About Me
From friendships to marriages, to having and raising kids, to decisions on work, school, and daycare; the life of a woman today is busy and broad. And with each season of life, a woman’s body changes in ways that few people are talking about.
Here is my story.
Before getting into the health arena, I was the CEO of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in San Diego County. For a decade and a half, I devoted my life and career to mental health support, education, and advocacy. I’ve published several articles on mental health and have authored a book on sibling grief and loss. For years, I ignored signs of physical distress until I had to choose between my job or my body.
When you live in chronic pain, the world around you narrows. You cannot function in pain. It’s impossible when your brain is receiving a strong message from another part of your body. I remember days when I was curled into the fetal position on the bed, while my husband took our children out to play. Or silently crying in a taxi-cab wishing I was able to teleport to the hotel instead of attending a meeting. Missing out on date night or girl’s night because I was experiencing a painful flare.
Will this journey ever end?
My journey with health issues and the failure of the medical world to adequately address them started with what I thought was an uncomplicated UTI.
As I reflect on how the cycle of pain-remission-flareup-diagnosis began, I realize that it didn’t start with a UTI that would not heal but rather as a toddler who had ear infections and being placed on several courses of antibiotics. Thus began the initial impairment of my gut function. In high school and throughout puberty, I would contend with cystic acne, breast, and ovaries. Looking back, it was clear that I was dealing with estrogen dominance, which is a condition roughly 50% of women experience.
A new vicious cycle would develop with the first UTI in my early 20s. I would get a bladder infection followed by a course of antibiotics, only to get another one. And then there was the UTI that never healed. It marked the beginning of over a decade of pelvic pain. The culture came back as an uncomplicated UTI with the bacteria e-coli being present and the report showed it was susceptible to antibiotics. This UTI however, felt like it never went away. While future cultures showed no sign of the bacteria, the pain continued and I was later diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. The cycle of doctors, diagnoses, and medicines began. Every year, I was taking multiple courses of antibiotics. This warped into changes in my gut flora, yeast infections, and a diagnosis of SIBO. At one point I felt like I couldn’t eat anything, I couldn’t sit on a chair, and I couldn’t sleep without an ice pack. Stress due to work, the loss of my brother, and the demands of a growing family were also major contributing factors to my body’s inability to heal. While I have a supportive husband, I still felt alone in my search for relief from pelvic pain and gut health. Having pain in an area of your body that society considers the most private of places makes it truly isolating.
I needed a new way of healing. I sought out non-traditional practitioners. Some of the best healing I received was from Ayurveda, a historical system of natural healing with its origins in India. As I began to heal, I discovered the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and spent a year and half learning from world renowned leaders on how to give the body what it needs nutritionally to promote healing.
Today, I am focused on supporting other women in their healing path from pelvic pain, gut issues, and bladder pain. I am a Certified Holistic Health Coach as recognized by The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, and accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. I have also completed The Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s 7-month extensive program on Gut Health.
If you’ve been there, I’m so sorry. Let me hold your hope for you while we heal together.