My Story is Our Nature's Story

#autoimmune_disease

Type 1 Diabetes, Crohn’s, Celiac, MS, just to name a few.

A condition where our immune system attacks specific parts of our body from the inside.

#rheumatoid_arthritis, in short RA.

Where my immune system attacked every joint in my body,

Including the joints in my jaw.

Eat through the straw.

My joints were so sore and tight,

I felt I needed to break out and thaw.

Have to crawl to the toilet kind of pain.

Cannot hug my child Hayden tight enough kind of pain.

Cannot make love to my Hon kind of pain.

My sister emailed me a research article.

What? Vegan? No way! No cheese!

Now that’s real kind of pain!

I ignored the article for 2 years.

Until finally, I hit the wall.

There was no one else I could call.

Except myself, you know, that one with the capital S.

Soon enough the signals came.

I started making wholefood plant-rich food.

You mean there’s 10,000 varieties of fruits and vegs to choose from?

Nachos with sour cream.

Fritters with sour cream.

And oh, that one that my son gobbled down

– Feijoa ice cream.

Us Kiwis have made Feijoa our own but they’re actually native to southern Brazil.

Brazilian Kiwi? Now you’re eating something darn delicious and sexy.

8 weeks, 12 weeks, by the time end of October came,

I felt so free, I found my feet running along 10,000 other feet

On top of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

So much joy, now I sing with my keyboard.

I begged my rheumatologist to take me off meds.

He said no.

I moved to Melbourne, my new rheumatologist,

Well, she said no.

She then said, your dose is so low,

It’s the same dose I give to my 7-year-old patients.

Wait, 7-year-olds have rheumatoid arthritis?

Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes.

But they had to change its name because so many kids are diagnosed with it.

What’s going on?

Is there even a point in turning the TV on?

I research the roots of my defect.

I research the roots of our food.

The spirit inside of me is celebrating.

She’s unscrewed the cork.

Because #mydefect,

Has become my service and my work.

Hayden at Takapuna Beach