[vc_column][/vc_column]

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Join us for an interview with Dr. Tracy Alexis and discover how she has been able to manage through her journey with severe Interstitial Cystitis, Fibromyalgia, Vertigo, and Chronic Pain. This is Tracy’s Healthful StoryTM. Please note that the video may only play in landscape mode on a mobile phone.

[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/OPJTg7higPM” el_aspect=”43″]

[vc_column_text]

If you’d like to share your own Healthful JourneyTM, you can upload video here or e-mail contact@healthfulheroes.com to arrange a live half-hour interview.

>>>> Please consider supporting our Healthful MissionTM to share individual health journeys to inform, empower, and inspire by clicking here. <<<<

[/vc_column_text]

[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]

Navigate Tracy’s Journey with Interstitial Cystitis, Fibromyalgia, Vertigo, and Chronic Pain

00:10 About Dr. Tracy Alexis
00:22 Her Book: Interstitial cystitis: a Personal Journey of Complete Healing
00:45 Total bladder death
00:55 Symptoms like urinary frequency, retention, painful voiding
01:16 The cause: a horrific motor vehicle accident that I had been involved in just prior about 14 months prior
01:50 My bladder completely shut down and stopped working
01:56 I ended up with a horrific vertigo
02:27 Calcifications on the inner ear hair and the cochlear had broken off and started floating around very violently in the inner ear and it caused me to lose balance and have difficulty. Standing upright made me nauseous
03:34 It was extremely difficult to get a diagnosis
3:55 They gave me basically a hands-on toolkit not really any tools in it other than just some exercises I could do at home to help improve the auditory functioning in the inner ear
04:45 So pretty much my only option: it’s physical therapy it’s vitamin supplements, minerals herbs things of that nature so I dove right into the vestibular rehab exercises
05:34 Life was basically unlivable unbearable
05:45 I was getting up probably 20 to 25 times in an eight hour time span at night just to go to the bathroom
06:27 Fortunately I was asked to participate in a medical focus group on interstitial cystitis and i did share that with the medical doctors who had invited me as well as other interstitial cystitis sufferers to participate in that focus group and when they heard that not just from
me but also from other IC sufferers they became very alarmed that this was a disease that patients and people who have an
affliction of it would consider the alternative of not living
07:11 I was determined that I was going to heal myself
09:22 I’m happy and pain free today
10:10 The the focus shifts from being active and active and engaged participant in life to just survival mode for you
12:05 One of the things that they offered me was Flomax which is not FDA approved for women who have interstitial cystitis but the most qualified urologist in our state prescribed that for me
12:49 I then received pharmaceutical grade antibiotics and my main objection after I got off the 10 months of antibiotics was to begin rebuilding my body
13:14 Dietary changes as many interstitial cystitis sufferers are extremely sensitive to any type of food that is high in an acid content or high in oxalic
acid
13:47 I was next on a medication called Elmiron – I took only one pill and we later learned that Elmiron may cause macular degeneration
18:51 In the morning I start with a very strong probiotic to rebuild that gut health that I mentioned earlier
19:11 Then my toolkit also included Vitamin C coupled with a 4200 milligram cranberry fruit extract and it’s the combination of Vitamin C with the cranberry fruit extract that creates a hostile environment in the bladder for bacterial growth
20:24 Some interstitial cystitis patients will not be able to take the Vitamin C because it’s highly acidic and that’s the one thing that creates the burning sensation when we go to empty our bladder
20:48 I then added an alkaline tea
20:57 I mentioned that they did replace it with Ph protector drops which are available on swansons.com and they’re very affordable
21:38 Invest in over-the-counter test strips available at any pharmacy that test acidity/alkalinity of urine
23:09 Take one day at a time celebrate your small miracles whatever they may be
23:14 Sometimes it’s just getting up and getting out of bed is worth celebrating

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row text_align=”center”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_column][/vc_column]

[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Join us for an interview with Christina and discover how she has been able to manage through her journey with Lupus. This is Christina’s Healthful StoryTM. Please note that the video may only play in landscape mode on a mobile phone.

[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/te4i8ZrRFP0″ el_aspect=”43″ align=”center”]

[vc_column_text]

If you’d like to share your own Healthful JourneyTM, you can upload video here or e-mail contact@healthfulheroes.com to arrange a live half-hour interview.

>>>> Please consider supporting our Healthful MissionTM to share individual health journeys to inform, empower, and inspire by clicking here. <<<<

[/vc_column_text]

[/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]

Navigate Christina’s Journey:

My name is Christina. I am 32 years old living in Las Vegas. I have a 12-year-old son with Down Syndrome. I was diagnosed with Lupus two years ago. It took them 7 years to diagnose me.
 
In 2013, I had really bad stomach pains. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sit up. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t lift anything. I went to the ER. Christina’s gallbladder was leaking bile and so she had her gallbladder removed.
 
With pancreatitis, it happens because of binge drinking or cholesterol. Lipase helps regulate digestion. If it is elevated, it eats up your organs. It took a week to get my gallbladder removed. It was Thanksgiving of 2013. Thanksgiving dinner was beef broth and graham crackers that year. 01:35 There were two years where my stomach wasn’t in a lot of pain. In 2016, I was getting pancreatitis a couple times a month. My joints would swell up. I couldn’t walk easily. It would progressively get worse and worse from there. The stomach pain was a 9 out of 10.
 
