Back in September 2021, I came down with the Delta Version of the virus. I got extremely sick and topped it off with bacterial pneumonia. When I arrived at the hospital, I was in acute respiratory failure. I spent the next 2 weeks literally fighting for my life! I lost 30 lbs. and left the hospital weaker than I could ever have imagined. The last 2 years have been focused on my recovery after illness and rebuilding my health and my body.
I feel blessed that I survived and am saddened for those families who lost loved ones to that virus. I want you to know, especially since we were all in isolation, I never felt alone in the hospital. My family couldn’t come to visit, yet I didn’t feel alone. The nurses, hospital staff, and doctors were compassionate beyond words, and I felt like I had my own set of cheerleaders rooting for me to get better and breathe!
I am here because I had no health conditions, was super healthy when I went into the hospital, and got the right cocktail of medicines. More importantly, I believe God saved me. I have spent the last 20 years sharing wellness with each of you, and my passion for healthy living has never been stronger!
“What you eat matters, what you think matters, how much you move matters, and who you surround yourself with matters. Recovery taught me that healthy habits aren’t just something we talk about—they can change the course of your life.” — Mara Gerke
The Recovery After Illness Journey
Below are some healthy habits and supplements I used to help me recover from an illness, which I wanted to share with you.
Eat Good Food
Every day, what you eat matters, especially when you are sick and are recovering from an illness. Often, when you are sick, you have a tendency not to eat because of a lack of appetite. As you start feeling better, your appetite comes back, and you begin to eat again, sometimes rather ravenously. You need to really think about what you are eating and how often you are eating. Focusing on 3 meals a day plus a mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon snack is really helpful. It lets your body know you are going to be eating on a regular basis.
Not only is it important how you eat, but what you feed your body is also extremely important. Your body is trying to recover, and it needs now more than ever food that is going to give it nutrition. Focus on eating whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, lots of green leafy vegetables, as well as other vegetables and fruit. It’s also important to drink plenty of water, 1/2 your body weight in ounces per day. If you have never tried a super green drink, I recommend Absolute Greens. It is super nutritious.
Eliminate Sugar
Studies have shown that an increase in sugar intake can actually suppress your immune system, especially when your immune system has been compromised. So eliminate candy, cookies, cakes, ice cream, pies, and soda pop! I highly recommend joining my Gut and Glow 13 Week Program, where you will learn a lot about key habits, including gut health, to help you further on your recovery.
Eliminate Alcohol
By default, alcohol makes it harder for your immune system to step up and protect and defend your body against all types of bacteria and viruses. You definitely don’t want to do anything to weaken your immune system as you are recovering from an illness. They even say that alcohol can actually impair the immune cells in your body from functioning properly. This impairment affects the immune-fighting capabilities of its corresponding organs as well. So skip the brewskis and mixed cocktails during your recovery.
Gut Health
Eliminating sugar and alcohol and focusing on nutrient-dense foods helped rebuild my gut health. Our gut loves plants, fiber, and fermented foods, and focusing on that in my diet also helped rebuild my overall strength as well as improve my gut health. I also took probiotics and digestive enzymes.
Sleep | Getting Rest and Dealing with Fatigue
Sleep is so important for the body. Did you know that when you sleep, your brain processes your day’s events, which creates memories. During sleep, your body also releases hormones to help your body grow and repair. Most importantly, sleep allows your nervous system to rest and your immune system to release inflammation-fighting cytokines. So if you feel like you need a nap, take a nap. Create a sleep schedule for yourself, going to bed each night at the same time and getting up each morning at the same time. Let your body do what it does naturally during sleep to keep you healthy!
Shortness of Breath | Difficulty Breathing
Thank goodness for SPIROMETERS. This was very helpful in helping my lungs recover after the pneumonia, along with the virus. This device helps you not only measure your breath, but also exercises your lungs, helping to make them stronger and reduce the fluid in them. You might even be able to start walking and exercising a little, but to further help. Exercise is very important to our health. Make sure you start as soon as you are able. Check with your doctor and see if a spirometer and exercise will benefit you.
There are also essential oils that may also offer respiratory support. These include:
Hyssop (1,8 cineole, so use caution with children under 10) can help with inflammation and congestion as well as overall immune system support.
Cedarwood Atlas works well for helping with congestion.
Siberian FIR, due to its camphene content, makes it a great decongestant & expectorant.
Citrus Oils, Lemon, Sweet Orange, Frankincense, Eucalyptus Radiata, Lavender, Chamomile work well for immune support due to their d-Limonene and linalool content.
Loss of Smell and Taste
I don’t know about you, but even during the common cold, you tend to have a decreased ability to smell and taste, and sometimes you lose them altogether. Usually, this is not permanent, although it can take a while to get these two senses back in full force. During my recovery from an illness, I referenced the Aromahead blog and their research and found an article. In this article, they recommend using Rose, Eucalyptus, Lemon, and Clove essential oils to help. These 4 oils offer a variety of aromas to stimulate your sense of smell. They recommend using one oil, smelling it for 15 seconds, focusing on how you remember it to smell, taking a 10-second break, and picking up the next oil. You can view the complete article if you like.
