One Gals Fitness Journey from (Near) Death and Back
Where to start. A year ago today I faced one of the scariest moments, days, week(s) of my life. Lucky for you, I lived to tell the tale so that is what I will do- but first I have to set the scene.
Quick recap - in 2020 I developed gastroparesis, GERD and a slew of other weird chronic illness that led to debilitating health issues including weight loss and malnutrition. My new normal included yoga, light walks and lots of protein shake/meal replacers. I cycled between liquid diets and flare ups, over and over again. I was discouraged, exhausted and quite frankly - I had given up. Then entered 2022. I started dating a personal trainer who offered to introduce me to strength training. Easy 1:1 sessions that would meet my body where it was at. I figured I had nothing to lose so I took him up on his offer. I would be lying if I said I knew what I was getting into. I have never been strong and at some point I decided I never could be with all my health ailments. I was scared to show him (and myself) just how sick/weak I was and I laughed things off at first - but this guy does not fuck around. He encouraged me to push myself and challenge my ideas about strength and my body. Slowly I started to put on weight (very little but every pound counts). My energy levels and all over mental health were improving leaps and bounds (yes okay partly because of the relationship as well). Things were going well with my health for the first time in a long time.
Life was moving along and I was continuing to build more muscle over time. I was starting to see results from the hard work I had been putting in - and then comes August of 2022. Life handed me a card that shook up my world. Sometime in July I caught strep, not fun but easily treated with antibiotics and that's what I did. Fast forward a few weeks and I was as sick as I have EVER been. (Part of my gastroparesis is having flair ups which include vomiting for days, fever, aches, stomach pains etc.) It started out as just another flair up but within 2 days I had devolved so badly I could barely lift my head. I went to Urgent Care to try and get some nausea medications but was informed I needed to be transferred to a hospital and fast. I declined the ambulance (because who the F has money to pay for that) and we drove quickly to a local Rochester Hospital. At this time my BF was informed he could not stay with me until I tested negative for COVID and I was on my own. It took only a few minutes (or maybe days because the world was quite blurry at that time) to get whisked back because I was "bottoming out." The doctor told me I was septic and immediately started an IV and broad range antibiotics. I wish I could say I was scared but I was in too much pain to really even know what was going on. The next 2 days were a blur. I was going in and out of consciousness. No one could figure out what was wrong. At one point there were over 10 doctors around me - still no answers.
After day 3 I was transferred to a room and was feeling slightly better. Eventually I was diagnosed with Pnumonia but all the doctors agreed there still was no answer for the initial infection. While in the hospital I developed pancreatitis (not that uncommon apparently to get as a result of a hospital stay) and ended up staying for an entire week. We still had no idea what caused the initial infection (and still to this day don't) but I was improving and sent on my way. I returned home with an ungodly amount of high class pain pills and at the lowest weight I have EVER been (side note: I'm not going to put my actual weight in because there is something that just seems real icky about that, but just know it was scary and not healthy). I was terrified. I was starting off worse than square one, I was in the negatives. All of my hard work gone - except something incredible happened. One week after discharge I was back at my workouts doing better than ever. The doctors were amazed at my recovery - and so was I. I never bounce back from illnesses that quickly especially not one so close to death so what the F was going on?! The answer was abundantly clear - strength training.
The months of hard work I had put in during 2022 had built a strong foundation for my body to recover from. I continued on this journey and saw slow but steady gains (this is where BF would say "if you took your mass gainer daily you would have seen results quicker" to which I say "kindly, shut up"). Today marks one year and I am seeing growth like never before (in total I've gained around 20 lbs). I am not only gaining muscle but fat (something that has been EXTREMELY challenging both physically and mentally but that is a whole other post) and feeling stronger than ever. In addition to strength training I have been taking a daily pre-biotic green juice (AG1 please sponsor me), magnesium, krill oil, a daily electrolyte supplement (Ultima Replenisher also pls dm), reducing processed foods, eliminating gluten entirely and limiting dairy as well as taking care of my mental health and keeping my anxiety in check. Throughout this journey I have learned to give up the idea of wanting things to "return to normal." I will never be able to eat the things I could before. I will never look the way I did then either -and that is okay. Life will always be changing and growing and in this new chapter I am focusing on something I never thought possible - strength.
July 2022 vs August 2023
If you have ever thought about starting strength training I hope this gives you the encouragement to give it a try - I promise it isn't as scary as it seems. I myself am no strength training expert but I do happen to live with one so go ahead and drop me any of your questions and I'll consult the expert on staff :)
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