That First Year
When I was first married, I remember it being a hard year. A year that would never end. The stresses of getting to know each other were exaggerated by a number of things, but what stands out the most now, were of the health issues I didn’t realize I had. The physical symptoms were showing loud and clear, but I just pushed them aside again and again.
When I first started working in the small town I’m in now, I was the only Speech-Language Pathologist around. I worked in the school full-time, helped part time in a long term care facility when I could, and even attempted working in home health. Needless to say I tried to do it all, and eventually pushed myself over the edge. I am my dad’s daughter - a true work-a-holic. I didn't realize how overly stressed my body was as the physical symptoms continued to worsen.
I Could Tell Something was Wrong
Something from within was wreaking havoc on my ability to work at optimal levels. When I woke up in the morning I was exhausted. I lived off of caffeine, and a diet I thought was working. My adult acne started to shine through like never before, and I would often cry on my way to work just by looking at it in the mirror. After a day's worth of work, I would often curl into a ball on my couch and hide my face from the light. These “funks” I so named, would come and go without warning. And then being emotionally taxed and completely worn out from the day, I would lie in bed for what seemed like hours most nights - NOT able to sleep. Something had to change.
After a year in a half of marriage, I decided to get down to the root cause of my issues. I had tried to stifle these symptoms for far too long - they just kept growing into new more consequential symptoms. I may have looked OK on the outside, but the physical symptoms interrupted every aspect of my life. What I didn’t realize is that the underlying issues were greater than I could ever have imagined.
Fast forward my health journey one year. I was a new person. Not perfect, just new. My physical issues had subsided for the most part, and my emotions were slowly rebuilding. The iceberg of symptoms I had been stifling started to shrink.
I look back now at my journey and take for granted what I now know. I have made it my mission to serve other moms who try to do it all. Our kids benefit from our healthy actions and routines just as much as we do.
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