MY STORY
I’ve been passionate about health and wellness for as long as I can remember. As a former college athlete (soccer!), I know what it feels like to feel strong, energized, and mentally sharp. Growing up, I was sick way more often than my sisters and friends, and I always seemed to have strange symptoms no one else could relate to. Things really took a turn in my late teens and early twenties when I started dealing with chronic “mystery illnesses” that no one could quite figure out. I have experienced both ends of the wellness spectrum and it has been a wild ride!!
After more than a decade of navigating chronic symptoms and unanswered questions, I finally found what truly works for me and how to feel, look, and perform at my best. I healed chronic inflammation in my gut, brain, and skin. I calmed and repaired my dysregulated nervous system after being diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I learned how to reduce both the chronic and acute flare-ups that used to take such a toll on my daily life. Now I get to help thousands of women do the same in my private practice, and we will get to that part!
Throughout my own journey, I have been deeply inspired by the stories of others. Hearing how someone else overcame their struggles has always been comforting and encouraging for me. If you have landed on my website looking for help, I want to share my story because maybe it will give you hope, clarity, or the push you need to start your own healing journey.
College
Even though I had always been interested in the wellness world and curious about health trends, my real health journey began in college when I started experiencing chronic health issues. During finals week of freshman year, I ended up in the ER with appendicitis-like symptoms and was hospitalized for terminal ileitis, which is inflammation of the small intestine. Along with that inflammation, they later found adhesions covering my lower right abdomen, my appendix twisted in a knot, and cysts on my fallopian tube.
I was discharged with a “possible Crohn’s disease” diagnosis, and for the next nine years I saw countless doctors and specialists searching for answers. I went through colonoscopies, laparoscopies, endoscopies, ultrasounds, CT scans, and more. Every doctor had a different theory: Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, IBD, IBS, post-infectious IBS, SIBO, endometriosis, lupus, Lyme disease, connective tissue disease—you name it, I probably heard it. Despite endless blood tests, procedures, surgeries, and appointments, no one could pinpoint what it actually was.
That first episode of terminal ileitis felt like it flipped a switch in my immune system, turning on chronic issues I had never experienced before. Suddenly, I couldn’t tolerate foods I had eaten my whole life. I developed severe back pain that had me on painkillers for months at a time, stabbing abdominal pain, extreme bloating that made me look six months pregnant, and debilitating GI distress. For nine years, I lived with daily diarrhea.
Eventually, I became exhausted from going from doctor to doctor with no answers. I decided to take healing into my own hands, starting with my diet. I cut out gluten, then later dairy, sugar, grains, and legumes, eventually finding my way to a paleo/primal style of eating. It was the first time in years that I felt relief from my most debilitating symptoms. I still had to be careful and somewhat restrictive, but I finally found a way of eating that worked for me and allowed me to feel like myself again. Until…
I kept eating this way through the rest of college, only flaring when I drank alcohol or ate something I knew would trigger me. It was manageable, and I was able to keep living my life.
When I graduated, I thought I had it all figured out. Eat clean (strict paleo), work out hard (six or more days a week), and I’d be set for optimal health. At the same time, I was working three jobs—teaching full-time in the most underprivileged and crime-ridden neighborhood in central Florida, nannying in the afternoons, and serving at a local restaurant on evenings and weekends. I was over-caffeinated, overbooked, and chronically stressed. I didn’t see it then, but I was running in overdrive 24/7.
Two years later, I got acutely sick again, and this time, it was even worse.
When leaky gut almost killed me
I was on my way to a massage for neck pain I’d been dealing with when, out of nowhere, something terrifying happened. I pulled into a parking spot and suddenly couldn’t remember how to turn my car off. My hands wouldn’t move to take the keys out of the ignition, and I couldn’t open the car door. I felt drunk, disoriented, and completely confused. I couldn’t remember my phone number or my home address. I’d reach right when I meant to reach left, and everything felt like it was happening in slow motion.
Things progressed and I quickly went to the ER with stroke-like symptoms. Because I was still able to form words, slowly, but still speaking, they put me at the bottom of the triage list. Five hours later, I finally saw a doctor. They suspected “just vertigo” and tried to send me home, but I knew something wasn’t right. I pushed for further testing, and they ordered a CT scan of my brain.
I’ll never forget the moment the doctor came in, sat down, and looked at me seriously. She told me they’d found something: a large lesion in the left parietal zone of my brain. It looked solid, like it could be a tumor. They didn’t know exactly what it was, only that it was big, it was serious, and they needed to act quickly. The next few months & years were a blur.
That was nine years ago (July 2016), and it was the moment I truly understood how short life can be. Lying in a hospital bed for days on end, I had to face the thought that death was a very real possibility. I was no longer the invincible 24-year-old I thought I was.
I was in the hospital for a total of 9 days. They completed a brain surgery to find out what it was and how to remove it, which was probably the second scariest moment of my life. Good news! It wasn’t cancer. It was a brain abscess, a bacterial infection that somehow passed my blood-brain-barrier. This was promising news in that it was most-likely treatable. But my neurosurgeon was flabbergasted. He told me this was not right, I was a healthy young woman. According to him “only HIV positive drug users who live in dumpsters and are immune-compromised get brain abscesses. Normally a healthy person's blood-brain-barrier keeps infection out.”
