Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: How to Finish?

I’m in a unique position. But not in a position many of you have not been in or will be in. Today I was contemplating life choices. I lost my mother to pneumonia earlier this year. She was 80 years old. She had a host of health problems from atrial fibrillation, diabetes, high blood pressure, crippling arthritis, chronic acid reflux, and the list goes on. I spent many years helping her through these debilitating conditions.

What occurred to me today was that I was in that middle place – 30 years to 80 and 30 years from 20. In the past, I agonized over how quickly time is going by and how now I am in the place where I am not very far off from the final years of my life. But then I thought this morning that I am in a very important stage of my life too. How to finish?

But here’s the thing. I looked back to see what I could have done in the last 20 years to prevent some of the illness I am facing now. And unfortunately, I really didn’t realize the damage my indulgences were going to cause me down the road. Not regulating blood sugar, checking hormone health, including nutrient dense foods, managing stress (not being a “wonder woman”) and other important life choices were not on my radar when I was 20. I thought I was pretty healthy. I was athletic and active. I enjoyed any food I wanted. I loved coke and burritos. I did fine on that diet (well so I thought – I was in denial). I also didn’t have the excuse people do these days. The science is out (this is just one example). Gluten is going to cause you problems. Keep up the gluten laden diet you are on and you will likely create a leaky gut which may then trigger an autoimmune disease of your very own – if you don’t have one diagnosed already. And, if you already have one, you will likely continue to see new autoimmune diagnoses in your lifetime until you end up like my Mom, bless her heart, with no clue as to how to stop the disease process other than the management system the conventional medicine model adheres to with drugs which cause side effects, which cause other possible drug dependency. My mom was on at least 15 drugs at one time. She was so responsible to “take care of herself” by taking them on schedule, without fail, every day, and usually every meal. I admired her for that but I can’t help but wonder how much of her disease process was triggered by food choices over the years. After hearing stories of reversal just from food choices by others with the same conditions, I am convinced a serious healing diet could have spared her much of her pain, and saved her from many medications and side effects.

So here I am beginning my 50’s. I have yet to go on a regular prescription drug other than my natural thyroid and asthma inhalers which are currently being minimized and hopefully eliminated by natural interventions. But the thought comes to me now: What can I do to turn this process around?

Well, with the great resources available to us today, those questions are now very much at our fingertips. In fact this week, the world’s very first and FREE online Gluten Summit is going on. Today is a special day for me at the Summit. The reason is because the author of the GAPS diet which turned my life around is interviewed by Dr. Thomas O’Bryan – Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. I remember the first time I heard about the Summit about a month ago. I got teary eyed when I saw the list of people he would be bringing in for these interviews! For the general public to get this information at their fingertips (literally), was so hard for me to believe. And this week has not disappointed at bit. The first two days were absolutely phenomenal and I am soaking in every moment.

I have much more capability to understand how to finish than my Mom did based on the knowledge of today which was not available to her. Am I going to take advantage of it? I hope so. And we each need to make that decision for ourselves. This week is an opportunity to bask in the information to help us prevent disease and/or reverse some of the damage we have already experienced.

So, join me at the Gluten Summit or better yet, take it slow, consider buying the package deal they are offering right now so you can enjoy this information later and watch it more leisurely at your convenience. I plan on doing that too but I can’t wait to hear these interviews so I am catching them online for free now and then hope to absorb the information in a deeper way later.

I invite you to contemplate this question with me today. How will you finish? What steps must you take today to help for a better tomorrow in the things you can control? We know life will throw a number of wrenches in our plans but those things we can control will help us deal with those things we can’t much better.

I realize now that 30 years is a long time. It was enough time to get me to the ill effects of a bad American diet. So I think it follows that it is enough time to build a new diet which will be nutrient dense, all about eliminating the irritants in my control that caused disease to begin with, and hopefully the real chance to turn this ship around! My main resource at the moment is the book by Pharmacist Izabella Wentz (or eBook here) on these lifestyle interventions which turned her Hashimoto’s around. Will you join me?

Here’s to our healing journey!