Posts

Keynote Speaker Experience

/in /by

Me onstage

I was asked to be a Keynote Speaker at the recent Trinity School of Natural Health Legacy Summit. They asked me because I am an alumni and have spent many years expanding on what I learned at Trinity, as well as several other schools and programs . They also wanted me to be a speaker because I had opened a collaborative wellness center. They asked me to touch on how my health challenges brought me to the place I am today. Those health challenges became a catalyst to the journey that has become; Aqua Serene Wellness.

Our Building

I can tell you I was honored to be asked and terrified to do it. I have some fear of public speaking, but my real fear is of video cameras, or cameras of almost any type. That is a chapter in the story of my life best left for another time.

I am hearing impaired as well and this makes speaking a challenge due to not knowing how loud I am actually speaking. Over time you loose a little of your annunciation abilities. Top that off with a microphone and Oh My! I felt sure the Mickey Mouse and Charlie Brown’s Teacher voices in me would threaten to surface and spill directly out of my mouth!

They wanted a power point to be part of the presentation…did I mention I have NEVER made a Power Point? My computer has this ability, the little Icon has sat in the tool bar lonely as the neglected function keys on my keyboard.  I know they are available, but I don’t want to learn what they do.

Power point slide 1

As the time crept closer I knew I needed to start building at least the power point for them to review and tweak if necessary. I am proud to say they only tweaked some punctuation and changed a few words! I wrote notes for each slide, but this was my journey so it was not like I hadn’t lived it. I wasn’t too worried I would mess that part up.

ha ha alphabet soup

The day of the event came, my wonderful friend Leslie showed up at my house to drive me. She “crashed the event” as she so lovingly put it. She is also an alumni of Trinity and she has lived through many of my life challenges along side me, as well as being part of Aqua Serene Wellness.  She has a calm about her that you search for in a turbulent sea of worry. We headed to the conference and I made her promise to take me out for a drink after, no matter if I fainted and face planted on stage or did a decent job.

When we arrived the conference was running behind schedule so we waited outside in the hallway. My nerves were starting to get the best of me…all I could think about was everything that could go wrong. The camera, the sound, the powerpoint not working, boring the socks off the already brain fried attendees, aspirating and choking on a sip of water to keep my parched mouth wet….That saying from Anne Lamott goes through my head “My mind is like a bad neighborhood. I try never to go there alone”

The double doors to the conference room open up and the organizer comes out and apologized for their lateness. She ushers us into the room and introduces me to the sound tech.  I try to ignore the amount of attendees in the room and focus on the sound guy. There is a real stage, it is a bit daunting, a huge white screen for the projection of my power point, and a podium is set to the side with a built in microphone as well. The sound tech fits me with a portable headset microphone, adjusting it to fit atop of my hearing aid, avoiding feedback is tricky but he manages it. We go through the sound check and I step aside and wait my turn to take the stage.

My friend Genie (who arranged for me to be the speaker) came up to me and said in her beautiful accented voice, “ They want me to introduce you, I am nervous wreak! I don’t want to go on stage and speak! I am an English Challenged woman!” I laughed and said, “Genie you go to Toastmasters! You know how to do this stuff” She looked as pale as I felt! She took the stage, graceful and funny as I knew she would be. She introduced me and next thing you know there I am standing on stage with about 80 faces staring back at me. They were tired from two full days of classes. The pending stress of the next days practical exam looming over them, tough crowd and they were all mine for 30 minutes…Oh my.

can you see me squeezing the clicker!

I squeezed the clicker in my sweat covered palm too tightly,  hoping it didn’t shoot like a cannon ball out of my hand into the front row. Breathe Cindy, just breathe I told my body and mind to calm the heck down!

I don’t remember much of the first few minutes, my mouth was dry all of a sudden and my voice seemed shaky. I really couldn’t tell if the microphone was working, but I just told myself “This is Your journey, you know this stuff, tell them your story” So I did, with each slide I brushed the surface of a much deeper struggle than most realized. To tell my whole deep dark truth, I would need to write a book.

#truth

Once it was over they clapped! A few times during they giggled or nodded understanding. Afterwards some people came up to me and thanked me for speaking and they said they could relate to the health struggles and journey. It was that same thing that brought them to be in this program getting their diplomas.

Plus I got a really cool T-shirt!

