Living Pain Free
Living Pain Free
Living well with chronic pain, was it possible?
I didn’t believe so…
Living pain free was no longer a goal. I had been living with inflammation, chronic pain and disappointments for years. I was seeing my doctors and specialists every 4 to 5 weeks. The multiple diagnosis’s and piles of medicine were taking their toll on my ability to live well. I was losing hope quickly.
I had lost my zest for life. I was simply surviving.
The Beginning Of The End
Holding Back The Tears
The summer of 2018 was incredibly challenging. I could no longer complete basic tasks without feeling incredible pain throughout my joints and limbs. At times the pain was nearly unbearable. What the world didn’t know was that I was taking breaks every few minutes to rest and at times getting assistance to walk. My normal was anything but.
Who would trust a skinny baker anyway, right?
My life was in stark contrast to what I imagined it would be. I was destined to be a baker and was on track to set the world on fire and achieve all my hopes and dreams. At an early age I was baking in New York City for the likes of Madonna, Mary Tyler Moore, and countless others. I was not only gaining recognition for my baking acumen, I was gaining weight. The weight didn’t bother me, though. It was logical to me that being a plus sized baker made sense. Who would trust a skinny baker anyway, right? As the years wore on my weight neared 300 lbs and the inflammation and pain had taken up residency in my body.
Fixated On Pain
In recent years, everything I did was painful. Every thought was about my inflammation, about what was going on in my body, about pain. I was so fixated on it, I could no longer enjoy the basic things in life like a walk, the fresh air, the trees, the chats with the friends and family members and…baking.
Delivering Cakes Became Impossible By Myself
I started changing my daily routines because I knew it would flare me up. I was depressed and frustrated. I lost a part of myself, in part because I couldn’t do those things any more because of my chronic pain. I thought I would have to wait for the pain to be gone to engage in life again.
The Turning Point
My doctors were out of options and by the summer of 2018 my zest for life had dissipated. The re-branding of the bakery and the move to Omaha was a monumental success but I couldn’t enjoy any of it. If was simply living to survive another day.
In July of 2018, a dear friend of mine was passionate about her journey on KETO. In addition to losing weight she was experiencing other positive changes in her body. She strongly recommended that I try the KETO diet. My only thought was that I had nothing to lose because I was miserable. What happened next was unexpected.
Pain Free With Keto
Pain Free. Finally.
The goal of managing chronic pain is to alleviate the pain and I was hopeful that would be accomplished with some weight loss. I had no expectations beyond that. Over the next three months I dedicated myself to living the KETO lifestyle. I immediately experienced weight loss, my inflammation was dissipating, and my pain was lessening. For the first time in years I was hopeful.
On the morning of October 16th, I woke up pain free. It was the strangest sensation. I was anxious and uncertain altogether. Again the goal of chronic pain is all to often to alleviate pain but rarely to eliminate it. Was it really possible that living a healthy KETO lifestyle would help me lose weight and eliminate my chronic pain? I grabbed my phone and called my friend Monica to tell her the good news. Naturally, Monica was as confused as I was.
One Year Pain Free
I missed so much when my life was on hold.
Today marks the one year anniversary of being pain free. To date I’ve lost 100 lbs! No more doctor visits, no more medicine and no more pain.
Releasing of the balloons symbolized letting go of all the pain from my past.
Chronic pain really took a toll on me. I never got a break from it, there was no get-off point, the roller coaster never came to a stop. The anticipation was constant, the end point nowhere in sight, the uncertainty difficult to bear. My Keto journey changed all of that.
My zest for life is back with a vengeance! My bucket list is always at my side and I’m determined to check off as many as I can. I’ve spent this past year catching up with family and friends. I’ve even traveled extensively and even zip lined which is something I only dreamed of doing before. I’m so grateful.
When my pain was at its worst, I thought it was the beginning of the end.
I had no idea.
