I thought life followed the path of a basic roller coaster: there was the big, scary climb, the stomach-in-the-throat descent, and the forgettable moments after to bring the ride to an end. Subconsciously I felt that I had gone through my fair share of trials and tribulations (I know that’s ridiculous) and I expected my journey to be smooth sailing from here on out.

I’d already written books about the crazy parts. I mean, COME ON!

I am an avid yogi, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and meditate daily (almost) . I don’t even drink anymore. Nothing could thwart my way forward in this big, beautiful world.

Wrong again.

The past six years I’ve dealt with numerous health issues. Each attributed to the fact that I’m “sensitive” or that I simply caught every little thing that went around.

The more exotic the diagnosis, the less I repeated it to other people and the more I felt that Western Medicine was truly flawed. I didn’t want to identify with a diagnosis. I knew this wasn’t me.

We all have unique immune systems, but I do not think that I am a of unicorn. Even if I am the canary in the coal mine for a lot of things, there must be plenty of other people effected by the same things. People who are searching for a diagnosis. Or people who have been asymptomatic until a big diagnosis hits them and they become aware of how their immune system had been shut down for some time.

The end of the six year period of illness culminated in several series of intravenous iron treatments. Each made me successively worse. No one knew how I was losing blood in the first place. But the Hematologist never dug deeper.

I would spend a couple hours at the infusion center (the chemo treatment area of the hospital) then drive in a thick haze back to Los Angeles. I’d sleep nearly nonstop for over a week, only waking up to order food. If I made it to the store to grab food, I’d whimper on the way home and then nearly collapse back onto the sofa, exhausted from the exertion it took to drive a mile. I didn’t have the energy to even put the groceries away.

The sicker I felt, the more I slept. The more I slept, the worse I felt. I had to stop working (couldn’t even muster up the energy to work remotely.)

I gave up several of the yoga classes I taught weekly.

And forget about any plans with friends. Simply leaving my cellphone on was stressful.

What if someone asked me to do something?

What if someone asked me how I was?

I felt I was dying, slowly, without the energy to negotiate with the reaper.

I struggle with lying (it makes me uncomfortable) so an internal battle ensued in response to these wellness checks: mixing how-to-phrase-this-so-I-don’t-alarm-you with a hint of optimism.

There were moments of fleeting elation most frequently following visits to my longtime kinesiologist. He would work his magic and delve into another issue that had reared its head since our last visit. Little things kept increasing in severity: from an increasing number of food allergies old illness activations. Each time the diagnosis got more significant: reactivation of Epstein-Barr, multiple fungal infections, chronic illnesses and viral infections. For a doctor who isn’t phased by even the most severe conditions, he seemed worried. His smiles looked less optimistic and more “I feel for ya, Kid.” I could tell he wanted to fix the root problem, but every time something came up for me that he was able to calm down, a new issue popped up in its place. We were playing wack-a-mole.

I told him I felt like I was being poisoned.

As he left the room one morning, he stopped in the doorway to ask me if we’d tested my apartment. Not too long after, the verdict was in. My apartment was infested with toxic mold and my immune system wasn’t able to fight off the biotoxins.

Several months later, loads of stuff lighter & miles away from the mold…

Along with needing to move immediately, I also had to get rid of ALL of my things.

The upside?

Within weeks of vacating the apartment I lost all the weight I had gained without any change in diet and having stopped all exercise completely. Also, with the help of my doctors I was beginning to gain some vitality back.

And now?

As I continue to feel better and better, it’s time for me to reach out and share some of the knowledge I’ve acquired along this health journey so far. Hopefully allowing somebody, somewhere to expedite their journey to health. I have a pocket of knowledge to impart on the world, particularly the world of chronic illnesses.