I need to thank a few people that helped make the entire thing happen. Leslie of course for being my best girl. Michelle for giving me tips on how to build a powerpoint and for the use of her clicker. Tony because he is my North when I am all over the place, Genie and Judy for believing in me, Emily, Claudia, Tricia and Julie for proof reading my powerpoint, Greg for doing Psych-K and Acupuncture on me to help ease my fear of cameras and to speak. Lauren and Chris for taking the chance I wasn’t going to crash and burn on their stage, and the nice people in the room that came up and told me they enjoyed my presentation.  I want to acknowledge Sara Bee (not a person ) for her golden fizzy liquid contents of wine to calm my butt down while I was working on the powerpoint and notes. Jackson Browne for writing the lyrics to one of my life anthems “Next Voice You Hear” , and finally Nina Marie, my rescue Great Dane for listening to me practice my speech on her and kissing me when I was done.

Nina listening to me practice

Here are a few more photos of my presentation:

some of the rooms in Aqua before build out

Those same rooms after

I am glad I faced this fear and powered through. It was stressful but I feel like I have accomplished a step on the road to moving away from a very real fear (Cameras) and learning to handle my reaction to those triggers better.  Some day I will write that book, then maybe I can put the dark parts of my story to rest.

it is a lonely road but has the best view

Meanwhile you will find me at Aqua Serene Wellness doing what I have built a business doing; Colon Hydrotherapy, Holistic Facials, Energy Therapies, Raindrop Technique and Jin Shin Jyutsu®  We are located in Carmel Indiana and we also offer Acupuncture, Massage Therapy, Health Coaching, Functional Medicine, Coolsculpting, and organic products and supplements.

Mother’s Day

/in /by

Mother’s Day

Mom and I

The day we celebrate the person who sacrificed alcohol, cigarettes, Tylenol, hanging clothes on the line (old wives tail) and all around being a “normal” human being for 9 months so she could be a healthy host to us; the perfect little parasite!

Yes, for the majority of us we started out leaching nutrients, wreaking havoc, punching, kicking and growing inside our mother. We kept her up at night, caused her to throw up breakfast for a few months, demanded special food for her to crave at midnight, made her feet swell, her beautiful skin etch with stretch marks, her body to become uncomfortably large, her emotions to go wild and then into sheer panic on how and when the heck we would exit the facility!

That is the easy part of being a mother…

 

I have a mother and I am a mother.

It is the absolute hardest job in the world. There are no real requirements, degrees, certifications, or graduations to qualify you for this, on both ends of the spectrum, to be a mother or to have one.

First let me explain a bit about this day for my family and I. Mother’s Day has brought many tears to those I have loved. Both of my grandmothers and my mother in law all choose this day to take their Heavenly Journey. While the actual date differs yearly, the “day” still will always be Mother’s Day.

It has taken years to enjoy a Mother’s Day and not have that sadness take over, it still creeps in, but I have learned to make peace with it. Both of my grandmothers were older, in nursing homes and in poor health, but my mother in law was only 60 years old and it took us all by utter shock! I remember the day so vividly. My children had spent the night the evening before with her and their grandfather. We were all going to meet over at their house for lunch. My kids were 5 1/2 and 8 years old. They found her.  She had died suddenly that morning and our world was turned upside down. Explaining to my kids how Grandma was now an Angel was almost impossible. One thing that helped, she loved Angels and had them all over her house so this seemed to make sense to two little boys and for that I was grateful. Mother’s Day 1996 was by far one of the saddest days of our lives.

My youngest son with his Angel: Grandma Kaye 1992

Through the years my mom and I would joke about still breathing by midnight-01 and expelled a sigh of relief that we escaped the curse of Mother’s Day for yet another year. We have spent a lot of Mother’s Days together and they become more and more special as she ages into her mid 80’s. This year Mother’s Day brings the impending wait for her heart surgery to be scheduled. We both Thank God that regularly scheduled heart surgeries don’t take place on Sundays! She has asked for a date AFTER May 13th for the surgery just to be safer.

Mom and I Mother’s Day 2017

So having a mom comes with responsibility as well.

As children we worry them, as teenagers we make them angry and worry them, as adults we make them proud if we are lucky and still worry them. Then as time moves on we have to make decisions, medical, financial, caregiving, etc., that are difficult, and knowing “someday” is  getting closer and we have to prepare to say good bye and learn to live with them in our hearts…this also worries them.

