I grew up not thinking much about what I put in my body. As a  child, I would sneak candy ALL the time (and I still have that sweet tooth today). When I got into high school,  my family and I had to eat out frequently since we were on the road 80% of the time for volleyball.

I was active and fit and didn’t have any (outward) health problems. But, I wasn’t aware of the consequences to how I was treating my body.

I became aware of those consequences after returning from a medical mission trip to Rwanda. On the trip, I ate something that did a number on my gut and digestion. At first I blew it off as Traveler’s diarrhea.

But, 7 months later I began having really bad bloating and constipation. Several blood draws, a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy later, I was told, “We don’t know what’s wrong; maybe it’s IBS?” I was sent home with nothing but frustration and a bunch of meds to “solve” my symptoms.

Over the next year and a half, my symptoms got worse. I was waking up in the middle of the night from night sweats; I couldn’t eat much because my abdomen would swell up like a balloon – and that was just embarrassing.

I felt trapped. 

The only people who I thought could help me told me they couldn’t help me. And Google made things worse.

The answer to my problems finally came two years later when a missionary doctor gave me antibiotics. The antibiotics solved my problems, but they did some damage too. 

I’ve been trying to remedy the damage for the past couple of years.