From Diagnosis to Determination: Navigating Life's Unexpected Challenges 040725

What happens when life suddenly shifts beneath your feet? After 15 weeks of mysterious mouth pain and multiple biopsies, I've been diagnosed with several incurable autoimmune conditions that have completely transformed my relationship with food, drink, and daily comfort. No more coffee, citrus fruits, spicy foods, most alcoholic beverages, or even simple pleasures like popcorn and crackers.

Rather than surrendering to despair, I'm choosing to use this challenging experience as an opportunity to explore how we all can overcome adversity in our lives. Whether you're facing health challenges, relationship difficulties, career setbacks, or any significant life disruption, the strategies for building resilience remain surprisingly similar.

Throughout this deeply personal episode, I share the emotional journey of acknowledging difficult feelings, developing practical action plans, seeking support from others who understand, cultivating a positive mindset despite legitimate struggles, and building resilience through intentional practices. When a restaurant sauce that never bothered me before suddenly caused intense pain, I didn't give up—I started thinking creatively about alternatives and modifications, a perfect metaphor for handling life's unexpected challenges.

The most powerful insight? No one needs to face adversity alone. By sharing our stories and supporting each other through difficult times, we create collective wisdom that helps everyone navigate life's inevitable challenges with greater grace and strength. What adversity have you overcome, and how did it shape who you are today? Text in your experiences, subscribe to support the show, and join our community across social platforms as we continue exploring how to truly elevate our lives, even when circumstances try to bring us down.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Elkivate Your Life
• 1:03 Diagnosed with Incurable Conditions
• 5:26 Life-Altering Food and Drink Restrictions
• 8:00 Strategies for Overcoming Adversity
• 14:17 Building Resilience and Seeking Support
• 19:12 Listener Engagement and Show Updates
• 21:54 Episode Closing and Sponsorships

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Bow, chicka, wow, wow, what's up? Party people, thank you for tuning in this evening and welcome to another episode of Elkivate your Life. I am your hostess, with the mostess L as in the letter L and key as in the key to your heart. So how's everyone doing on this mindful Monday, april 7th, spring break? Woot, woot. I don't know about you, but I'm a happy camper. Not that I slept in today because I didn't, but because it was the first day of my actual spring break.

Speaker 1: 1:03

It's been a pretty long journey and I am here tonight to talk about overcoming adversity. And why are we talking about overcoming adversity, do you ask? Well, the reason why is because, if you've been listening and following, first of all, if it's your first time, welcome. Thank you for joining. If it's not your first time, and you're a regular listener, thank you for tuning in. For those of you that have been following and listening and following and listening to Elkivate your Life, thank you. Thank you for following, thank you for listening, thank you for continuing to be a loyal listener. That means the world to me.

Speaker 1: 2:08

The reason we're talking about how to overcome adversity, adversity tonight is because, uh, for the past 15 weeks, I've been battling a mystery mouth condition and, as of last wednesday, I got my results. And while I'm not making, I don't want my episodes to revolve around me and my life when there's so many other things to talk about. Right, but the reason I want to talk about how to overcome adversity is because what happened to me is just that. What happened to me is just that. So the long and short of it is I was recently diagnosed, as of last Wednesday, after suffering for 15 weeks of multiple incurable autoimmune diseases oral lichen planus, lichenoid mucositis and xerostomia, which is sort of an effect of the two out of the three. And as far as I've read and researched in the last 15 weeks and talked to doctors and continue to do so, there is not a cure, there is not a way to reverse it. There's only a way to help you to basically live with the pain, the inflammation, and oral I guess you can all imagine it's in my mouth.

Speaker 1: 3:42

So the reason I'm talking about how to overcome adversity is because overnight my life changed and while I certainly have perspective in people saying, well, at least you know you're not going to die, at least it's not cancer, at least it's not this I mean everybody can insert their opinions of at least it's not dot dot, it's not this I mean, everybody can insert their opinions of at least it's not dot dot dot. And I appreciate that because I do have perspective and I am grateful that it's not something as horrible as it could be. And so the reason I want to talk about how to overcome adversity and live life well is because I feel like it's on par for Mindful Monday, and what this diagnosis has taught me is that I have to now live a new lifestyle, and I've just been thinking about okay, I'm still going through the array of emotions of sadness, depression, mad, pissed off, frustrated. So many different feelings and an overwhelming amount of emotions. Because please allow me to take a moment to paint a picture for you and those of you that live in chronic pain and have health conditions I'm sure will appreciate this which is you wake up one day and you cannot have your favorite things.