Not to be too morbid of course, but to also honor a day that for many is filled with fancy dinners and flowers, for others it is a very hard day to get through. There are many among us who have lost our mothers and grandmothers. There are many who have lost children or cannot have a child and this day is extremely difficult.  We must remember to be gentle with people, we may not know or understand their story.

To BE a mother is a full bag of stuff as well.

My boys age 8 and 6

I have two boys that are now ages 27 and 30. Shortly after they lost their grandmother my husband and I got divorced. I became a single mom, although I had felt like one since they were babies. 

Being a single mom comes with all kinds of difficulty and rewards. As I look back on those times when it was just “us three” I am filled with good memories. I am surprised I managed so many things on my own. I taught them to drive a tractor, use a push mower and a weed-eater. I showed them how to make a fire and keep the wood burning stove going, use a power washer, power tools and more. They also learned to cook, use the washing machine and rescue and rehab dogs. We had so many fun times and so many nights I lay awake terrified I was screwing up.

Mother’s Day 2016 Daniel, Devin and I

Now that my kids are adults, I am thankful we still have each other, we have faced some very difficult times together, “us three”. I know I have messed up some along the way, I know I probably still will. It never stops, being a mom, the worry, the tears, the love…it doesn’t even stop once we are gone.

To quote Elizabeth Stone:

“Making the decision to have a child – it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ”

 I also was a stepmom for 9 years, which is a whole different kind of mom, for that you get a warrior badge! 

Here is wishing you all a Happy Mother’s Day and I hope you take the time to pat yourself on the back for being a mom and for having one!

Mom and I Mother’s Day 2014

We love having all Mother’s come to Aqua Serene Wellness for pampering anytime of the year. We are located in Carmel Indiana, home of the never ending Round-A-Bout!

Aqua Serene Wellness offers Colon Hydrotherapy, Digestive Support, Holistic Facial Services, Organic Skin Care by Dr. Hauschka, Energy Therapies, Massage, Acupuncture, Functional Medicine, Health and Wellness Coaching, Ionic Foot Detox and Coolsculpting® Services.

Check out our services here

Disclaimer: As always my blog is for educational purposes only. We do not offer medical advice, treat or diagnose. Check with your medical professional before taking any supplements or undergoing any treatments.

What Are You Willing to Do (Give Up) to Be Healthy?

/in /by

What are you willing to do to be Healthy?

This is a question a friend and I had sat and pondered with last week. We both have been in the wellness industry for many years. She is fitness, nutrition, healthy living and of course you all know my gig; gut health, skin health and supporting body systems with modalities I am trained in so they can do what they are designed to do.

We both have been having some lab work and testing done through the Certified Functional Health/ND  that works out of Aqua Serene Wellness. Rather convenient for me after all, she is right down the hall!

Lab results can be a real eye opener! I won’t go into personal detail about the specifics of myself or my friend of course, let’s just say it is full on serious mode over here to deal with it once and for all!

Finding out “you” may have some things out of whack i.e.: overgrowth of a bacteria, chemical exposure, gut lining issues, “friends” that have been stow-aways and not only don’t pay the rent, but steal nutrients from you, food sensitivities, and so on and on can really throw you for a loop. These are just some examples of what lab testing can uncover. 

You have to “walk your talk” so to speak and for the most part I do, however having specific information really helps.

It can be overwhelming at first, I mean you have already given up processed foods, conventional produce, inks, dyes and perfumes. Your grocery bill certainly reflects that, and going out to dinner can be such a PITA that by the time you have eliminated 90% of the menu, an over priced salad and H20 are all that is left…Hell with that! I will make a better one at home for half the cost, plus it will be organic!

Organic Salad From Home

 

The actual joy of going out is replaced by dread and despair. You look around the restaurant and see people eating fried baskets of onion rings, an IPA the size of your kids goldfish bowl, cocktails, wings, pasta, pizza, the house burger topped with gourmet mustard, a side of parmesan encrusted french fries, the food coma memories rush in like an old friend.

I sit there thinking don’t they know that all that grease, processed food and gluten is like a time bomb in their bodies? It is all about knowledge and choice right? Life is short and all those phrases, eat the cake, drink the wine…sure on occasion but not all the time. 

So what are you willing to do to be healthy is the million dollar (that I feel like I spent on organic food, skin care and supplements) question?

Supplements

Sit back a second, take a breath, it is all going to be ok. There are people and places and an internet full of ways to help you escape the room you unintentionally locked yourself in!

