The Right Attitude Helped Me Fight for My Life

Hello, my avid readers!

Today, I’m going to share with you my personal struggle with an illness that seemingly came out of nowhere. Since that trauma, I’ve asked myself numerous times, ‘Wait, did it really come out of nowhere?’ I wish I could honestly say, ‘yes,’ but that would be a lie.

You see, most days I was way too busy dealing with daily life and work activities to acknowledge the clear warning signs of a physical health disaster in the making. At the time, I totally ignored my symptoms–the headaches and tiredness that come with fatigue, stress and overload–and instead convinced myself that I would someday find time to take care of my health.

Unfortunately, that day never came, and one day my body finally said, ‘ENOUGH!!!’

The Path To Recovery

The path to recovery would prove arduous and demanding, but having emerged from the depths of that harrowing ordeal, I openly share my experiences in hopes that you, my readers, will listen to those little whispers when your body is trying to tell you that something is wrong. Hopefully, you will make better choices than I did and will devote the time and effort to get back on the path to good health. So without further ado, here’s my story:

Back in early 2019, I went from feeling fine, running on a treadmill that sunny February afternoon to fighting for my life in an intensive care unit early the next morning. The doctors weren’t sure what caused my condition but suspected some sort of norovirus I had contracted on a recent Caribbean cruise.

Within a few hours of feeling nauseated, my underlying condition got much worse, setting off a cascade of infections including double-pneumonia and sepsis. When the doctors x-rayed my lungs to see what was going on inside of me, they were surprised to also find a large tumor in my abdomen.

I recall being very groggy, struggling to process the gravity of my situation. I do remember thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding!  A tumor, too? Really??? God, You sure have an interesting sense of humor!”

The Right Attitude

All kidding aside, as a 19-year cancer survivor, I knew how important attitude is to crisis survival, and I knew I could NOT afford the luxury of a negative thought. I had survived similar challenges in life and knew that my attitude was the strongest thing I had at that moment to fight my illness.

The doctors decided to intubate me—put me under with a breathing tube—to relieve the stress on my heart. (Note: this was a year before the pandemic started).

My heart surgeon, the lead doctor on my case, warned me that my situation was very serious. In short, he told me I might not wake up.

As I drifted off, I felt at peace believing I would summon the strength to fight this illness and survive. After all, I still had too much living to do and wasn’t about to check out now!

Two days later, I awoke still in the ICU. I was still not out of the woods but continued to improve.

Fixing me would eventually require 14 more days in the hospital, four months of chemotherapy, one surgery, and many months of rehabilitation.

The Recovery

Fast-forwarding to present, I have fully recovered from that setback and, in the process, gained many insights into the power of attitude, mindset and resilience.

Armed with these new experiences, I wrote the book, Money Switch: Flip Yourself Onto Happiness, Health and Wealth, to share my knowledge with people who struggle daily with life’s challenges.

In writing this book, my goal was to educate and inspire people to follow their dreams even when their current circumstances seem dire.

This journey transformed my life and allowed me to help others through my coaching and speaking programs.

Do you have an inspirational story of survival? What helped you make it through your dilemma? What role did resilience play in helping you overcome your issue? Would love to hear from you! ✍️ 😇💪