Marin and her best friend on top of a mountain

My Story

14 years ago I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) after a failed invitro attempt. All I knew about RA was the little bit I had watched friends go through. Pain, limited life expectancy, loss of doing the things they loved, becoming sedentary, with gnarled joints and so many different types of treatments from gold shots to cancer medicine.

I don’t sit still well, life is too amazing and in my head, this autoimmune disease would not make me miss out. So with steroids, hydroxychloroquine, and leflunomide, I continued to run and train for a half marathon…. then I broke my foot during the marathon and followed that up with torn tendons and ligaments in my foot and ankle. I spent 2 months in a boot, then another 4 months in a boot again. I was humbled, depressed, and anxious.

This is me with my best friend. After my feet healed, we climbed Mount Elbert. She is the only reason I summited. She carried my pack, let me rest all the times I needed, and pulled carried, and drug me up that mountain. I cried at the top. I was so frustrated at that point. I was no longer in a boot, but I felt horrible. The meds didn’t keep the flares from happening and the only answer for that, was steroids.

My meds controlled the pain to some degree, but I can’t say I was living life how I wanted to live life. I hurt, I felt tired all the time, I couldn’t keep up with my kids, I was not the mom, wife or person I wanted to be.

Upside to the boot, it gave me time to learn. I knew I couldn’t do this anymore. Standing at the top of that mountain I realized there had to be another way to navigate all that I was going through other than just meds. So, I read, questioned and listened going down rabbit hole after rabbit hole, and I didn’t take no for an answer. Instead, I took it as push into another direction. I started noticing what I ate or did that caused flares like alcohol and processed sugar, and I cut that out. I read, experimented with foods and read labels. I did cold therapy, meditation, breathing, counseling and completely turned my life upside down.

I wanted off my meds. In addition to being not great for my eyes, they were discoloring my skin and because of COVID I was facing major supply issues.

With the help of a functional medical doctor, I came off all meds. As for life, I have my life back. There are things that I can no longer do like run ½ marathons, but I can not only keep up with my kids, I can wear them out. I no longer have to sleep during the day…every day. I no longer take meds for depression or anxiety. I’m in better shape at age 43 than when I was diagnosed with RA at age 30. This
year marks 5 years of being off meds, I took up jujitsu and have been training and competing for over a year. To celebrate this milestone, I climbed 3 - 14,000-foot mountains in 2023. Elbert was one of them, and I not only summited all on my own, I brought my 2 kids with me this time.

With all the encouragement from friends and family I’ve completed my nutritional certification and I am excited to work along side you to walk through what ever health goals you have, from wanting the energy to keep up with your kids, have food allergies, want to cut a few pounds, are overwhelmed and frustrated- or just want to learn more!