Let me interject some history here. I was a crunchy mom way before that term ever was invented. I had to order “green” diapers and safe chemical free baby clothes from a catalogue. There was no internet when I was pregnant and a new mom. I went to the only health food store in Indy at the time on the West side of town to buy food, sprouted spelt flour, baby wash and lotion. If they didn’t have it, I had my mom go to the Kent Co-Op in my home town and mail me stuff I couldn’t buy here. I ground up baby food, opted my kids out of most of their vaccines and had about the coolest pediatrician around. I actually threw that whole commentary in my youngest son’s face recently when I saw him light a cigarette! He is 27 now and you can only control what you can control…sigh.

Start with what you can replace given your budget. I don’t mean food, that is a must do and a no brainer. There are the dirty dozen and clean 15 foods list to help. GET EWG FREE GUIDE HERELook at your body wash, perfumes, deodorant, make-up, SPF, haircare, etc. Most of what is on the shelf is filled with petroleum chemicals, preservatives, sudsing agents, and more. Switch to safer organic products. You can check your products out HERE.

  1. What are you cleaning your house with, Chemicals?  You can replace almost everything with natural agents like white vinegar, organic cleaners (I use Thieves™ Cleaner) baking soda, etc. This will give you more money in your pocket for Organic food and skin care!
  1. Laundry? Step away from the fabric softener, it is full of all kinds of nasty stuff for you and the groundwater! Use wool balls for the dryer. (Keep them out of reach of your dog though, Nina our Rescue Dane LOVES these)
  1. Look out for synthetic dye filled vitamins, gummy chew probiotics, and sugar filled supplements. READ LABELS
  1. Do you spray tan, use chemically laden nail polish, dye your hair? There are organic options.
  1. The next time you remodel your house look for clay based low VOC paint, it is $$ but doesn’t emit dangerous chemicals long after it is dry either. Carpet and flooring can also be filled with chemicals.

Periodic Table

Do you remember the Periodic Table from chemistry class in high school or college? Relax there isn’t going to be a quiz, I am just mentioning it to jog your memory. It is quiet a useful tool even in  novice hands. It tells you a lot about the elements. One of the cool things you can find on it is the Mean Atomic Weight (A.W.) in amu’s (atomic mass units) A.W. =# of Protons + # of Neutrons in Nucleus of  an Atom.

Example: Hydrogen has 1 Proton, H is chemical symbol, 1.008 is A.W.  this happens to be the lightest element on the Periodic Table.

Oxygen has A.W. of 16, so H2O (water) is 2 Hydrogen atoms attached to an Oxygen atom~ H (2×1)+ (1×16)=18 amu. So the molecular weight of water is 18 amu easy peasy right?

Why on Earth am I telling you all this? Well, anything with an amu of less than 500 can pass through the skin and the blood brain barrier! What is the Blood Brain Barrier? The BBB (abv.) is a wall of capillaries and membranes that separate the passage of blood from nerve tissues of the brain. It prevents or slows the passage of certain substances. The BBB protects the brain from viruses, bacteria, and other disease causing organisms, some drugs and toxins.

So for example lets take Octane (C8H18) which is anywhere from 87% to 93% of your gasoline depending on what your car requires. Octane weighs in at 114, so how often do you get gas on your hands at the pump, let alone breathe in the vapor? How long until it has went from touching your hand to your brain? About 20 to 40 minutes.

Gas

So for fun check out the amu of some of the chemicals you are exposed to. You can google it, no need for a chemistry book now days.

Now that I have done the Nerd thing and explained some basic chemistry stuff it was not meant to startle you. It was to make you aware of the choices you make for you and your family. For example learning about molecular weight can help you better understand why essential oils work so well, they are small amu and make it to your cells quick and can do their thing.

So back to my list of what I am giving up at the moment:

  1. Dairy, but not eggs. Dairy is probably the hardest for me because I love cheese. I don’t drink milk but do like some cream in my coffee. We use coconut creamer now.
  2. Gluten, I also love bread and pasta but there are some good gluten free ones out there.
  3. My favorite mascara, I switched a while back to organic but on occasion I still throw on the one that doesn’t smear all over the place.

