I was a fully functioning mom on the outside but on the inside…  I was a total mess.

I struggled my entire childhood with my weight and spent many countless hours at doctors and hospitals with “diagnosed asthma”, sinus infections, and several episodes of pneumonia. Steroids, inhalers, decongestants, pain relievers… I took them all.

I remember when my parents divorced and my stay at home mom quickly became a single, working mom with 6 young children. Life as we knew it… had changed. Along with the physical changes came the emotional changes as well.

Mom took classes during the day and worked the graveyard shift so she could put food on the table. And at 11 years old, I found myself bathing babies, cooking meals, cleaning the house, coloring eggs, wrapping presents, etc. I saw the need and tried to fill it.

At the age of 12, I was diagnosed with scoliosis and due to the severity of it, I had to wear a full back brace 24 hours a day – through Jr High and High School.  The doc informed my mother that I probably wouldn’t be able to carry children.

For the next 6 years, I was treated like a handicapped individual. At times I was laughed at and talked about. Mentally & physically… I was a mess.

Fast forward…

I had my first child at age 19 and was immediately diagnosed with cervical dysplasia (a precancerous condition) and had to undergo cryosurgery. I had my second child and spent the next few years battling alcohol and tobacco addictions that I allowed in my life to mask the physical and emotional pain I was hiding behind.

I went to college and quickly landed a job in the corporate world. To my detriment, I was a people pleaser and often struggled with limiting my availability to others. This led to neglect of my own health and physical well being. I didn’t eat right and I wasn’t getting much sleep at all.

At the age of 26, I was pregnant with my 3rd child and during this pregnancy after many tries, I was able to stop smoking.

In April, after his birth, my health spiraled downward. I was put on birth control pills and within weeks I went to pick up the baby from his playpen and I had severe pain down my left arm and was brought to the ER. I was told I had experienced all the symptoms of a stroke.  I asked about the pills I was taking and was told they were not a problem at all. With no answers as to what had happened, or why, I was sent home. For the next 6 months I experienced migraines & blurred vision. I didn’t even want to leave the house. I sought answers from doctors who sent me to an optometrist and neurologist. Nothing. In December of that year, my New Year’s resolution was to stop taking the pills. So I did. All symptoms left with the pills!

Throughout all of this, I was experiencing severe back pain from the scoliosis. I would lose feeling in the entire right side of my body while driving, standing in line at the grocery store, taking a shower, etc. It was horrible and I had no idea what was happening…so I panicked. My husband was taking me to the emergency room more often and it seemed to be a normal thing for them to check my oxygen and send me home. I started walking out myself. Again… no answers.

It was around this time we moved. I couldn’t stand for more than 10 min at a time without ending up on the floor in tears. I was working from home for a big company in Boston and I stopped driving because I was afraid.

I had to keep going, with so much on my plate. I was miserable and figured this is just how it was going to be. Over the years, we had more kids (7 total). We started homeschooling, got involved in a church and while my husband worked full-time, I ran a freelance design business from home.

Yeah… I was super busy. Barely 4 hours of sleep a night and lucky if I ate one meal a day.

I needed help but everyone I thought could help me had no answers. This was just how it was going to be.

Then I met Dr Jen…a chiropractor. She was more interested in trying to help me then I was in letting her touch me to be honest. But I seriously had nothing to lose.