Health History 2004-2010

May 2004

The health piece of my story started in the summer of 2004. I was living in Australia and had a head on collision with another cyclist.  There was a blind 90-degree corner with a tree obstructing half the path.  We both had time to swerve once before we collided and my forehead broke his collarbone.  It’s amazing how much blood can spill with a head wound.  Harry Potter was a huge hit at the time, so everyone loves my scar. The ambulance ride was fun and I remember thinking that I should slow down and live more in the moment… and wear a bike helmet at ALL times. It was the law afterall.

June 2004

A month later I was riding through Wollongong when a taxi cut me off and we collided.  I landed on the road… with my mouth.  I broke my bike helmet and bent the steel frame so the front tire was past the cross bar, but I was alive!  One front tooth shattered, one fell out completely and another tooth chipped.  Luckily, my friend Paul was riding behind me and picked up the tooth (a fellow fake front-toother) before I got to take another ambulance ride.  Somehow the driver from my first accident heard there was "an American girl with a Harry Potter scar" in the ER again, so he came to wish me a quick recovery.

I remember none of this, of course, and “woke up” in a CAT scan machine, convinced aliens had abducted me.  My friends were relieved when I finally stopped asking the same 3 questions over and over.  Besides the missing and broken teeth, I had some stitches in my mashed chin, a couple on my nose, road rash to my ear, and lips so swollen I could hardly talk. For the rest of the summer when I went into the climbing gym, all my friends would hold up a hooked finger and yell "Arrrgh!" since I looked like a toothless pirate.  Little did I know this would result in 5 crowns, 4 gum grafts, 3 bone grafts, 2 implants, a root canal and a partridge in a pear tree.  Finally in August of 2010 got my second (and hopefully last) pair of beautiful porcelain front teeth.

September 6, 2005

My brother Luke died instantly in a car accident.  I was more disoriented than when I woke up in the alien abduction machine.  I was 2 minutes away from walking out the door for Outward Bound canyon training when we got the news.  I decided to stay on my parents couch and cry for 2 months instead.  This was the biggest life-changing event to date, losing 25% of our family.  Unable to process all the grief, I did what I’m best at…run away and travel.

November 2005

I went to Mexico for Thanksgiving to climb with my boyfriend.  If you haven’t already driven through Texas, don’t do it!!  We came back to sell Christmas trees in Aspen and broke up while we were living and working together, which made me more of a basket case than I already was.  Since I had bought a ticket to Southeast Asia, I had to stick out the tree gig for the money.

January 2006

I flew to Thailand with my climbing gear and little else.  We lived in huts with no running water and bug nets to stay sane.  I had chronic diarrhea, which wasn’t surprising since all the folks cooking my food wiped their asses with their hands.  My ex-boyfriend came over so we could break up in another country for shits and giggles.  The climbing was fun, but I wasn’t exactly in a great space mentally or emotionally.

March 2006

I flew to Vietnam alone.  I made friends along the way, but didn’t like it nearly as much as Thailand (except the hot showers).  After many sleepless nights on bumpy buses fearing for my life, I made it to Cambodia.  Pretty sure I contracted Dengue fever, although I didn’t see a doctor. I was going to head up to Laos, but got a strong angel thought to book my flight home instead.  After an 8-hour bus ride down their main highway (a dirt road infested with pot holes), I was back in Bangkok for the flight home. 

April 2006

Arriving in Taiwan for a short layover, the most excruciating pain hit me like a train (or taxi).  I was rushed to 2 different emergency rooms and a gynecologist before having an emergency appendectomy.  I was surprised to see my belly button sewn shut when I woke up and bummed that my inney/outey party trick was forever lost.  Everyone was wonderfully sweet, despite the language barrier.  After 5 days unable to walk, it was clear something was wrong.  My mother rushed over from the US and whisked me to an old folks home in a pink and gold wheel chair.  We spent another week there while I got a heinous infection (think pus infested belly button and a doctor with scissors… still gives me the willeys).  Finally home, I spent a month on the couch before going back to work at Outward Bound. 

March 2007

I started dating again and hadn’t been emotionally close to anyone since Christmas of 2005.  Being with my new boyfriend opened up everything I had been avoiding with Luke’s death and my self-loathing depression.

