I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I eat clean, exercise, and live with intention — depending on and trusting in Jesus every step of the way.
I homeschool my daughter, work hard as a professor at GCU, love on my husband (as best I can — I could do much better), workout daily, breathe clean air, BLAH BLAH…and invest deeply in my health.
So why, after doing everything “right,” did I end up battling deep, debilitating fatigue…
…leg weakness and pain,
…nausea,
…gut pain,
…and neurological crashes that leave me unable to function?
The answer wasn’t obvious.
It wasn’t a diagnosis I could point to.
There was no “black mold” disaster. No dramatic exposure. No moment I could rewind and say this is where it all changed.
There was just a faint memory —
A smelly house I lived in years ago.
A flood in my condo.
A musty classroom I taught in.
A “maybe.”
And yet… here I am.
Holding a lab report that shows high levels of aflatoxins, fumonisins, heavy metals like arsenic and thallium, flame retardants, VOCs, and more.
Not just trace amounts.
These toxins have been growing in my body for years. Quietly. Relentlessly.

There were more in the yellow, but these are quite scary and apparently cancer causing.
A Silent Health Crisis
What I’ve come to understand is that this is a slow poisoning.
Most people’s bodies are built to buffer it.
Mine isn’t.
I likely had genetic vulnerabilities in detox and immune regulation, meaning the toxins didn’t leave — they stored. And over time, they created a storm that no one could see coming.
Worse, no one believed it for a long time. I was told: • “Your labs are normal.”
• “Try antidepressants.”
• “You’re anxious.”
• “Just eat more.”
But I wasn’t anxious.
I was toxic.
And had I not kept searching — had I not trusted my body’s voice over the dismissals — I might never have uncovered this.
This Wasn’t Just About Feeling Sick — It Was About Preventing What Comes Next
The toxins in my body don’t just cause fatigue or cramps.
They’re linked to: • Liver cancer (aflatoxin B1)
• Kidney degeneration (citrinin, ochratoxin)
• Autoimmunity and immune suppression (fumonisins)
• Endocrine disruption and DNA damage (styrene, perchlorate, arsenic)
Had this gone untreated for another decade, the outcome could have been far more devastating — not just functional decline, but irreversible disease.
So yes, I’m tired.
Yes, I have to be careful with food, supplements, and even sunlight some days.
But I may also be avoiding cancer, avoiding kidney failure, avoiding tragedy.
What I Wish I Knew Sooner
I remember from 2018 to 2021 — the bloating, the gas, the cramping, the abdominal pain.
The food eliminations. The shrinking diet. The hopelessness.
I went from doctor to doctor, searching for answers.
My primary care doctor offered conventional meds.
My naturopath put me on rounds of herbal antibiotics and “gut protocols.”
Each protocol came with hope. And each one ended in disappointment.
I’d find a new and improved doctor, only to be handed another theory, another supplement, another “next step.”
In 2023, I started with Dr. Patel. That journey led to MORE weight loss (not needed!), but it also brought a storm of problems: low hormones, low thyroid, nutrient depletion. We chased symptoms. My gut continued to deteriorate.
And guess what? That keeps the doctor in business.
We worked on symptoms.
More money, more tests, more protocols — while the root cause sat silently beneath it all.
Then came Dr. Katz — another specialist, another wave of tests.
Eventually, I was diagnosed with EoE (eosinophilic esophagitis).
It felt like a moment of clarity… but even that was just another chapter in the story of chasing symptoms, not sources.
And now here I am.
Finding out that maybe — just maybe — had someone tested for the toxic burden back then…
Had someone looked beyond the gut protocols and hormone panels…
Had someone asked the harder questions…
Maybe it wouldn’t have become this monster.
Maybe I wouldn’t be waking up some days barely able to function, walk, or eat.
If You’re Reading This…
I share this not for pity, but to help someone else wake up sooner.
If you have a mysterious illness…
If your symptoms come and go without reason…
If you’ve been told “it’s all in your head”…
Please know: there may be toxins in your system that your doctor isn’t testing for.
And please know this:
Healing is possible.
It’s slow. It’s nonlinear.
It will shake you.
But it is possible.
Every layer you peel back… every test, every realization…
It brings you closer to truth. And truth sets the body free.
This is my war.
But it just might be someone else’s rescue story.
