If you’re looking for easy natural detox protocols to reboot your whole body, look no further.  Rather than a couple days of “cleansing” that leave you drained and mentally burnt out, you can continue these protocols for years to keep your body functioning at its very best, clear of the toxins that make you sick and tired.

When I first got my cancer diagnosis and began jumping into learning all about it (and all the alternative treatments that so many people have used to treat it), I started running into the same overarching principles over and over again.  One of those words I kept running into (no matter how the doctor recommended you do it) was “detox.”

This is sort of a cheap word nowadays in the world of health and wellness.  It’s so trendy to “detox.”  Most people think of this as a very short-term “cleanse” that is very difficult, totally disrupts normal life, and causes you to lose 5-10 pounds quickly (which you usually just gain right back!).

The detox idea I’m speaking of requires a little bit of persistent work over a long period of time for results that last!  I mean saying goodbye to chemicals, molds, parasites, metals, and viruses that cause subtle, underlying health problems.  These aren’t things that clear the body in a week.  They take time.  However, I’ve found my detox protocols to be rather enjoyable!  Yes, they are time intensive, but they make me feel great.  So great that I keep on doing them! [Read more…]

The best way to prevent cancer naturally is to never get it!  Read my thyroid cancer story to find out how I (likely) got cancer and how you can prevent cancer naturally in just three steps.

If you’ve been following along with me on Instagram, Facebook, or my email newsletter, you probably have heard by now that I have thyroid cancer.

Back in August, I had a biopsy performed on a small but suspicious thyroid nodule.  It came back with 95% certainty of papillary carcinoma.  While I somewhat expected this diagnosis, I was still a bit dumbfounded.  I had just spent the summer working with a functional medicine doctor, and I felt better than I ever have in my whole life.  My doctor said I was “halfway to healed” with regard to my thyroid.  I was even off my thyroid medication for the first time in five years!

And now, the suggested treatment for thyroid cancer is to remove half of my thyroid.  And that’s really it.  Probably go back on medication for forever, but no chemo.  No radiation.  Just a surgery, probably a week’s recovery, and back to life.  Not that terrible by a long stretch when you consider other, “big” cancers.

Except that I sing.  A lot.  My degree is in singing.  I have been teaching voice for 15 years.  I perform somewhat regularly.  Singing is probably my greatest earthly joy.  When I sing, I feel SO alive!  And thyroid surgery is somewhat risky for a singer.   [Read more…]

If you’re struggling with a chronic illness and can’t find the help you need with allopathic medicine, it could be time to find a functional medicine doctor.  Read below for tips to find a functional medicine doctor, what to expect, and the ten symptoms that disappeared as I began healing my thyroid naturally.  

My Journey to Healing My Thyroid Naturally

Back in June, I started working with a functional medicine doctor.  I had wanted to see one for quite a while as I tried to recover and heal from my thyroid issues.  (You can read how this all started right here.)

Find a Good Doc who Gets Me

I ran across a list of good thyroid doctors and found one that was located just a couple of miles from my house!  His bio hooked me right in–a former ER doc, who started having thyroid symptoms, who quit his work as an ER doc to take a deep dive into getting better personally, and becoming a functional medicine doctor.  Finally!  A doctor who believed healing was possible. [Read more…]

Looking for natural assistance for your seasonal allergies?  This DIY essential oil allergy recipe is my favorite, easy blend using common and inexpensive essential oils.  

It seems like all I have to do is flip the calendar to May, and my allergy season begins!  Is anyone else with me?  

As a kid, I never had a single allergy.  I had no clue what some people suffer (and for some people, more than one season!).  And then, after college, I moved to Michigan.  And I got lambasted.  My eyes were so red and itchy that I could hardly wear my contacts anymore.  It felt like a yucky, months-long cold!  What the heck? 

A little over a year later, we moved to Colorado, and my allergies were still present (although not quite as bad). I had hoped the move would solve the problem! [Read more…]

It is the most wonderful time of the year!  Twinkly lights and (almond milk) egg nog and shopping (in my pj’s ‘cuz let’s be honest online shopping is the best) and family time and Christmas trees!  Ask anyone who knows me, and they can tell you that I’m CRAZY about Christmas.  I just LOVE it.  For me, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.  Except when it’s not because YOU ARE SICK!

Now, I hesitated to write this post because I am just getting over being low-level sick for about six weeks!  Totally weird!  I am not generally sick!  And, if I do get sick, I am often over it in 24-48 hours.  So, what the heck?  And I was feeling a bit hypocritical to write a post on how to not get sick when I was hacking up a lung for forever!

However, I like being honest.  I don’t have it all together.  I still deal with an autoimmune disease, and it does flare up (like right now when I’m in a particularly busy time of work).  And I still get sick sometimes.  As much as I do all.the.things to try to avoid it, it does happen.  BUT, I do think I avoid a vast amount of viruses (or beat them off quickly) because I do have a game plan for cold/flu season that works well for me. [Read more…]