncture.

I was feeling so well that 7 months later I opened up a new retail store and went along my happy way keeping myself really busy with a TON of manual labor. I have to also say here that the ringing in my head had calmed down quite a bit after taking the thyroid medication and then starting on and including the herbal teas.

For 18 months I went on this way. Got so busy I stopped taking my medicine and I was ok, so I was not really that worried about it.  Or more accurately I was not even thinking about it. Then one day I started developing this pain in my left lower arm.  I felt as if I had splintered a bone or something and no matter what I did with it just was not feeling right.  So finally out of sheer desperation, I went to the doctor, who insisted on a blood panel, only to discover that not just was my thyroid T panel readings way off the map, but every indication was there that I had Rheumatoid Arthritis.

As I sit here and write this today, looking back, I was so shocked that in that instant my whole world started to crumble, and drastically change.  First off, at that moment, the doctor’s words to me were: “Don’t worry about arthritis we first have to fix your thyroid and get it stabilized. I went home and went back on the thyroid medication that he had prescribed to me. But was doing nothing for the RA.

Within 2 weeks my left foot started deforming, and I developed a severe bunion, with a bone build up under the front portion of my foot. So every time I step a pain shoots up my leg.  My left hand’s thumb started deforming and both my wrists started a calcium buildup.  One part of my collar bone started getting larger while the other one just stayed the same.

Within a month after my diagnosis, I was in full-blown RA and had to look at my life, where I was, what I was going to do, and mostly how I was going to get through this.

Depression, desperation and stress set in.

I was stressing over the business because up until then I was doing all of the physical labor in the place. Just suddenly my landlord gave notice because he had decided to sell the house I was living in (and I still had about 6 months on my lease). The properties in the neighborhood were shooting up, and because I was actually the only person in my business I did not have the time to still run around and find somewhere new to live.  So my husband suggested I sell the business and move on and readjust the way I live my life to help me adapt and fix as much as I could of myself.

So much has happened in the last 2 years of my life, moving to different climate environments, changing diets, changing medications, finding pain relief, that I can hardly keep track in my head.  As a result, I decided to keep a blog to help me keep track of what my commitments are to myself to getting better. It’s also easier for me to post here for my kids to read where I’m at.

And that as they say, is my story. So whats yours?  Feel free to share and let’s see if we can help each other.