And WOW did this past year stretch me in ways I never imagined, and today I want to bring you into that journey.
I’ve battled mold exposure, histamine flares, alpha-gal, MCAS-like reactions, and a nervous system that felt like it was waving a giant red flag at me.
It hasn’t been pretty, and it hasn’t been quick.
But it has been transformational.
Living With Reactions I Couldn’t Control
For over a year, my days were dictated by flare-ups: swollen eyes, hives, congestion, even anaphylaxis.
I’d feel the itch starting and know what was about to happen.
Sometimes I could manage it with medicine. Other times, it would take me out for the whole day.
We spent $60,000 on mold remediation (ripping out our shower, tile, floors, and drywall) only to move back in and find my symptoms weren’t gone.
That’s the kind of thing that can break you.
And yet, in the middle of it, God has been teaching me something I didn’t want to learn: surrender.
The Alpha-Gal Detour
One shocking twist was being diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome after nearly dying in the middle of the night from eating a steak.
By God’s grace (and some incredible acupuncture), I healed from it.
That alone deserves a full episode, but the short version is: $400 and a few needles changed my life.
Still, the histamine flares continued. Which led me to the deeper truth: this wasn’t just about allergies.
My nervous system was dysregulated, and my body could no longer keep up with the way I was trying to push through life.
What Stress Does to the Body
I can look back now and see the breaking point.
After our fourth baby, with Michael running our new school, business pressures mounting, and a son struggling neurologically, I carried stress like it was my full-time job.
I woke up with my heart racing. I lived in fight-or-flight mode. My body was keeping score.
I thought I could white-knuckle my way through. But eventually, my body said no more.
Healing Isn’t Linear
The healing journey hasn’t been simple or fast.
It’s been… messy. I’ve leaned on supplements and functional medicine to support my body, but that was just one piece of the puzzle.
EMDR therapy helped me reprocess trauma I didn’t even realize I was still carrying, and it shifted the way my nervous system responds to stress.
We also made the decision to pray over our home and declare it as the place where I would heal, instead of living in fear that the past would keep repeating itself.
And then there’s the very practical side of healing—simplifying.
Living with my sister for a month, each of my kids rotated through only five outfits. As wild as that sounds, it taught me how heavy the mental load of “stuff” really is.
Coming back home, I realized that clearing out the excess lightened more than just our closets; it lightened my nervous system too.
I’m not “through the woods” yet, but I am closer than I was six months ago. And to me, that is hope.
What I’ve Learned (So Far)
I’ve come to see that surrender isn’t the same as giving up.
For a long time, I lived like everything depended on me. My health, my family, our business, even the school.
Carrying all of that on my shoulders nearly broke me.
Simplifying has also been a surprising part of my healing.
When we were living out of bags at my sister’s house and each of my kids only had five outfits, I realized how much lighter life felt.
There weren’t piles of laundry or endless decisions, and my nervous system noticed the difference.
Coming home to closets full of clothes and bins of toys felt heavy in a way I’d never seen before.
I’m still learning, but I know now that less really does feel like more peace.
Another thing I’ve had to learn is to listen to my body.
The panic, the dizziness, the hives—at first I felt weak and even ashamed that I couldn’t just push through.
But now I see those symptoms as my body’s way of crying out for something different.
It wasn’t weakness; it was a warning sign.
And learning to honor that has been a huge step in my healing.
And maybe the most important piece of all—faith.
Praying over our home, asking God to make it a safe place of healing, completely changed the way I saw our situation.
Instead of being afraid of what the house might hold, I started to trust that God was already there, steady in the chaos.
That perspective shift has been a lifeline for me.
Why I’m Sharing This
So why am I telling you this?
Because maybe you’re not dealing with mold or alpha-gal.
But maybe you’re in your own season where your body, your business, or your life is whispering (maybe even shouting!) you can’t white-knuckle this anymore.
There’s an invitation tucked inside all of this.
An invitation to surrender, to slow down, to simplify, and to let God carry the weight you were never meant to hold on your own.
And friend, I need you to know this: there is hope.
I’m not all the way through, but I’m standing here as living proof that healing – physical, emotional, and spiritual is possible.
Want Clarity in Your Own Messy Middle?
That’s why I created KJ Brand Coach GPT—an on-demand coaching tool available 24/7 to help you align your brand with who you actually are.
It’s not another checklist or strategy dump. It mirrors the way I coach and podcast: conversational, encouraging, and honest.
You can ask questions any time about your story, your brand, or what feels off in your marketing.