I had already switched cleaners, skin care, laundry soaps, refined sugars, deodorants, perfumes a long time ago. We sell Ambre Blends and I use their deodorants and essences every day.  We carry a wonderful organic line of skin care here at Aqua Serene Wellness; Dr Hauschka and offer the facial treatments with them as well. Check it out Here

We cannot live in a bubble….but we can be more mindful of what we expose our bodies too. We also have two Health and Wellness Coaches here to help you. Michelle can help you with goals and the overwhelming chore of changing your routines, and food choices to go along with your special concerns.  Rita will even come into you home and Meal Prep for you!

Meal Prep Program by Rita Avellar

We are located in Carmel Indiana, home of the Round-A-Bout

We offer Colon Hydrotherapy, Digestive Support, Holistic Facial Services, Organic Skin Care by Dr. Hauschka, Energy Therapies, Massage, Acupuncture, Functional Medicine, Health and Wellness Coaching, Ionic Foot Detox and Coolsculpting® Services.

check out our services here

Disclaimer: As always my blog is for educational purposes only. We do not offer medical advice, treat or diagnose. Check with your medical professional before taking any supplements or undergoing any treatments.

Vacations and finding the perfect Bathroom!

/in /by

 

Vacation, that short stint of time many of us work all year long for. We squeeze in sights, beach time, hikes, local food, drinks, and sports and often our cheeks. We pack too many clothes, not enough money, and usually forget something. We end up with a few trinkets to remind us of our time away and then return home to be paid back for leaving in the first place. Strange food, drinks and even stranger bathrooms.

I remember many vacations in my life. I was “lucky” and got to go on one every summer as a kid. My parents packed up the family car, my brother and myself and off we went to spend July 4th in another state. Those trips took us to Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia Beach, West Virginia, and Georgia to name a few.

I was a kid who got car sick, and I still do. My brother made that trip so much more miserable. Not only did he say and do things to further my suffering, he also punched really hard in the innocent game of slug bug. My father would threaten to turn the car around most of the trip and eventually he would have to separate us. I remember begging to stop and pee and my dad making me wait.  I threw up on the road side in every state south and east of Ohio. We never really went west…

My mom would make my dad stop at a hotel before dark so we could go swimming. My brother and I shared a full size bed in a Travel Lodge or HoJo’s and he would kick me to the floor, where I ended up with a pillow and the hotel bedspread. I cringe to think what was on either of those now that I am an adult.

My dad would always joke that I had “visited” every restroom in every city we had ever been too.  I even had to potty in a minnow bucket under the bow of our boat (my dad’s idea of a cruise vacation). Unless you have done number 2 in a minnow bucket at full throttle under the bow of a boat with nothing more than a Campbells Soup beach towel for privacy then you have not fully committed to the term ” make due”!

make shift toilet

As I grew older the need to “visit” every bathroom (or makeshift bathroom) has never changed. I found out as an adult that I have some extra stuff, 4 renal pelvis(s), 2 sets of ureters, and the smallest bladder in the world! So what this means basically my capacity for filtering and getting rid of fluids is 2-4 times the clip of a normal set of kidneys, and what a joke that I also came equipped with a tiny bladder! Top that off with loosing part of your Large Intestine, that makes me an expert bathroom finder on any given adventure! I am the one who will get up as soon as the seat belt sign shuts off to use the plane bathroom, one of several reasons I am an isle seat girl. 

The”Welcome” sign of relief!

To quote my long departed grandmother: “Never skip the opportunity to empty your bladder”

I have been to some fabulous bathrooms in my day and I have also had to improvise. I will only tell you a few stories so as to save you from my embarrassment!

Yet another sign for relief

Some top notch Bathrooms I have visited: 

The Princeville Resort, Princeville Hawaii (Kauai) the view was amazing!

View of the Napali Coast from Princeville Resort

  

The Signature Room Lounge in the John Hancock Building womens restroom, best ever view of Chicago!

View from Ladies room Signature Room Lounge

The town of Kohler Wisconsin, (nuff said)

The Four Seasons Resort Hualalai  on The Big Island  (they have an outdoor shower) check out their website here

Sax at Keystone at the Crossing. I always use the bathroom there because that is all I can afford to do in that store!

I won’t make a list of the worst, not much compares to a cramped port-a-pot on a 95 degree day that has not been emptied for the entire weekend! #soccermom

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have had to makeshift my way more than a few times. The minnow bucket is one of my earliest memories!

I have hiked up a path in the Red Rocks hoping not to get bitten by a rattle snake.

Several “side of the roads”:

Once along the Blue Ridge Highway and I was walked up upon by some astonished hikers.

