My Personal Health Struggle And How I Dealt With It

My heads twitching, heart burning, shivering spine, nose clogged, itchy skin, brain fog, and just about every other symptom imaginable with the exception of my left leg falling off. These are just a few of the health complications I’ve dealt with over the last two and a half years. This is my story of healing. 

A couple of years ago, in my final semester of college, I was wandering around aimlessly in life. Sure, I was getting a solid GPA in my classes, but my free time consisted of smoking copious amounts of weed, drinking abnormal amounts of beer, and playing Madden … so much Madden.

Needless to say, I was lost, and didn’t realize so. About two months before graduation, I hit a marijuana vaporizer pen that didn’t agree with my body. Whatever chemicals were in that device quickly caused imbalances throughout my entire physical being, and I am yet still to fully recover. 

I don’t blame the vaporizer however, I had been imbalanced for a long time, spewing negative energy like it was my full-time job. Without fully realizing it, my spirit was broken, and this was likely the universe sending me a message to get my you-know-what together. 

Even after it happened, I didn’t change my ways, I continued the lonely isolation lifestyle that had been my norm, and only understanding of existence. 

After graduation, I started to realize that I needed to try and figure this out. I went and saw multiple doctors who either put me on weird antibiotics, steroid inhalers, but most thought I was making it up. 

That’s a nice way of saying that they thought I was crazy. 

Now I’ll be the first to tell you, when you have serious physical ailments plaguing your everyday life, and MD’s think your insane, it’s takes a toll on your mental stability. I started to wonder, am I koo-koo? Is this real?

After sinking to the lowest of lows, I reluctantly continued the search which led me to a Chinese herbalist. And while he didn’t have the answer to my health problems, he did the one thing that no doctor had done before … he listened, he let me speak my truth. 

This led me on a healing and spiritual journey that I will forever be grateful for. 

I started to study nutrition, alternative forms of healthcare, and spirituality, all while learning the benefits of maintaining a positive outlook of life. 

I’m not going to lie. Some days still get really hard and I question why me? But the resiliency I have developed due to these circumstances is something that I didn’t know I had within myself. The lows don’t last as long, and suddenly I have a lot of cool things to look forward to … much more than a stoned game of Madden. 

I now have a full-time job where I’m able to help children, have become a basketball coach at arguably the most prestigious middle school in Washington state, and write for two websites as well as co-host my own podcast. 

But more importantly than all that, I finally believe in myself, and am starting to find the inner love that had eluded me for so long … probably my whole life.

A lot of times in our society we talk about fighting disease, fighting cancer, and so forth. From what I’ve learned from my mysterious ailments, is that hostility is a dangerous approach. 

Instead, take a step back, and figure out the root causes of your inner turmoil. This is the first stride towards healing and inner peace. 

As I write this, I am still in the process of fully recovering. I have gotten a lot better and some of my symptoms have resolved, but I still have some healing to do. Sometimes when I’m at work, I lay down because my head starts tweaking out and I don’t want my co-workers to think I’m on meth.

For real, I don’t know if they think I’m lazy or what. 

In all seriousness, this occurrence has been the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. It allowed me to grow ten-fold as a person, and begin my dream path as a basketball coach, which is something that I truly cherish within every fiber of my being. 

For all of you out there who are battling medical illnesses known, or unknown. Just trust there is a cure, don’t let doctors or family members dissuade you with frightening statistics. 

I highly recommend looking into natural and holistic approaches but do whatever FEELS RIGHT FOR YOU! The human body wants to be healthy you just have to put the right puzzle pieces together. 

As for me, I’m still in the process of healing, but I’m better than I’ve been my whole damn life. And I’m greatly humbled, honored, and grateful that the universe sent me this message before it was too late. 

Thanks for reading and listening. You don’t know how much it means.  

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About Nick Bartlett 205 Articles
My name is Nick Bartlett, and I am a Senior Writer at SuperWestSports.com as well as a Senior Writer here at OregonSportsNews. My work has been featured in the Seattle PI, OregonLive, and various other publications. I've also served as a guest on Sirius XM radio as a "Pac-12 Football Insider" For business inquiries, you can reach me at - Email: NB206wsu@gmail.com Phone Number: 425-366-9711

1 Comment

  1. Thanks for writing about your experiences. It helps me as a m9ther to understand more clearly bbq what you have been and are still going through.I will always listen and I will always be there for you. I am very proud of you in so, so many ways. I love you forever.

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