Supplements During Recovery After Illness
The hospital wasn’t shy about giving me my morning dose of vitamins to build back my strength and help my body do what your body does naturally to heal. During my recovery from an illness, I continued using supplements. Below is a list of the supplements they gave me, and a couple I added, starting with B-Complex. Nature’s Sunshine offers all the following products.
Vitamin D3 – Outside of having the most widespread deficiency, it is critical for helping your body recover from viruses. It also promotes immune function as well as protects your bones, muscles, and heart health.
Vitamin C – Helps reduce your risk of chronic disease. Helps fight heart disease and boosts your immunity. It is also necessary for the growth, development, and repair of the body tissues!
Zinc – Helps your immune system and your metabolism, and also helps reduce inflammation.
Multi-Vitamin – This works to help support your body by covering some of the essentials needed to function at your best.
B Complex – B vitamins help your body promote energy, cellular health, and are needed to help support your nervous system, digestion, cardiovascular health, as well as muscle tone.
Mullein – This is a great expectorant and helps your body expel excess mucus by helping to make your cough more productive by bringing up the mucus that may be trying to settle in the chest or in the throat. It is also a demulcent, and studies have shown that demulcents create a soothing anti-inflammatory coating over the mucous membranes in the body, helping to keep the mucus flowing.
Omega-3s – Essential Fatty Acids help with inflammation and support overall cardiovascular health
N-Acetyl Cysteine – super beneficial for the lungs, immune support, and the body overall
Hair Loss
I wasn’t ready for this, and certainly wasn’t even really aware of the possibility of this. I didn’t realize that with this recent virus or even just pneumonia, the potential for hair loss is actually pretty common. When your body has a high fever or is fighting to survive, it isn’t focused on hair growth. What eventually happens is that your hair loss becomes greater than usual, making it thinner. Some people have more hair loss than others. For myself, I lost about 50% of my hair and had to cut several inches off because of its thinness. It has been 7 months, and the hair loss has lessened, and new hair growth has arrived! I am excited! Try not to panic, easier said than done I know, but keep in mind your body is under a lot of stress and this too shall pass. I did take some of the following supplements to help with regrowth.
Collagen is full of amino acids to help build your hair strength, helping to fight damage to your follicles and reduce hair thinning naturally with aging.
Horsetail is a huge antioxidant reducing inflammation of hair fibers helping in a lower level of overall hair loss. It contains a high level of silica, which is beneficial for bone health as well as healthy hair.
Rosemary Essential Oil added to your shampoo helps promote circulation. Since my scalp was so itchy, I actually added Rosemary and Lavender Essential oil to jojoba oil and applied it 2-3 times per week to the itchy areas of my scalp.
Emotions During Your Recovery From An Illness
The emotions from being sick and trying to recover are many. Stress, anger, depression, and fear can come up. It’s super helpful if you have a family member or friends who are good listeners. Also, make sure to surround yourself with positive people who are supportive. If you don’t have these things or need extra help, please seek professional help. There are many companies offering online support, as well as companies pairing you with a counselor. BetterHelp is one of them. For more information, Verywell Mind did an article on the Top 8 Online Therapy Companies.
I really like Rescue Remedy because being really sick is traumatic and stressful. I also love the book by Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life. If you haven’t read it, give it a read!
Some essential oils I love for Emotional, Respiratory, Immune, and Relief are listed below by plant part. When you create your blend, consider the whole plant. Try incorporating a root, wood, or resin, along with a flower and some leaves. I love all the oils from Aromatics International!
Seeds (support growth) – Cardamom, Carrot, Nutmeg
Roots (grounding) – Ghandi Root, Ginger, and Vetiver
Woods (centering) – Cedarwood, Atlas, and Sandalwood
Resins (healing) – Frankincense and Myrrh
Leaves (clearing) – Eucalyptus, Cypress, Tea Tree, Bergamot Mint
Flowers (calming) – Chamomile, Jasmine, Lavender, and Rose
The Wellness Products
I have been using the Chi Machine and Far Infrared Therapy for years, and they have been instrumental in my everyday wellness routine and were a big asset during my process of recovering from an illness. I can’t tell you how much these products helped. me. The movment and warmth were relaxing and helped me move my lymph and promote circulation.
What We Do Matters – What I Learned
Our immune system is amazing, as is the rest of the systems in the body. Our lifestyle impacts our health! There is no doubt about it! From your gut to your brain, you impact your health. What you eat matters, what you think matters, how much you move matters, and who you surround yourself with matters. Don’t ever think it doesn’t.
Lifestyle medicine and health coaches like myself are a growing industry in today’s environment. The chronic disease health crisis the globe is witnessing is mostly due to poor lifestyle choices. Maybe the choices aren’t even poor; maybe we need to focus more on teaching and sharing what needs to be done, and create more of a movement.
Small changes can make a big difference in your overall health. You have the power to potentially reverse your chronic disease! Start today, grab a copy of my book, The Healthy Habits Challenge, and begin building a stronger foundation. Or discover your own path by joining one of our wellness programs.
I am thankful every day I am here, so many weren’t as fortunate. I am here to share what I have learned to help as many people as I can before I am called home to rest.
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