Speaker 1: 5:30

It is a life-altering change I woke up to. I can no longer have coffee to drink in the morning while I'm getting ready, or even go and meet a friend for coffee and have coffee, why it burns my mouth. I can't enjoy citrus fruits and or vegetables ie grapefruit, tomato, orange, tangerine, strawberries. You get the idea right. Also, I can't have spicy. Also, my favorite foods sushi, wasabi, poke bowls, the sauce that goes on these things. I can't enjoy. A lot of my favorite treats animal cookies, popcorn, crackers, cakes, why they taste like metal. And, the cherry on top, adult beverages. You guessed it, ladies and gentlemen, I can no longer drink alcohol. The one alcohol that doesn't kill my mouth and send me into a tailspin, screaming, running for the hills, is sweet wine, white Zinfandel, that's right, the less expensive of all the wines out there, while it doesn't set my mouth on fire, which it already is most of the time, set my mouth on fire, which it already is most of the time. Well, in this case, it's the least of the worst, but it's also the one that causes weight gain because of all the sugar, and I finally just got to my ideal weight when all of this came to fruition. So it got me thinking. I have to learn how to overcome adversity, because what is Elkivate your Life all about? It is about Elkivating your Life looking at the positive in a not so great or negative situation. So I've been reading a lot, I've been doing a lot of reading and research, and so I was just thinking about how to overcome adversity and live life well.

Speaker 1: 8:06

And what is adversity? Well, adversity can be defined as any challenge or hardship that you face. It can take many forms, such as a difficult relationship with a family member, financial struggles, health problems, career setbacks or any other situation that causes stress or unhappiness. Stress or unhappiness While adversity may seem insurmountable, it's important to remember how to respond to adversity, and how you respond can significantly impact your overall well-being and success. And basically, what does this mean? Everybody? I mean it means it's possible to overcome adversity by using strategies and cultivating resilience and seeking support from loved ones and professionals, setting goals, taking action, improving your current situation, etc.

Speaker 1: 9:06

It's kind of interesting that it says that because, sadly, sadly my own son does not even know the outcome of my biopsies. I've had a total of four in these past 15 weeks, several back to back, and, um, yeah, we celebrated his birthday a couple of weeks ago and I've tried reaching out to say hey, you know, I got my results back. I'd like to tell you and I guess he has no interest in knowing which again talk about overcoming adversity. It's like OK, I guess you don't want to know what's happening with your mom. Maybe you're not ready to hear that information, maybe you don't feel that we're close enough. Maybe you think it's no big deal. Maybe you think your mom's going to live forever. I don't know. I am done trying to figure out what's going through his head.

Speaker 1: 10:13

So the first thing I recognized was that I needed to acknowledge my feelings. Right, you have to acknowledge your feelings when you're facing adversity. It's important to acknowledge the feelings before attempting to move forward. Otherwise, how do you know how to move forward? So it just kind of made me think that I had to step back and really acknowledge the emotions that I was experiencing whether, like I just said earlier, whether it's sadness, anger, frustration and then, once you've done that, you can start moving forward with your action plan, which is where I am now, and I realized I have to develop a plan of action. My life has changed. My social life is going to be different. The way I eat and drink and the way I look at foods and all of those things has to change. So I need to have a plan. I need to set realistic goals for myself. I need to listen to my body and recognize what foods I can and can't have and if I end up having something I eat or drink and it causes me pain or a reaction, how I'm going to respond to that and push forward. Which I just experienced yesterday Going to Lazy Dog, went to have lunch, ordered my usual the Hush Puppies with the special sauce, the Brussels sprouts and the deviled eggs and the special sauce never bothered me before, but I didn't have this condition and it caused me to cough, choke, crying the whole night and I was like this is upsetting, this is frustrating.

Speaker 1: 11:58

I went through all this slew of emotions but I was like you know what? This is my life and I just have to accept it and deal with it and remember that next time I can't have the sauce, next time I can't have the sauce, or maybe I ask them to provide me some mayonnaise or sour cream to make the sauce milder. Yeah, so that was me thinking outside of the box and finding solutions to my new lifestyle and then just setting realistic goals and creating actionable steps that will lead me towards success in overcoming this obstacle, right, having a clear plan of action to make my journey more manageable. And then I realized that this was causing me depression. I was depressed about my new lifestyle and not being able to I'm a foodie and not being able to enjoy the foods that I love. So I was like you know, I need to talk to people who live in chronic pain and or seek out a support group, read things, watch things, educate myself on the things I can and can't have, the things I can and can't do, and what that looks like for me. And, yeah, it just made me realize that no one has to face adversity alone.

Speaker 1: 13:28

Reaching out for support is an important step, especially when it comes to emotional or mental challenges. You know anxiety and depression. It's a real thing, it really can happen. And, yeah, it might require for me to talk about this in therapy, which I'm already in, and it's definitely helpful to have supportive friends and family members who can listen to me. And you know what? I'm not even expecting anybody to have answers, although I appreciate when people do. It really means a lot. Since I posted this on my Facebook page, I've had so many people that have reached out and said have you looked into this? Have you tried that? My friend does this and I do that, and it's so nice to have that because it makes you feel like you're not alone. And then, like I said, adopting a positive mindset, is my cup half full, half empty, I'm grateful just to have a cup. So I'm realizing that I have to stay positive throughout this process to overcome Even if things don't go as planned at first because, let's face it, not everything goes according to plan right and that to try not to let yourself get discouraged, just to focus on the small successes along the way and then build resilience.

