I had the wonderful pleasure of being a guest on my good friend Abby’s Eczema Podcast!
She is a registered Holistic Nutritionist and she is doing amazing work on her website, Prime Physique Nutrition. Abby interviews people in the field of healthy living who offer information, advice, personal accounts on eczema and natural alternative ways for healing. I had the great opportunity of sharing my journey with her on her most recent podcast.
This podcast was filmed in December 2014, and the only updates that I have since then is that my diet has transitioned to a completely plant based vegan diet, I’ve implemented some rebounding exercises to help with blood circulation & stimulating the lymph system and that the state of my feet are doing much better than when this was shot a few months ago!
I had such a great time being interviewed and sharing what I’ve learned with Abby. She’s such an inspiration in how she has battled through her eczema to come out on the other side of it all and become a Holistic Nutritionist to help others! I’m thankful for having this experience, and being able to connect with such an wonderful person. 🙂
I haven’t taken a good close up photo of myself in quite awhile, and since my face has been so great I decided to celebrate that!
My skin has been doing really great lately… literally from my ankles up are clear and doing very well. I’m still experiencing some itchness on my hands, lower part of my arms and lower part of my legs, but its becoming less and less in severity as I heal. I keep telling myself, “it’s just my feet left, just my feet! Keep on pushing, continue staying faithful and positive.” It’s amazing when I look back to photos, especially from 2009 when I was at my lowest point as far as physical and mental health. I had months of chemo behind me, my hair was super short from chopping it off due to some of the hair loss I was experiencing, I barely had any eyebrows from scratching them off, my skin was brittle, super dry & itchy, dark and gray. I had lost a significant amount of weight… the lowest I’ve ever been and I was just so unhappy with life, but trying to force on a smile. You can see more photos of my transformation on the My Story page. Now my skin is better than ever, (although its still got a tiny bit more to go) and I know that besides withdrawing from the topical & injected steroids, implementing my plant based diet and whole food supplements have helped in assisting healing. My skin is so much healthier, my gut health is amazing, the whites of my eyes are brighter, my hair is stronger and shinier and even my nails are stronger! I attribute this all to living holistically and feeding my body the best possible nutrients to heal through this process. 🙂
Currently, I’m still sticking it out at home… my feet are still in recovery mode (still slightly oozy, swollen at times, and I have this super painful sore on the BOTTOM of my foot… ugh) which makes it hard to put on socks and shoes because they will confine my foot to a tight space and irritate them which will set back the progress I’ve made thus far. Although this is the current situation I’m in, I’m still pushing through everyday, and giving thanks for this process. I’ve seen the transformation with my own eyes, and I have pictures to prove it… just that alone gives me gratitude. It shows that as everyone likes to say, “healing happens” it just takes time… but when you can look back and see the transformations… it’s just amazing!
So yea, I’ve been feelin’ myself a lil, and I wanted to show off my most recent photo of myself! ❤
Overtime, I’ve truly learned to accept the process, surrender to it and keep the faith. In this I’ve learned to love myself in whatever state I’m in at the moment, and know that I will only be better and better as time goes on!
Topical Steroid Withdrawal is a process that will not only transform your body for the better as you physically heal from the toxins of the steroid use, but it will also test you mentally and emotionally. Many warriors have gone through the trials of depression while healing and have found ways to cope, stay strong and to keep pressing on. I felt that it would be a great idea to reach out to those on the facebook groups, itsan.org forum, and to those who have already healed from eczema and get their accounts on how they got through the dark time in their lives.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
I like to check out Joel Osteen’s sermons often to keep me inspired and encouraged. Today, in the late morning hours as I was trying to fall back asleep, I decided to listen to one of his recent sermons. Most days I sleep fairly well, but the itchiness on my feet was taking over, and it had been keeping me up for a while. Time continued to pass and by this time it was 10 am and everyone else was awake, so of course the outside noises were also halting my sleep.
It always seems that whenever I check out one of his messages, it always hits home, and seems to fit perfectly for my life. I’ve been going through topical steroid withdrawal for a while now, with breaks off and on, and as positive as I can be, weariness can set in from time to time. I’ve accepted a long time ago that healing from eczema would take some time, and it gives me solace to hear sermons like this one… to make me feel that it will all be for my benefit in the end. I know that my body has been transforming, and I’ve become healthier and healthier. And I know that when I am in those “dark places” that there will be light, and that what I’m going through is only temporary and will ultimately make me a stronger, healthier person.