The body pain was a 7. The two combined was too much to handle at times. At the ER, they wouldn’t prescribe pain killers. They would think I was drug-seeking. I take care of dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.
 
I would have to bring in my dad or male friend into appointments for me to be taken seriously. I had these problems as a kid. These pains were passed off as growing pains. Normal growing pains are legs, back, and shoulders. Not wrists and ankles. You doubt yourself and wonder if you are doing this for attention. The inflammation marker would come back normal, however the antibody test would always come back high.
 
So after 7 tests, the GI doctor told me to see your regular physician. My PCP indicated it was an immune disorder. The GI doctor told me I would have pancreatitis for life and I’d just have to deal with it.
 
I thought maybe there is no actual reason – maybe it is all in my head. Having my son to take care of, I can’t just live in pain all the time. You have to listen to your body when you can’t power through anymore. That’s when you really have to listen.
 
The rheumatologist said that I didn’t have lupus because the inflammation marker wasn’t high. My inflammation marker was not high. How do you explain a doctor specializing in lupus, that they are not empathetic to the journey? I will have said in my appointment that I don’t think you are listening. Certain vegetables may trigger a flare up.
 
Your whole body starts to be in pain. I can’t eat onions anymore. I can’t eat eggplant. They said that is because of pancreatitis. You want your doctor to care and it doesn’t feel like they do.
 
So you finally got the lupus diagnosis. I was told that you have to change your diet, lifestyle, and job. That’s what the doctor told me. I am allergic to a lot of different medications. The normal treatment for lupus are steroids and ibuprofen, however I couldn’t take those.
 
I went with an alternative treatment called plaquenil. You may never be able to run a marathon. I now see the benefits of the plaquenil.
 
It does help. It is a little harder on the body than the NSAIDs. It is a little harder on your stomach. I will try anything safe that will work to get some kind of relief to feel like a human being again. I missed working. It was a really tough eight months without treatment. I managed through the pandemic over Zoom. I tried to do a lot of self-care.
 
I tried to get a good routine going. I would try to talk to anyone who would listen. Coffee helps with headaches – it works for me every time. I am lucky to have a really good support system that will constantly remind me to take a step back. I wasn’t really willing to admit that I needed help. I had  to remind myself to take a break. You have to be very honest and open with your village so that they can help you. If we are open and we share, we might get some information that will help.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row text_align=”center”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

*Betsy's Healthful Journey™ through Stage IV Cholangiocarcinoma

*Betsy's Healthful Journey™ with Cholangiocarcinoma

Join us for an interview with Betsy and discover how he has been able to manage through her journey after diagnosis with Stage IV cholangiocarcinoma. This is Betsy’s Healthful Story™. Please note that the video may only play in landscape mode on a mobile phone.

Navigate Betsy’s Journey with Stage IV Cholangiocarcinoma

aneurysm
 
6:51 I was like the only patient in that wing of the hospital but I was pretty calm and they did a brain CT scan and they came back to me and they said we found something and those are the words I’ll never forget hearing we found something,,, some kind of mass… they decided to set me up with a neurosurgeon and send me home
8:33 It felt a lot like I pulled a muscle or something in my lower back like – by chronic do you mean constant it was just always always there… So a few weeks of consistent not severe but concerning back pain

Diagnosis

9:47 So I wouldn’t say the weight loss was unintentional but yeah it was certainly enough that a lot of people noticed and commented on it and you know some even you know thought it was too much weight but I was happy. I felt confident I felt like I looked good you know this was yeah how much weight had you lost over what period of time maybe 25 or 30 pounds over six months so not a huge amount

"The rug's been pulled out from under you and this has happened and what else is going to happen and you you're almost looking over your shoulder and I hadn't worked for a while and I felt like I had been in that cycle and getting back out there transitioning to working and not being all about appointments I gotta get here and do this"
Betsy

Medicine moving Quickly, Chemo the First Choice

Brain metastasis and FOLFOX Chemo
Navigate Betsy’s Journey with Stage IV Cholangiocarcinoma

Navigate Betsy’s Journey with Stage IV Cholangiocarcinoma

Our Latest Videos

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Support Our Healthful Mission™

At Healthful Stories, we believe in the power of sharing health journeys to inspire and empower others. Your kindness can make a difference by helping us collect, edit, and share these stories with the world. Whether through donating, volunteering, or sharing our mission, your support helps magnify our impact on those managing through illness.

HealthfulHeroes.com is maintained by Healthful Stories, Inc., a Seattle-based non-profit 501(c)(3) patient advocacy organization. This site is purpose-built to chronicle individual health journeys to inspire and empower, reducing global suffering, one life at a time.

CONTACT US

Would you like to share your Healthful Story™ managing through illness with the world or have a question for one of our Healthful Contributors™? Reach out via the form below - we look forward to making a connection! If you would like to partner with us, email us directly at contact@HealthfulHeroes.com! Thank you!

Sending

Our mission is simple: to respectfully and accurately chronicle indivdiuals journeys through illness to inform, empower, and inspire each of us on our journeys to better health. Our voices, together, can make a difference for each of us, and for each other. Thank you.

Our mission is simple: to respectfully and accurately chronicle indivdiuals journeys through illness to inform, empower, and inspire each of us on our journeys to better health. Our voices, together, can make a difference for each of us, and for each other. Thank you.

Log in with your credentials

Forgot your details?