Interestingly, back in 2016, my neurosurgeon told me he believed my brain abscess was the result of intestinal permeability—better known as leaky gut—from years of unresolved gut & immune issues. His theory was that pathogenic bacteria, specifically strep, had entered my bloodstream, crossed my compromised blood-brain barrier, and made its way into my brain. To this day, he’s the only conventional doctor who has looked at the bigger picture and considered a true root cause. Every other doctor I saw over that decade told me each health scare I’d had was just a “fluke” and completely unrelated.
I was put on high-dose IV antibiotics for three months through a PICC line. I was also prescribed seizure medication (Keppra) that made me feel like I was losing my mind. I had home nurses coming in and out, and I spent the next few months either in bed or at doctor’s appointments. Those months were long and heavy. I felt weak, scared, sick, and anxious—but slowly, I healed. Eventually, I was told I could start easing back into “normal” life.
Still, after countless visits to doctors, specialists, naturopaths, and therapists, I had no definitive answer for why this rare, dangerous illness happened to me. But because of my history, I knew in my gut—literally and figuratively—that it was all connected. I just had to figure out the how and the why.
healing for good
After the brain abscess, my body went through more than it ever had before. I was stressed, anxious, and depressed—and it quickly became debilitating. I started having panic attacks for the first time in my life. I was so fatigued that some days I couldn’t walk up the stairs or leave my apartment. Night sweats soaked my clothes to the point where I had to change them multiple times a night. Sleep became nearly impossible. I’d lie there with my heart pounding out of my chest, overwhelmed with fear and worry.
I was eating constantly but felt hangry and drained all the time. Cystic acne appeared across my face, chest & back for the first time ever. I gained ten pounds of what felt like a hormonal “tire” around my abdomen. I was chronically bloated, foggy, moody, and my cycle became unpredictable—either absent altogether or stretched to 45–50 days. Within a year of my brain abscess, I was diagnosed with PCOS, SIBO, anxiety, and depression.
My neurologist wanted to put me on SSRIs and benzodiazepines. My OBGYN suggested birth control pills and spironolactone. I was exhausted, and managing my health had become a full-time job. That’s when I made the decision: I wasn’t going to put a band-aid on these symptoms. My body was screaming for deeper healing. Conventional medicine had saved my life, but it wasn’t helping me be well.
I knew I needed to restore balance in my body through intentional, holistic changes—nutrition, lifestyle, mindset, and more. If I had control over one thing, it was how I treated my body: what I ate, how I moved and rested, and how I cared for my mind.
I focused on balancing my hormones by regulating my blood sugar and stress, and by getting myself out of constant fight-or-flight mode. I worked to restore gut function, support my immune system, and clear my sluggish detox pathways. I slowed down, looked at the big picture, addressed healing opportunities, and actually listened to what my body was asking for.
Through a combination of nutrition, rest, movement, stress reduction, functional testing, and targeted supplementation, I was finally able to find balance again.
I balanced my hormones, reduced systemic inflammation, cleared my acne, calmed my GI tract, lost the stubborn hormonal 10–15 pounds, started sleeping again, and got my energy, stamina, and enthusiasm for life back. I made changes that were realistic, sustainable, and effective—changes that gave me lasting results and a healthier, happier life. Now, I get to help thousands of women do the same.
Life is too short to feel sick, stuck, and scared. I don’t want anyone to have to navigate their health journey alone or without direction the way I once did.
With the right combination of nutrition, behavior shifts, and lifestyle practices—all part of The MaddHealthy Method framework & proven process—you can feel your absolute best. I never thought I would get here, and yet… here I am.
2024-2025 UPDATE
CHARLEY & pregnant w/ baby #2
Because of everything I had been through, I was told many times that I might never be able to conceive naturally—and that if I did, it would almost certainly require IVF. Living with PCOS, recurring ovarian cysts, a diagnosis of low ovarian reserve, and more made that possibility even harder to accept.
Instead of accepting that as my reality, I chose to take a root-cause, functional approach to balancing my hormones and supporting my body. Against all odds, I was blessed with my beautiful daughter, Charley. Then, just 13 months postpartum, while still breastfeeding, I found out I was pregnant again—naturally. Now, I’m just weeks away from meeting baby #2.
This is exactly why I created the MaddHealthy Method—the same framework I used to restore my health, balance my hormones, and support my fertility. Over the past 5.5 years, this approach has helped countless women heal, regulate their cycles, and get pregnant—many after being told they couldn’t conceive without medical intervention. Whether you’re trying to conceive, heal your gut, improve your energy, or simply feel like yourself again, the tools and strategies I teach are the ones that helped me get here. If it worked for me after everything I had been through, I know it can work for you too.
This experience didn’t just change my life—it deepened my passion for supporting women who have been told they can’t conceive without medical intervention. Today, I have the honor of helping countless clients heal their bodies, regulate their cycles, and achieve their dream of becoming mothers through a holistic, personalized approach.
There’s truly nothing more fulfilling than getting those messages with a photo of a positive pregnancy test and knowing that, together, we helped make that possible! <3