In no mans land West Va. We stopped at a gas station that they had either just dressed a deer in the restroom or murdered someone. I was not quite sure, nor was I going to stay around to find out. The side of the road on that rainy fog laden night was a safer choice,  McDonalds napkin in hand!

I’ve dropped my drawers in the Painted Desert, and in a cornfield on the back roads of Hendricks County. Handing off the wheel of my truck to my then 12 year old son because I could not sit upright to drive the rest of the way home from a BBQ. I made him swear to never tell because not only was it illegal for him to drive it was highly embarrassing! (It was field corn btw)

I even left my “Vicky’s” behind on a Greyhound bus in Galveston, Texas on the way to the airport due to a drinking binge on the last night of a cruise vacation. There was no TP, Paper towels or fabric to be found. 

So ironically I find myself in the “potty” business. It really is funny when you think about it. I have the Cadillac of Toilets (Angel of Water Colonic Machine) and you can do your business fireside in our beautifully designed colonic room, equipped with bluetooth speakers for your personal music or podcast, a fire place and wifi.

Our Serene Colon Hydrotherapy Room Featuring the Angel Of Water

There are many funny bathroom stories in my life and my clients usually have a classic to tell me. So if you are interested in sharing your story I am always up for a good bathroom tale.

Meanwhile we have lowered the price of colon hydrotherapy through the end of 2017 for our “Fourth Quarter Blowout”! Ha! Plus we carry several items to digest your adventurous vacation food choices.

Loomis Digestive Enzymes

For those going south of the border we have Absinthium,  (best choice for travelers diarrhea), Intesta Cleanse and let’s not forget Para A for those little friends we may bring home with us often known as parasites!

Marco Pharma Products

Then there is the trusty Enema Bucket. You might want to pack this item in your checked bag.  You could get some funny looks if they decide to unload your carry on luggage at the airport!

Enema Bucket Kit

We are located in Carmel Indiana, home of the Round-A-Bout, kinda what I feel I am on when looking for the ladies room in a strange town!

We offer Colon Hydrotherapy, Digestive Support, Holistic Facial Services, Organic Skin Care by Dr. Hauschka, Energy Therapies, Massage, Acupuncture, Functional Medicine, Health and Wellness Coaching, Ionic Foot Detox and Reiki.

check out our services here

Disclaimer: As always my blog is for educational purposes only. We do not offer medical advice, treat or diagnose. Check with your medical professional before taking any supplements or undergoing any treatments.

 

The Quest for the Perfect Turd

/in /by

The Perfect Turd…

First off, let me get the disclaimer out of the way:

This post is based on my personal opinion and experience. It is not designed to treat, diagnose or make any medical claims or advice. It will however most likely offend someone, since no one likes to be told they are full of “crap”

When I started thinking about writing this blog post, I shelved it twice. It is a subject most people find embarrassing, offensive, private and quite gross. I had many titles for it; The Perfect Poop, The Scoop on Your Poop, Tales from the Toilet, but really who gives a $hit what you call it, the point is, here is my blog post and it’s about The Perfect Turd, (I divorced it…twice.)

When you come to my office and fill out the intake from you will see a diagram of The Bristol Stool Chart.

People either skip this little exercise all together or check off every one of the boxes. It helps people understand a bit more about their “habits” Usually the discussion is enlightening and people can set a personal goal and figure out the what, why and how of making The Perfect Turd. Then, once successful they can throw a private cheer party for themselves in the bathroom at home one day, document the moment MENTALLY (please no photos) and have a happy day because they are now less full of crap then the day before!

The Why….

I am going to give you a small bit of history on why I do what I do. I have been a colon hydrotherapist for about 8 years. I had some very good teachers along the way and made many friends over discussing bowel movements. Conversations with me tend to go to crap!  I met my friends Robin and Sharon this way, we worked together in the “industry” Water cooler talk?  Our water cooler was an Angel of Water® Colon Hydrotherapy Machine. Later on, I met Tina and Trina, both became colleagues of mine in the same Crappy Job, you could say we were plumbers of a sort. We are all still friends, even though they have moved on and I am still slinging “it”. We get together on occasion for dinner, a glass of wine, some live music, girl talk and the conversation always turns to what we ate, what supplement is new, the latest on gut/brain research and the scoop on poop.