May 2007

After finally graduating and finishing my last year of school, I got an internship at the National Wildlife Federation.  I was behind a computer for 8 hours a day, barely talking with anyone.  I thought I might go insane, so instead, I quit and became more depressed. 

July & August 2007

I went to Squamish (near Vancouver, Canada) for a month to climb and mountain bike.  My panic attacks were so bad, I barely lead any trad climbs or mountain biked.  It was bizarre to be afraid after being fearless most of my life. I was able to boulder, but was so competitive with it that I got upset when I didn’t perform well.  

September 2007

For the next year and a half I became suicidal, irrational, hysterical and had anxiety/panic attacks frequently.  They were usually around climbing or mountain biking, or any time I was afraid or couldn’t regulate my breathing.

April 2008

I went to Eric Dorninger, Naturopathic Doctor, for my depression.  He ran many tests and found that most of my brain chemicals were either too high or too low.  My low serotonin was adding to the depression and poor sleep and my fried adrenals were making the asthma/ panic attacks more frequent.  I started taking high doses of amino acids to balance my levels.

September-November 2008

I went to West Virginia and Kentucky to climb for 2 months.  I was getting less depressed, but still was having panic attacks and refused to fall on lead.  I would down climb difficult sections to avoid falling.  When I climbed within my moderate level, I could be happy and climb without fear. 

March 2009

Feel my brain is fully recovered, no more irrational, self-destructive thoughts.  No more hysterical, angry, breaking of things. I got my first big girl job (in an office from 8-5) the next month.

November 2009

My fiance and I broke up.  We were apart for 2 months while I lived with my parents then decided to give it another shot.  For 2 months we went to therapy every week and tried to make it work.  It seemed like the right thing to do when we broke up again in March of 2010.

April 2010

I got my gluten intolerance test back and it was positive for both genes.  I also found out I was allergic to dairy, soy and nuts.  I felt better for a few weeks and then I began to get bloated with almost every meal. 

July 2010            

Allergy elimination specialist advises Candida cleanse (12 days, which I doubled the intake after the first week) & parasite cleanse (3 days, overlapping at the end).  I quit all sugar, alcohol and caffeine.  I become increasingly more sick, bloated and low energy.  LEAP food sensitivities test shows I am eating sensitive foods every meal. 

August 20, 2010            

Start restrictive LEAP diet, minus grains and fruit.  Got “laid off” from work because I was too sick to return.  Ensuing symptoms continue:

Fatigue/ exhausted immune system

Bloating upon eating

Nausea occasionally after eating

Went from 120 lbs to 100 lbs

Diarrhea early in the process, then constipation until early November

Always thirsty/ dehydrated (regardless of how much water I drank) until late Sept

Disturbed sleep patterns (4-5 hrs first 2 weeks off pills, then trouble falling

asleep and waking up) until late September

Leaky gut?

Increased food allergies/ sensitivities

Chronic headaches

Decreased hydrochloric acid production

Unsatisfied after eating until October

Night urination until late September

Slow/ labored speech when I’m low energy

Difficulty walking when I’m low energy

Vertigo spells in mid-Nov
Uterus/ Ovary/colon? pain in mid-November
Constant coldness

I began to see many health professionals to help with my progression towards balance and health.  I saw a Naturopathic Doctor (Eric Dorninger), Psychotherapist (Jeff Cloud), Allergy Elimination Specialist (Marc Arnold), Psychic (Catherine Ralston), Nutritionist (Neely Quinn), Christian Science Practitioners (Sharon Andrews & Suzette Perkins), Shamanic Healer (Mollie Kelleher), Healing Touch Practitioner (Charmaine Rawson), Cranial Sacral Therapist/ Rolfer (Brooke Andrews), Massage Therapists (Beth McVey & Cheryl Burns), Qi Gong Practitioner (Maureen O’Conner), MD (Jai Gottlieb), Empath (Theresa Fox), Bioenergetic balancer/ Homeopathics (Martin Woodbury), and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners (Andrew Maloney, Chip Chase, Brenyn Williams, Seth, Claudia Krajicek).