I especially love his metaphor of the seed… a seed being planted in the dirt (a dark uncomfortable place), then stretches itself and grows into a beautiful flower. “You’re not buried you’re planted… Like that seed your potential is about to be released. You’re not only going to come out, you’re going to come out baring much fruit. Better, stronger, fully in blossom.”
“You’ve gotta go through the sickness to get to the fresh anointing, the new beginning.”
The blessing is in the breaking.
The brokenness is only temporary!
In the Bible, David said, “God enlarged me in my distress.”
The dark places are opportunities to grow.
“If you go through the dark places with the right attitude, you’ll see exclamation points coming your way. The surpassing greatness of God’s favour”
I hope that this sermon can give you inspiration to keep on pushing through, and to know that this struggle, or any struggle for that matter will turn you into a stronger person. 🙂
Healing is not only a physical process, but an emotional and mental one. If there’s anything that I’ve learned with battling cancer and now pushing through TSW, is the importance of keeping a good, hopeful attitude and having positive thoughts of affirmation. In dealing with different situations, the way we think and the words we speak into existence can either have a negative or positive effect on our bodies in so many ways…
This TSW process can tend to break one down on so many levels, making it hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes, and hard to not fall into the depths of depression. I’ve found that reading inspirational books have gotten me through the rough times and have changed my whole perspective on this situation and life in general. I just started reading this book called When Your World Falls Apart – Seeing Past the Pain of the Present by a pastor named Dr. David Jeremiah (what an intense title eh? lol) and he talks all about his trials and tribulations of going through cancer and the lessons that it taught him, as well as stories from others going through rough times. He likes to call these trials “disruptive moments”.
This passage, quoted from a British journalist named Malcolm Muggeridge stuck out to me: “As an old man, looking back on one’s life, it’s one of the things that strikes you most forcibly – that the only thing that’s taught one anything is suffering. Not success, not happiness, not anything like that. The only thing that really teaches one what life’s about – the joy of understanding, the joy of coming in contact with what life really signifies – is suffering, affliction.”
The lessons that I have learned going through this TSW experience as well as having Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer a few years back are:
That my body is truly my temple and I have to treat it with respect and love, and really pay attention what I’m putting into/on it. That this is a wake up call to always treat my body right, always striving to be as healthy as possible.
That my body is amazing at healing and repairing on its own.
To have more empathy and compassion for those suffering because I know what it’s like to suffer.
I’ve become more spiritual in this process, just really holding onto my faith like I never have in the past.
That I am so much more than just my external appearance.
And last but not least patience, patience, patience.
*Feel free to comment on what lessons were learned in your times of suffering ❤
I had just realized that around this time last year I was finally coming into a break from my summer long flare. I had been housebound for most of the duration of my flare, and actually moved from North Carolina to New York at the end of August. From then up until October I had been housebound. It was so frustrating because I was finally back in my favourite city, and all I wanted to do was be out and about and live my life. Once I started to see that the hell was ending for a little while I was motivated to feel normal and live my life again. At the time I was working on this blog, but didn’t have enough information yet to really make it live. My cousin actually encouraged me to document my experience of “leaving my apartment for the first time” (lol) and to post it on my blog. It’s hard to describe the experience in words, but I try to in this little journal entry that I’d like to share with you all…
I had planned to put an update with pics of the month of September, but if anyone is interested, they can check out my pics in the PHOTOS section where I have the progress documented by each month. So I guess I’ll just go into how I’m currently doing, physically and emotionally as I’m now in my 32nd month of topical steroid withdrawal…
So I’ve been going on the http://www.itsan.org forums a lot lately, and it’s been helping to talk to others that are going through this topical steroid withdrawal process as well. Everyone is all trying to just relieve themselves of this horrendous disease called eczema, and reading about others struggles and journeys helps to put it all in perspective, lets me know that I’m not alone in this, and helps to make me feel like there is a community of supporters all rooting for one another. I was feeling reaaaalllly crappy this past week from going through yet another bad flare this summer and was feeling like venting. The response I recieved from the other members was so encouraging and filled with love that I instantly felt better, and it gave me the boost to keep on keepin’ on. I encourage anyone struggling with withdrawing from topical steroids, to check out the site, and join the forum. There’s a lot of great info that’s being shared on there, and the community of other TSWers makes you feel like you’re not the only one in the world struggling right now 🙂
Eczema Holistic Healing 