Speaker 1: 15:14

A key strategy for overcoming adversity is building resilience. And for those of you that are going well, what is resilience? Well, resilience is your ability basically to bounce back from any negative experience and tough circumstances any negative experience and tough circumstances, and it can be cultivated through a variety of approaches, such as practicing self-care, engaging in healthy habits like exercise, good nutrition, focusing on the positive aspects of your situation and surrounding yourself with supportive people. And so that's what I want to share with you this evening and just encourage you, ask you what adversity have you encountered in your life? And, if you have, what did that look like for you and how did you navigate through that? And so this is where I like to invite my listeners to text in your ideas, your thoughts, your suggestions, your story, your testimony, your story, your testimony.

Speaker 1: 16:37

Currently, I record on the Buzzsprout platform and I am looking to move over to another platform so I can be on video in addition to audio. For those of you who haven't seen me, I am on platforms such as YouTube and I do live streams through TikTok, elkivate your Life podcast, instagram, elkivate podcast. I do lives to give you a sneak peek of my podcast and tell you what I'm going to be talking about, just so you can put a face to a name, to a voice. And so I would love if you text in your thoughts, your ideas, how you overcome, how you have overcome, adversities in your life and how has that helped you to become the person you are today. I would love to hear that. So you do have the ability to text in your ideas. Depending on what platform you listen to me on does give you an option where it will say text in your ideas or write a review. Or I'm on Buzzsprout, spotify, apple, youtube, amazon Music, podcastle, deezer, podchaser and countless others. Guys, I mean I could go through the list. It would honestly take me so much longer to go through the list, but hopefully I named the most common ones that all of you are familiar with and recognize. So all I'm asking is if you take a moment to think about how you have overcome adversity and what that looked like for you, adversity and what that looked like for you. I would love to hear your thoughts, your ideas, your words, your suggestions. It would mean a lot to me.

Speaker 1: 19:13

Also, if you're not a subscriber, you can subscribe for as little as $3 a month, up to $10 a month. This subscription, how it serves you, is I talk about you your business. Maybe you're writing a book, kyle Few Commitment to Love. He has. Love is a Verb, commitment to Love. Love is a Verb and he talks about how to love yourself, how to love others, what that looks like. It's available on Amazon, audible. I highly recommend it.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Whether you're single, married in a relationship, looking to get in a relationship, learning how to navigate relationships, how to have healthy relationships, learning how to navigate relationships, how to have healthy relationships, how to have good communication. There's so many great tips in his book. So shout out to Kyle Few Love you, my friend. I often refer to him as Dr Kyle or Professor Kyle, because he is the the know-all, be-all of many things. Shout out to Jeff Parra, also one of my loyal subscribers. Thank you, my friend, for always being honest and transparent with your feelings, your opinions about my podcasts. Really appreciate you. Shout out to Travis Lemire, also a very supportive podcast listener, always giving me ideas and suggestions how to not navigate through the podcast world.

Speaker 1: 20:44

Lisa Roberts Curbelo, I hope that you are well my friend and that you are thriving and that you and family are doing well. Looking forward to seeing you in the near future and also want to give a shout out to Persimmon Dental, the Persimmon Dental located in the Persimmon Plaza in Dublin. Thank you, dr Lam. Thank you, teresa Kenzie. Everyone there is wonderful. You are treated like family and just a great group of staff. They're very caring, loving, taking their time with, listening to your concerns and especially now with my new condition, I went in there with a little bit of anxiety and haste and everyone was so just comforting and really warm and welcoming and easing my you know anxiousness of going just to get my teeth cleaned. So if you're looking for a dentist, persimmon Dental is the way to go. They're in Persimmon Plaza in Dublin, it's and they treat all patients and welcoming new patients. They're just a lovely group of people. I've been going there. Oh my gosh, 10 years now. I can't believe it's been 10 years. If you do decide to go there, because of me and because of listening to me, please mention hashtag Elkivate so that they know that you heard of them through me. And yeah, I'm always looking for sponsorships as well as subscribers and, because I am a Tri-Valley resident, whether you have a local business that I frequent, I would love to talk about you, sponsor you, advertise you and your business, and it gives me an opportunity to expand on my podcast to go to a larger, more global scale. I am currently in the United States, united Kingdom, canada and even some Taiwan, but I would like to expand even more.

Speaker 1: 23:15

Thank you all for tuning in. Thank you for listening. Please remember to like, share, follow. As I said, I'm on all the social media platforms Facebook Elkivate your Life podcast. Facebook Elkivate your Life Podcast. Tiktok Elkivate your Life Podcast. Instagram Elkivate Podcast. And I already mentioned all of the platforms you can listen to me on. I look forward to hearing from you, reading your comments, hearing your ideas on how you overcome adversity. Thank you for tuning in and listening. Thank you for taking this time on this mindful monday on how to overcome adversity. Good night, iman and my fellow listeners out now. Out there, barry dory. Ciao for now.