Waiting for my cue, the stage was aglow and alive as Mozart’s music pulsed throughout the theatre. 

Plush, red velvet, caressed 3,800 onlooking seats, elite orchestra and singers were performing legendary libretto, and in 3 minutes I was supposed to be performing on stage amongst the greats.

But now with 1 minute until my cue, I am keeled over in agony with my arms wrapped around my stomach and my body hinged downward to cope. 

I can’t believe this is happening right now—my mind was doing everything possible to calm the flare. 

Breathe, Elizabeth.  This will pass.  Just.  Breathe. 

As a professional dancer you make your cue. Always.

Especially amidst the regal and prestigious environment of The Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center—home of the most stunning operatic performances in the entire United States. 

But for the first time in my professional dance career, I was about to miss my entrance…

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Diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2011 at the age of 21 was, for lack of better words, shocking. 

Robust in build, I was an Athlete of God, as is famously quoted by Albert Einstein.  I was an athletic dancer who loved to leap, turn, twist, fly, and suddenly those gifts were held hostage due to a gloomy diagnosis.

Besides the random food poisoning from a busted sushi roll or a surprise runny nose, being sick was foreign to me. 

I was an active kid my entire life and was always strong in build.  Growing up in a family of boys, I was climbing trees, scraping knees, throwing baseballs, and cannon balling into pools. 

Never had I spent a night in a hospital and the only time I visited the doctor was for an annual check-up.

It was my senior year in college, while I was studying for my Bachelor’s in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Modern Dance, that I began to experience symptoms. 

I had frequent diarrhea, bleeding and abdominal cramping.  By the time I graduated and came home in the summer, I was enduring severe symptoms. 

I lost 35 pounds, had agonizing abdominal pain, constant diarrhea, fevers, vomiting, loss of appetite, total depletion of energy, anemia, joint pain, swelling of joints, Erythema Nodosum, all sorts of deficiencies—it was a scary time.

When my gastroenterologist diagnosed me with Crohn’s Disease I shut down completely. 

In many ways, I felt as though my body let me down. 

I was told the disease was autoimmune and that there was no cure.  I was told my body was attacking itself and that I would need to be put on medication indefinitely to reduce inflammation.

Immediately, I was put on all sorts of medication to see what my body would respond to until the strong infusion of Remicade came into play as nothing else worked. 

Suddenly, every 8 weeks I was to travel to an infusion center and receive the drug through an IV for about 2 hours in order to calm symptoms.

I detested the process.  It bothered me that suddenly my life had to pause for a sickness.

And so, stubbornly I moved to New York City regardless of my physical state and attended an open call for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet amongst 400 plus women. 

I miraculously landed a contract which fueled me to live out my dream despite my weak condition. 

Quickly thereafter, I was offered more contracts and by the next season I was cast in six operas, and working with some of the best choreographers in the industry. 

I was a kid in a candy store, but I was quietly suffering and dealing with chronic pain and other symptoms daily.

For the first four years of my diagnosis, I followed my doctor’s lead and did infusion treatment.  On Remicade I was hospitalized multiple times with flares which led to 5-7 days in the hospital being pumped with steroids, antibiotics, blood transfusions and iron transfusions. 

In turn, I switched from Remicade to Entyvio to see if I responded better but the same situation occurred.  Then from Entyvio I was put on Humira injections.

Overall, for those four years I was simply coasting through life.  Living in New York and dancing full-time, I was constantly dealing with bleeding, diarrhea, throwing up every morning, having severe abdominal cramping, feeling tired and depleted all the time. 

Mostly, I didn’t know how to handle it all and I would just push myself to get through each day.

It was that moment backstage during the performance of Le Nozze di Figaro, with the legendary Mozart’s music radiating out into the audience, that I knew enough was enough. 

Needless to say, that was the last opera I performed in for the 2014-2015 season at The Metropolitan Opera.  I did make it onstage for my cue—by the grace of God—but I had to jump in a cab for home during intermission as my understudy saved the remainder of the role.

I hit a wall.  It was time to leave my coveted job that I worked so hard for and head home to focus on healing.

The year of 2015 was a turning point for me and my journey with Crohn’s Disease.  I was determined to take matters into my own hands, as I was making no progress and felt like I was on an unending hamster wheel.

I decided to stop Humira and explore healing the natural way.  

I was introduced to a Naturopathic Medical Doctor who changed my life and completely changed my perspective on Crohn’s Disease. 

I started to learn about the importance of diet, probiotics, electromagnetic frequency treatment, the play on emotions and physical health, food allergy treatment and beyond. 

I started to get better quickly and for the first time saw amazing results which fueled me to keep digging deeper into the natural and organic lifestyle approach.

Unfortunately, I put the wagon before the horse, as I improved so quickly that I felt I could revert back to old habits such as diet and working full-time before I totally healed. 

I thought that if I was doing better, I could just live the lifestyle I used to live—but I learned the hard way that fixing things naturally means changing your lifestyle indefinitely.

And so, rather quickly, symptoms began to creep back and things ended up spiraling out of control. 

I landed in the hospital for two weeks in March of 2018 with my worst flare yet.  I weighed 86 pounds, was severely iron deficient and anemic, had excruciating abdominal pain that involved Dilaudid (an opiod drug) to cope, and was mentally and emotionally weak and unstable. 

For the first time, I was exhausted on all fronts.  I was truly starting to give up after 7 long years of fighting.

Talks of new medication, surgery and all sorts of treatments like TPN were floating about. 

I was overwhelmed but I made a final choice:  I was done being hospitalized and when I get out, I am going to attack this disease from all angles and create a team of support so grand that my body will have no choice but to heal. 

And this is where I am today. 

I am pairing conventional medicine with nonconventional treatment and organic lifestyle changes.  I am on the biologic Stelara, paired with probiotics, fish oil, essential oil treatment, EMF treatment, and a whole list of supplements. 

I have a team of amazing professionals looking after me: a Gastroenterologist, a Naturopathic Medical Doctor, and a Dietician.

In two little months,  I gained 23 pounds by eating the right foods, have only moderate abdominal pain occasionally, zero diarrhea and all deficiencies have been corrected. 

Turned out, that in my case, I needed to cover all my bases when it came to fighting this disease.  Conventional medicine alone wasn’t enough, and the organic approach alone wasn’t enough either.

Seeing the immense improvement, I wanted nothing more than to share my story and journey with others fighting the same fight. 

With 8 years of dealing with Crohn’s Disease under my belt, I have so much information, tips and advice that I’d like to pour out onto others in the same predicament.

Just know, if you are suffering from Crohn’s Disease/IBD, IBS, or any autoimmune or chronic illness, remember that your body wants to get well. 

Your body is for you, not against you—it’s just a matter of finding the right treatment that suits it best.  I felt betrayed by my body in a way but once I changed my mindset and began to give my body the right materials to heal, everything changed.

And so, this blog will explore the complexities of living with Chronic Illness. 

I will share tips, information, advice and inspiration that I have compiled over my 8 year journey.  I intend to spread awareness and hope to those suffering with Inflammatory Bowel Disease or any Chronic Illness. 

I intend for this blog to be a place of empowerment.

Remember you’re not alone.  I understand your pain. 

I’m here to lend a helping hand.

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