I vividly remember wondering if I would EVER feel safe again.
No, not from monsters or creepy people.
My IBS had gotten so bad over the years that not having access to a bathroom (especially between waking and lunch) would make me panic.
Would I ever again be able to feel safe if I wasn’t in close proximity to a bathroom?
(Disclaimer…do not read further if poop talk makes you uncomfortable. It’s gonna get real.)
My near accidents driving to find the closest bathroom and “pit stops” in the middle of a public park behind a tree were extremely stressful and embarrassing.
Even at home sometimes I’d be in the bathroom six or seven times before lunch.
My happy place is the river and we lost our family home there in 2015 during a flood.
I used to spend full days, weekends and weeks there during the summer absorbing the peace and solitude.
It was the place I would go to mentally and physically recharge.
Family time was especially precious there.
All that changed once there was no longer a bathroom available.
Even though the house was no longer there, my kids still wanted to go swim.
For someone without IBS, being somewhere without a bathroom for a couple of hours would not be a big deal.
But for me, it was a constant stress and struggle, not knowing when I would have a gut attack.
I even got one of those camping toilet seats that fit on top of a bucket, and at the very least always packed toilet paper and plastic bags.
My happy place had turned into a stressful place.
Over the last four months I’ve made great strides in my gut health through functional lab work, pathogen eradication, gut healing, liver support and gallbladder support.
This morning I got up at 6 am to go to the river for the morning and had a lovely “regular” bowel movement before I left.
I spent three hours mowing the bottom and mid-levels of the property and then went for a swim.
I got back into the car to come home and came across my roll of toilet paper and plastic bags.
And it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I had a glorious 3 hours of morning time (was always the worse symptom wise) without issue, and most importantly without panic.
I didn’t think about the possibility of needing a bathroom once.
And that my friends is HUGE.
The obvious physical improvements I’ve made in my gut health have been incredible.
The mental health aspect of living with IBS is just as big.
You guys.
I got my happy place back.
My peace, my relaxation, my solitude.
My kids asking to go swim and me saying yes without hesitation or angst.
I’ve made some kick butt improvements with other aspects of my health that I realized this morning after mowing for three hours without fatigue or pain, but that’s for another post.
It didn’t happen overnight, and I still have work to do, but this morning meant everything to me.
Here’s to many more mornings at the river, or a park, or driving, or anywhere without a bathroom close by.
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸.
That my friends is absolutely priceless.
Schedule a free initial consult to learn how to live a life free from the constant worry of being around a bathroom. There is hope!