My family and I are big fan of the Disney movie CARS.  I love how Mater says something about when life gives you a lemon...you make lemonade in CARS 2. I know. It's a famous quote. But...since the delivery of my sweet little daughter, Rose, we definitely were given many trials that you could term "life lemons." I am hoping to promote healing by writing this all down and posting how we are doing so that people can read our story and turn some of these life lemons into a sweet delicious lemonade.

The last four months of my daughters birth have been extremely challenging. So much so that the emotional  and physical burdens were so great that my health started deteriorating. I have had a terrible stomach ulcer that wouldn't heal due to stress and use of motrin for 3 weeks straight following my emergency c-section which came following a bout of mastitis (if anyone doesn't know what that is--think of having the flu with your boob on fire--it's terrible). I was with my daughter almost every moment for a month in and out of the hospital with very little sleep and most of the time having a pit in my stomach because I was worried sick about her following her hospital admission for cardio-respiratory arrest. I've never had so much anxiety in my ENTIRE life.

And in the midst of all of this, one of my friends from nursing school introduced me to doTerra essential oils. I didn't know too much about them and didn't use them that much cuz it was so crazy with our daughter at the time she sent them; but, she visited me and talked to me more about them last week.

I didn't tell Jenna how sick I felt. I was to the point that I could hardly function. Just nursing the baby was hard enough. I felt so overwhelmed and tired. I just wanted to get better. Every day I kept waking up with gut issues. I really don't want to divulge in this blog all the nasty, gross details; but I felt so sick I started falling into a depression. I was already referred to the GI specialist and there was talk about sending me to Endoscopy. Both my OB and PCP (primary care physician) wanted me to get on anti-anxiety meds. I knew I needed helped and decided to discuss options with my doctor, who I actually never met, and took 3 months to schedule my "well check." with her. (I usually go see the NP or PA in the office.)

So, I show up the next day after I spoke to my friend, Jenna, to my doctor's office. An older lady with short blond hair comes in to do my "well check." I'm thinking to myself that I feel like a four letter word, but hey, what could a well check hurt. She sits down on a spinning circle stool with her computer on a pull out desk. I start talking about what has happened in the last four months because that's just me. I talk. I notice her lips are pressed in a firm, thin concentrated line as she stares at the computer. She keeps typing and typing as I ramble on and on about the last 4 months with very little promoting from her. Sometimes she looks up at me. Most of the time she doesn't.

She then says something about my "numbers" and quizzically states that my elevated alkaline phos could mean gallstones. She takes the mouse and continues to click and type and I listen to hear fingers rapidly pushing the buttons on the keyboard. I wonder what sentences/notes she is typing... She offers no information about removing gallstones. I start to try to pry information out of her. Words like feeling "dyspepsia" and "surgery" and "occasional dissolve" of stones. She waves her hands in the air like she's hitting at a fly as if all the words mean nothing to her. She recommends ultrasound (all I think about is the cost). She recommends repeat labs (all I think about is cost). We agree to do it in a few weeks after I've tried doTerra. She says nothing in regards to using essential oils. Whether she agrees or not, I have no idea.

I kindly say goodbye as I leave the room. I notice she is already to the counter with her computer back to typing. She acknowledges me over the screen, but she has no idea how she has made me feel.

I am a number to her. An item. A case study. I mean nothing. I am not a person to her. Just a number.

I was mad. Disappointed. I expected more from a doctor. Will it take 3 more months to follow-up with her? And for what point?  My numbers look okay for the most part, but I feel terrible!  She sent me home feeling like a four letter word without any look of compassion or concern. She doesn't know what being sick means to my family. It means that they suffer. The dishes wait until my husband can do them, the laundry piles up, the kids are craving attention and I feel so sick all I can do is lay in bed and think how sick I feel.

I hear my husband tell my kids that mommy is practically dead most of time. I don't even feel sad or guilty anymore because I feel so sick and miserable. I can hardly work, so that means less money. Which means less savings. Which means more stress.

I'm sick of it. Sick of this healthcare system. Sick of being a number. Sick of being sick. I don't think the doctor would even think about me again unless her computer screen displayed my information.  How wrong is that???

In the meantime,  I try to picture my life if I could wake up in the morning and feel amazing. Not just good, but AMAZING. I can't.

One day, after contemplating what I should do for my depression/anxiety issues, I smelled some of my lemon essential oil. My mood improved and I actually washed dishes.

So then, I though, what the heck, I have nothing to lose, so I started taking lemon essential oil drops in water and alternated with peppermint oil. I read that lemon is for cleansing and peppermint is for healing. Each day I felt better and better. It was working so well that one morning I laid in bed unable to sleep at 3 a.m. because I was thinking of how many people I could help if I introduced them to doTerra just like Jenna did for me. I felt like I had a new purpose. A reason to live again. A reason to hope. A hope of recovering from the last 4 months of you-know-what.

On Friday, I officially became a doTerra consultant.

On Tuesday, I actually took my girls to the gorcery store with me because I had energy.

On Wednesday, I went to work smiling. I found I was sleeping better. I felt more clear minded and alert at work. I felt like I could do my job better.

And crazy thing...I started sleeping better, and my milk supply increased. I had enough strength to go on a walk outside. And my stomach ulcer pain decreased by about 90%. and I didn't feel so sick and my horrible gut issues where disappearing.

And today, I created a blog, hoping to share what I have learned and what I am continuing to learn about using essential oils. My goal is to help inspire people to become healthy and enhance, enrich, and enjoy their life by using doTerra. I want not just myself, but my friends, my family, and anyone who is suffering to overcome it in a natural, less expensive way, to wake up in the morning and feel AMAZING.

And it is getting too late, so more inspiration for tomorrow, but if you want, check out my website at www.mydoterra.com/well.