Where I am in my personal health journey...

Maybe you have read my story before and know where I have come from and where I hope to go, but for those who are new here,

I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at age 9. This was a long time ago, so no one was advising me to change what I ate AND gluten free/celiac was not even a thing.

Over the next few years, I found myself in and out of hospitals, cycling on and off steroids, and taking an increasing number of medications. At one point during college, I was taking over 17 pills a day. Despite all of this, I was constantly teetering between remission and flare-ups. By this time, I had been dealing with these challenges for over 11 years, and my tolerance for pain and discomfort was sky-high. If I made it through a meal without needing to rush to the bathroom, that was a win for me.

It was around then that I decided enough was enough. I gave up Dr. Pepper (my favorite!) and all soda, stopped taking my medications, and things finally started to settle down. There may have been other factors at play, but after 24 years, some of the details have blurred.

Fast forward to 2012, after two pregnancies and two kids, and my Ulcerative Colitis was completely out of control. My doctor prescribed a biologic infusion, which meant monthly trips to the hospital where I’d sit through an infusion that lasted over three hours. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t speed up the process — and to make matters worse, it wasn’t working.

My doctor then recommended I try a new approach called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). I started it the week after Thanksgiving in 2014 and went cold turkey, cutting out gluten, grains, dairy, legumes, and added sugar — all at once. It wasn’t an easy transition, but eventually, it started to work. The process was full of trial and error, and over the years, I’ve learned to figure out what my body can handle and what it can’t. It’s all about balancing what discomfort I’m willing to tolerate. For example, if I eat gluten now, I get a migraine every time — definitely not worth it. But if I’m at the beach with my family, a small ice cream is a treat I’m willing to face the consequences for.

Last fall, I finally met with my new gastroenterologist in person, and the first thing I said was, "I do not want to take medicine." After years of managing my symptoms through nutrition, I felt confident, standing on my soapbox, saying, "I've got this!" She listened kindly but reminded me, "A lot has changed since 2000." I promised to stay open-minded. Fast forward to my colonoscopy in April 2024, and the news hit hard: not only was I in a flare, but I was also dealing with a Crohn's Disease flare.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, though it's most common in the small intestine and the beginning of the colon. Symptoms can range from abdominal pain and diarrhea to fatigue, weight loss, and malnutrition.

Hearing that I was in a flare and urgently needed to reduce the inflammation—only achievable with medication—felt like a dagger to the heart.

SIDE NOTE: This is where my frustration with the American healthcare system comes in. Insurance will gladly cover the costly treatments (you don't even want to know the price tag), but they won't pay for weekly consultations with a dietitian to help me optimize my diet.

Though it's too late to shorten this journey, I can tell you that since June, I've undergone three infusions and now use an on-body injector every eight weeks. Does this mean I can eat whatever I want now? Absolutely not. I can only imagine how much worse my condition would be if I did.

All of this brings me to Thursday night when I asked Danielle Walker, the queen of clean eating, "How do you balance your desire to heal through food with the need to take medication to control inflammation?"

Her response was compassionate and insightful. She reminded me that while we can control what we put into our bodies, we can't control everything else—the air we breathe, the products we use, or the chemicals we're exposed to. The choice comes down to taking medication or facing something worse, like losing my colon or even risking colon cancer. It's that stark. So, I've made the best decision for myself and my family: to get healthy, stay healthy, and protect my future for as long as I can.