An unexpected sickness and my first hospital stay caused me to reflect on a lot of things in life…and I’m excited to share these reflections with you. After all, real talk about real life are key components of this blog.

Wait, Hospital Stay!?

You read that right. What I initially thought was a bad case of the flu—and therefore tried to “tough it out” as best as, and as long as I could—turned out to be viral meningitis—a very serious infection that causes inflammation of the tissue (the meninges) which covers the brain and spinal cord—and toughing it out was just about the worst thing I could have done. This in and of itself was a valuable lesson learned for me.

For nearly three days I avoided going into the hospital (I avoid that place like the plague!). I tried to be strong; to stay away from those doctors, the medicine and the needles. I tried to convince myself that my symptoms weren’t as bad as I knew they were. 

Then something scary happened. Things went south very quickly. I got so, so sick. I couldn’t stop throwing up. My body started failing me. I couldn’t walk. My brain started failing me. I couldn’t form sentences. I couldn’t type a message on my phone. I could hardly even look at my phone…

It was when my mental status began to alter that I finally admitted myself to the ER.

In the ER I went through tests and procedures that I thought were only for “really sick” people (I’m trying to forget about the spinal tap! (read: long needle inserted directly through your back and into your spinal cord to draw fluid—yikes!)).

“…But I’m healthy! I was just doing Crossfit a couple days ago.” “This could have happened to anyone,” they said.

“…But I’m the picture of health! At least I’m supposed to be. I can’t be sick.” “It’s nothing you did wrong,” they said.

“…But I’ve never been to the ER! I’ve never even stayed in a hospital!” “Good thing you came in, they said. A day later could have been too late, they said. If the meningitis were bacterial instead of viral, you’d be dead,” they said.

That’s Earth shattering.

When someone tells you you could have died, you start to look at life a little differently.

I thought about you, and I thought about life and love, and why we’re here and how blessed I am that I get to be part of your life. And, I learned a few lessons.

Lessons Learned:

1. None of us are invincible. No matter how well we eat or what we do, things can happen. Life is unpredictable. This is my current battle, and we all have battles to face. I know you might be going through something that seems impossible. Too hard to handle. You can’t see the other side. But it’s there. And you can handle it. You will. You’ll conquer it. Life is hard. And you can do hard things, and once you crush whatever obstacle is in front of you, you’ll come ahead stronger than you were before. 🙂 Also, on the “none of us are invincible” note, this isn’t meant to be a free pass to the junk-food buffet. We only get one body, one mind, and one soul, and it’s our job and responsibility to honor it as best as we can. To me, that means striving to eat well and PFC-balanced most of the time, exercising in healthy amounts, and leading a balanced life. The way I live my life—what I share with you on this blog and on social media—is one version of what balance looks like. Everyone is different, of course. It’s not about perfection, but balance…Balance is key. And still, life can happen. We can plan, and eat perfectly and things still happen. That’s the beauty and bittersweetness of this crazy thing we’re living called Life.
2.  Asking for help is okay, and even necessary sometimes. It can be hard. It can even feel like a weakness. It’s not. Asking for help is a strength. When I’m on a Kickstart Call with a new client, I always make it a point to let them know how strong and brave they are for taking that first step and asking for help. I tell them it can be hard and even feel like a weakness, but how much of a strength that is. I got to experience this firsthand. This was and is hard for me. I pride myself on being independent—in my work, my personal life, my health… but this recent experience has shown me the power and beauty of being there for each other. In my weakest moments, faith and people are what pulled me through. When I felt all alone and scared in that hospital room, I found encouragement in knowing that I’m really not alone. Even though this is my thing to face by myself, I am supported in this.
3. Hospital food still sucks. To be frank. I was sincerely hoping that since my days working as a clinical dietitian in a hospital setting, that the nutrient quality of the food served to sick patients would have improved… at least a little bit. Unfortunately, that is far from the case.

I was disgusted by the amount of what I would call “fake foods” on that menu—a menu offered to people who are “healing.” Most of the foods on there would only make me more sick and prolong my recovery. For example, I was actually thinking cranberry juice might be a “better” juice option only to find that the first ingredient is High Fructose Corn Syrup, and it has 15% juice…that’s 85% sugar! No thanks. Between sugary, processed items, artificial sweeteners, and hydrogenated oils (even in “healthy” items, like peanut butter!), I was disappointed. 

It also irked me that they are still preaching the cholesterol myth—both through their educational handout (“eat plenty of ‘whole grains’ and ‘low-fat proteins’”) and the menu choices (Cholesterol-Free Eggs…my heart goes out to those forced to be on a “Heart Healthy Diet…” (Read: 7 Things Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You About Heart Health). But I did find it interesting that they list carb count… better than calorie count I suppose!

That said, I had plenty of time to practice creativity, and planning to put together PFC balanced options. Here are a few examples of my hospital meals—not perfect by any means, but I did the best I could.

You’ll see some choices that veer from from my usual regimen of almost all veggie and fruit carbs. I did order cream of rice, oatmeal, gluten-free noodles, and sandwiches on gluten-free bread during my stay. I don’t buy bread or grains normally, and my appetite wasn’t quite up to par, so I considered this to be a really nice treat and a way to get in some necessary calories. I was quickly reminded how overrated these types of carbs are—one bite of bread or fork-full of noodles and I was over it. So I usually just used my fork and ate the insides of the sandwiches.

I also had cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, even though they were low-fat, because I was trying to get in some extra protein to support my healing. I just made it a point to make up the fat elsewhere. (One of the funniest moments during this experience was when I ordered the oatmeal and the nurse asked if I was a “Skim milk or a 2% girl,” to which I replied, “I’m a butter girl. I’ll take extra butter with the oatmeal, please.” Oh the look on her face!)

The best part about being home

You’d think my favorite part about being home would be freedom from my IV leash, right!? While that is certainly a perk of getting out of there, hands down the absolute best part about being home for the rest of my recovery is access to my supplements.

It’s one of those things I totally take for granted. Sometimes you don’t realize how much something is helping until it’s gone. Now that I’m home, I know I’ll recover better with access to my daily essentials, my Injury & Surgical Support Formula (even though my case wasn’t surgical, this healing process is intense, especially after the spinal tap procedure), and my smoothie ingredients.

I’m making 2-3 smoothies/day (one with Estro Bal Protein Redefined, and one with Pure Primal Redefined as pictured) and then I add half an avocado, half a banana, one scoop Fruits & Greens Redefined (espresso is my favorite!), 1 scoop Multipowder Redefined, 1 teaspoon Glutapowder Redefined, and 1 teaspoon Pure Bifido Redefined (I’ll be loading up on probiotics for weeks after being on IV antibiotics for a few days!). Smoothies are an easy way for me to get in my P’s, F’s and C’s and I can jam-pack them with healing nutrients too.

I have to say that it feels good to share a vulnerable post with you. This experience in and of itself certainly didn’t feel good, but with each day comes struggles, victories, and takeaways that I’m thankful I get to share with you. Like when I got sick from my moldy bed, if I can help you from ever going through something like this, then it’s been worth it. This was a good reminder that while I spend my days helping others and praising clients for taking the first step and asking for help, it’s okay, and important for me to do that, too. Viral Meningitis is a serious thing! If you get sick, don’t try to so hard to be strong. As much as I try to avoid the doctor and hospitals like the plague, this was a wake up call and I wholeheartedly recommend getting checked out if you notice anything vastly out of the ordinary like I did. You are your best advocate and you know your body better than anyone—take care of the one body you get!