OUR STORY
ON JANUARY 1ST, 2020...
I had an allergic reaction to an injection and went into shock. The 6 days that followed were some of the scariest, and most painful of my entire life.
My mouth was like cotton. I couldn’t chew or swallow food, and I couldn’t even sit down, let alone sleep. I spent all day and night pacing, and shaking and panicking. My nervous system was in chaos, and we had no idea what to do.
Our insurance had just lapsed, and I refused to get into the car to go to the ER because I didn’t want the $15,000 medical bill that would come with it. I lost 25 pounds in that week alone. After a week of suffering, we were finally able to get in to see a doctor, and with the help of sleep medication, I was able to sleep for the first time in 7 days. I thought I was through the worst of it, and I had never been so relieved and grateful in my entire life.
I was back to normal for about 2 weeks, then, one day, I triggered into a massive panic attack, and my whole body went numb. Then, in the weeks and months that followed, I spiraled into a painful trauma cycle. As many of you may know, surviving a medical crisis can cause severe nervous system dysregulation and trauma, and it rocked my world. I would spend hours working to calm my body down enough to fall asleep, only to be jolted awake 20 minutes later in a complete panic.
My best friend flew in to stay for a week to help care for me around the clock. I experienced time loss, dissociation, and was in constant distres. My mind was plagued with thoughts that I couldn’t go on living like this, and that my husband and sons would be better off without me. In tears, I warned my husband that I couldn’t be trusted to be left alone.
I began taking several medications in hopes of controlling these unpredictable and painful symptoms. Unfortunately, those medications lowered my ALREADY LOW blood pressure, and on February 26th, the FIRST TIME Kyle had gone back to work in 7 weeks, I fainted while walking to the bathroom, and broke my wrist on the tile floor. I had never struggled with high levels of anxiety or panic before, but I was now living in a constant state of fear and pain.
By the end of March:
* My hair was falling out in handfuls.
* I had a broken wrist.
* I had lost the ability to drive, and was agoraphobic to the point where not only could I not leave the house, but I struggled to even leave my bedroom.
* I was experiencing health anxiety and hypochondria. I had constant, intrusive thoughts about having a brain aneurysm, cancer, or a heart attack. But the heart attack fear was mostly due to the fact that I had a racing heart rate ALL day EVERY day…
* My heart physically hurt for months.
* I developed a fear of taking medication of any kind, and constantly worried about taking the wrong combinations of medications.
*I was also scared of taking ANYTHING new for fear that I would have another allergic reaction.
* I began experiencing “time loss” and my short term memory was failing. My husband had to take over the task of administering all of my prescription medications to prevent me from overdosing by accidentally taking two doses of the same thing …back to back.
* I couldn’t watch TV, movies, or EVEN scroll social media for fear that I would see a trigger that would send my system into a panic cycle that would last hours, and sometimes even an entire night.
My world got smaller and smaller, and I didn’t see any way out. I was mentally gearing up for life as a homebound invalid. Kyle searched high and low, and was able to find and adopt a golden retriever to be my emotional support dog. (That's Kevin, and he brought light and joy to our whole household.) I decided to cut what was left of my dry, thinning hair into a pixie cut and did my best to make peace with my situation, but the panic attacks and sleepless nights kept coming… At this point, it had been six months since this all began, and Kyle and I were both weary, exhausted, and longing for real solutions.
Then, something happened that changed everything for us. A family friend reached out to Kyle and told him about a woman that, in his words, “had completely saved his life.” She had been working with clients here in Arizona for over 30 years, and after just a few sessions with her, our friend had overcome some serious mental and physical health challenges.
She had a pretty substantial wait-list for an appointment, but we got on her emergency cancellation list and crossed our fingers. Once I started working with her, the progress came swift and steady. Within two sessions with her, I was sleeping through the night. After three sessions, I was able to drive again, and by my sixth session, I was firmly back in what I call the "Seat of my Soul." To say we were relieved would be the understatement of the century!
After my 7th session, I made the decision to wean off of all of my prescriptions (with the knowledge and oversight of my doctor, of course). And day by day, I slowly came home to myself. We'd be lying if we implied that weaning off of my prescription meds was a walk in the park, because it was definitely its own chapter of horrible, but my newfound mental strength and clarity allowed me to continue the weaning process despite its inherent challenges. When I was fully off of all medications and feeling strong and stable, it was an incredible feeling! I can honestly say that not ONE day goes by where I don’t feel deep gratitude for the ability to chew, swallow, sleep, drive a car, or even be able to simply sit still and watch a movie with my family.
And, for those of you who are wondering: YES, my hair grew back in… strong and healthy! I was later invited to train and certify under this amazing facilitator. I gratefully accepted, and have never looked back! After training and certifying directly under this mentor, I began taking clients of my own, and it has been such a privilege to be part of the healing journey of so many others. These methods and techniques worked for me. They consistently work for my clients, and they can work for you too.
These methods are science-based and evidence-backed, and we're excited that you found us over here in our corner of the interwebs! Kyle and I have become deeply passionate about helping others overcome severe nervous system dysregulation, and that passion has been the catalyst for this website housing a collection of the many tools we used to help bring my nervous system back from the brink of chaos and suffering.