Angel Of Water Colon Hydrotherapy Machine

How Soccer Saved My Life…

It is with pride that I celebrate the Private Cheer Party in my bathroom, considering I am missing part of my large intestine. This is the story of how it all began:

I was injured in a soccer game, thrown into the wall by another player bound and determined to score and take home the title of “Over 40 Women’s Indoor Soccer Champs 2002” You got a T-shirt and everything! I had several T-shirts as I had been playing for 5 years or more. Our women’s team was the one to beat. Little did I know, that hormone driven adrenaline junkie beast of a woman who slammed me into the wall most likely saved my life! I left the field not by my own accord, she actually felt so bad she scooped me up and carried me off the field and set me on the bench. Sitting there I desperately sucked razor blade laden oxygen into what I was sure were collapsed lungs. Wiping tears of pain from my eyes, I drove home hunched over the steering wheel of my truck.

I never played soccer again…

Two days after my wall kissing event I still could not stand up straight, and I was having the most awful spasms in my back. I could not suck in a full breath.  I was encouraged to get a CT scan, in case not only were my ribs most likely fractured, but my spleen or something else could have been damage as well.

My world came crashing down in a matter of hours. After the scan, several doctors were escorted into the room where I was waiting for results. There were 2 radiologists, and a surgeon. The one radiologist said “ We have your CT results and they are quite “interesting” There seems to be a MASS in your abdomen”. I remember saying, “No you have the wrong CT scan, I broke my ribs” They assured me that my ribs were in fact injured but there was a MASS encapsulating my appendix. I also remember saying “MASS belongs in church, not inside me!”

The next few days were a whirlwind of tests, consultations, big words like surgery, oncology, hemicolectomy, hysterectomy, colostomy bags, chemo, appendix cancer, mucocele, psuedomyxoma peritonei, and so on were coming out of specialist mouths. I did a ton of research on Dr. Google and the prognosis was that of dooms day. I had to do a personal time out and then took control of how I wanted to proceed. Thankfully the one MD on my side was the oncologist. Needless to say I lost a portion of my colon a week later and spent a lot of time (years) undergoing invasive testing and freaking out waiting for the next results to see if “it” had spread.

I’ve learned a few things along the way:

*Think twice before you wear a cell phone or pager on your body (the tumor was right below where my pager and cell phone belt clip was).
*Never take for granted the beauty of being “regular”
*The things we eat, say and feel affect our gut in more ways than one.
*You never know how strong you can be until you have no choice. (Cliche’ I know but true)
*A big burly woman on a path to score at a sport can in fact save your life.
*People can be Turds too.
*Life changing moments take you on a journey.

For me that journey led to my career, opening a wellness center, new friends, wonderful clients, many laughs, a few tears and the Quest for the Perfect Turd! After surgery I went from not going to the bathroom for days to everything I ate came out looking almost like it did on the plate! I spent countless hours trying to figure out what to do. I did a ton of “alternative” things, supplements, essential oils, raw food, elimination diet, fiber, water, cultured foods, acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy and so on. I was a massage therapy instructor during part of that time so anatomy and physiology were my world, I set off on a quest to get to know my guts!

The How….

Colon Hydrotherapy is just a tool along the way for some and for others it is not an option, and that is totally OK. I remind people it is also about enzymes, diet, hydration, implementing relaxation techniques, taking the time to actually go to the bathroom, learning to listen to the signals that tell you to go, probiotics, gut bacteria, supplementation, and seeing a doctor if necessary. Look into the toilet, pay attention to your body, get the support you need. Use a Squatty Potty®

Squatty Potty

 

Digestive Enzymes

Probiotics

Marco Pharma

In Conclusion…

I have decided that in life a sense of humor will get you through many things. I am grateful for the love and support of friends and family. Grateful even for those Turds that I’ve met along the way. Those experiences will give you courage, light your fire, teach you who you don’t want to be in life or in your career. Challenges will push you right out of your comfort zone where then you are forced to grow.

If you want more information on digestive support and colon hydrotherapy, I encourage you to come visit me at Aqua Serene Wellness, we are located in Carmel, Indiana, The round about capitol of the United States. We also have a wonderful group of professionals here that offer Holistic Skin Care Services, Functional Medicine, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Digestive and Holistic Nutrition Consulting, Health and Wellness Coaching, Aromatherapy and Energy Therapy.

Please leave a comment, or share this blog post if you can, it helps keep awareness of our well being and conversations going.

Food and Dream Jobs

/in /by
Read more