Howdy, Hola, Bonjour, Hello, Namaste. I am Noraelisa, born in Mexico, raised in Texas, and now based in Colorado. I am a product of mixed cultures. I am a wife. I am a dog mom. I am a nature lover. I am a believer. I am a dreamer. I am chronically sick.
Before all this hullabaloo, I was a very active person. I love to be outside and constantly have something to do. I never liked to be stationary. I was a gifted and talented student in school and a professional gymnast. I loved succeeding at everything and when I was young, everything came so easily. I have two loving parents, a sister, and my beloved grandma that lived with us at home. Stress was always around though. I was stressed about being perfect in gymnastics and school. I did not like if anything came up unexpectedly. Home could be very stressful too. I did not know how to cope with all the stress in my life. (I still don't. Hence, my diagnosis with anxiety). I had to retire from gymnastics from a back injury. I never took the back injury too seriously, since in gymnastics, we are told to bear pain and not cry about it. Well, this caused me to be diagnosed with phase 1 of osteoarthritis at the age of 25. As I said, success was always around me, but things were already going downhill. I had to give up my gymnastics dream and then my college dream went down the toilet because I was not given enough scholarships to go to my dream college (University of Oklahoma). I got scholarships elsewhere, but I was used to meeting my goals, and I had worked so hard! I was just so upset that the system was the way it was and a straight A student who was captain of the diving team and did so much community work couldn't get the funds to go to the college of my choosing. Bring on the diagnosis of depression. I then coped in college in unhealthy ways. I ended up at a community college and I was so upset that after all my hard work during elementary, middle and high school, I was at a community college. I began to rebel. I would go to parties and drink. One of these parties ended up being a huge demise. I was sexually assaulted by some drunk frat boy. (I say boy because he is no where close to a man). I was then sexually assaulted again by a group of boys when I was on my way to class. I was running late and took a shortcut to a class, where no one is usually there. This time, there was. This was in a span of a couple months. So bring on severe depression and PTSD after this. I was then in an awful relationship that brought me down even more. Now on to my current struggle! I found out in April that something was seriously wrong. I have always had stomach issues and got sick easily, but my stomach was expanded and I literally looked a few months pregnant. I was so weak, it was hard to get out of bed. I couldn't sleep, had no appetite, my bowel movements were... lets just say horrific... and I was throwing up constantly. I also had gained about 20 lbs even though I wasn't eating and I kept getting sick or going to the bathroom constantly. I thought it was food poisoning at first, but then the symptoms were lasting more than 24 hours. So I thought maybe it was a really bad stomach bug. But then the illness lasted a week. So I finally went to the doctor. Now this was an adventure.. Over the course of three months, I have had blood work done, an endoscopy, imaging done on my stomach, gallbladder, and pancreas, stool tests, GI Maps, and been taking all these supplements. I have changed my diet DRASTICALLY. I was put on the AIP diet and it wasn't long ago until I started introducing some types of foods back into my diet. We still barely have any answers. I've been told my pancreas is basically useless, I have some sort of IBS or IBD, and my gallbladder isn't in optimum shape. So... that's what I have for now. It has been such a frustrating time for my family and I. My husband and I moved to Colorado from Texas just before this all happened. My husband has been my biggest supporter and backbone, but it gets tough when we are here on our own. He has been frustrated with no answers and so have I. My mental health has suffered because now I haven't been able to do all the things that we moved to Colorado to do, like hiking and snowboarding. I like to stay positive, but some days it is just way too hard and I lay in bed crying and wishing for a new body. I could sleep all day on those bad days because sleeping was easier than being awake with my thoughts. I never know what kind of day I am going to have. When I wake up, I test my pain in my stomach and my nausea. I look to see if I have bloated. I take my supplements. I take a breather because I am probably tired after just this in the morning. Then, I either go about or do not go about my day. The positive is that I DO have a remarkable support team. I met my husband about a week after my awful relationship ended. My best friend talked me into going out to a country dance bar in Dallas and I love to country dance, so I went. It was my first outing since the breakup. I was definitely drinking more than I should, but a cute redhead asked me to dance, so I did. We then talked with my friend and he asked me for my number, so I gave it. This didn't mean I wanted a relationship. That was the LAST thing I wanted after my hell hole of a relationship. But, guess what, things happen! He has helped me tremendously with my mental struggles and being my backbone. He has taken on more than I think he was ready for, and it's been a blessing. I have three rescue dogs that I love with all my heart. I have a team of doctors that are trying their best to figure me out. I have family at home that are there whenever I need to call. I have friends in both Texas and Colorado that are there for me and whenever I need to rant. I am a believer of God and I feel I have been helped by His grace. This positivity lead me to keep pushing and now HELLO CHRONIC HEALTH HIPPIE!! I am DONE putting myself down. Does it still happen? Yes. But I am trying to get up everyday and write and do some kind of activity, no matter how small. I am making up recipes with my husband to share with others going through this struggle. I am going to restaurants and testing out brands that are safe for people with chronic illness like me. I also love humor, so I try to fill my Instagram with plenty of humorous chronic illness memes. Believe it or not, laughter helps a lot! I hate pharmaceuticals and am trying to heal holistically and naturally, rather than being pumped with meds. This is the basis of my story. It has been a LONG TOUGH journey, but I believe I can make it through. I also believe if anyone is going through what I am, you can too! Please don't hesitate to reach out and connect with me! A bigger community of CHH warriors can help us all find our peace and happiness in this world where we were given imperfect bodies to live with. Much love, Chronic Health Hippie.
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