em’s vestibular something journey.

I'll always remember the day that I was bombarded with a vestibular condition seemingly out-of-nowhere. ​In the fall of 2016, I had a dizzy spell that became a nightmare. In short, my symptoms were 24/7 for 18 months with little reprieve.

It flipped my world upside down. I went from feeling in control to losing my sense of self in the world, quite literally. Feeling off kilter, like I was living on a moving dock, vision skewed, looking at my life from the outside (derealization), and anxiety coursing through my system like fire were a few of the symptoms that consumed my days. I had no warning that a vestibular something would hit and certainly wasn’t prepared for it.

I had experienced a cold and ear infection the week prior, but didn’t think anything of it. I expected my body to bounce back and that I would be just fine. I never could have predicted what happened next. I was sitting at my computer at work and everything just shifted in an instant. My world went sideways, I felt dizzy, disconnected and I couldn’t focus on the words on my computer screen. I stumbled across the office to find my friend and tell her what was happening. I was terrified.

There are no easy words to describe the onset of a vestibular something (in my case vestibular neuritis which triggered a cycle of vestibular migraines, which I’d get labeled over a year down the road). The thing is I never would have understood any of it until I was sinking deep in the chaos.

In the darkest moments, I held tight onto potential for improvement and gratitude for all the good in my life. I ate a wholesome plant-forward diet to fuel my health and support my body in healing. I used a holistic toolkit to support my health and work through the many all-consuming symptoms, both physical and emotional. I embraced various holistic modalities and worked with a holistic doctor and neurologist (eventually). Around two-years in, with persistence and hope, I started to truly feel like myself again.

All I had longed for throughout the battle with the vestibular stuff was to feel like myself. I knew I was still there deep within, but my physical well-being had been so hurt (it felt destroyed) and my heart wounded, and it would take a fight to come through. I uncovered my relentless drive to push forward, my heart to help others and inspire a perspective of gratitude, and my passion to unfold how this experience would shape my life.​

In my first book Uncovering Bliss: A Journey With A Vestibular Condition and Beyond I tell my story of getting hit with a vestibular condition seemingly out of the blue and expose the mind and body experience that took place in the darkness of my vestibular something (my term to encompass the broadness of vestibular conditions). My mission with this book is to truly showcase how it felt to journey through an invisible health crisis and share a chapter of my life when I felt lost, frightened, and desperate for answers. I openly uncover my thoughts and feelings as the months passed by, detail what healing looked like and how following the light within me ultimately became my guide. I share the awakening of recovering my wellness.

I can only share what has helped me and continues to support my health every single day. In my experience having support, both for the mind and body, is a game changer when it comes to healing. It has the power to take a desperate situation and make it bold and empowering. I know that's a lot to put out there, but I mean it. During one of my most intense vestibular migraine attacks, I felt like all my control had been sucked from my body in an instant. But then moments later, I was doing everything in my power to fight back and come out on top.