Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Overcoming Colitis: Alternative Therapies for Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and other Bowel Disorders
    Overcoming Colitis: Alternative Therapies for Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and other Bowel Disorders
    Overcoming Colitis: Alternative Therapies for Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and other Bowel Disorders
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    Overcoming Colitis: Alternative Therapies for Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and other Bowel Disorders

    By Heidi Tankersley

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    With entertaining excerpts from her real-life account, author Heidi Tankersley walks you through the alternative therapies she used—and the journey she took—to go from suffering with ulcerative colitis, a serious colon disease, to enjoying health and vibrancy again. Each chapter contains information on the alternative therapies and approaches that Heidi utilized to get well.
    If you’re longing to feel good again, read this book. Your body (and bowels) will never be the same.

    “Finally, a humorous, prescriptive self-help book for anyone suffering from ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or irritable bowel disease.” – K. Winkler

    A note from the author:

    Many of us are told we will have our colon diseases for life (whether we are suffering from what was diagnosed as ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, or inflammatory bowel disease.)
    This is emphatically not true.
    Our bodies are made to live in a state of health. Within this book I present the alternative therapies I used to help me overcome my very real bowel illness (ulcerative colitis). The road to health was not easy, but it was surmountable—and it can be for you, too.
    If you suffer from ibs, ibd, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, or other bowel disorders, if you’re tired of feeling sick, and if you are looking for treatments and approaches that will help you get well, then you will find the therapies and insights presented inside this colitis book very helpful.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHeidi Tankersley
    Release dateJan 10, 2017
    ISBN9781370546237
    Overcoming Colitis: Alternative Therapies for Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and other Bowel Disorders
    Author

    Heidi Tankersley

    Heidi Tankersley loves life and believes in each person's unique potential to accomplish amazing things here on earth. After twelve years as a yoga and Pilates instructor, she dove full-time into her passions--writing books and public speaking--and she hasn't looked back since. She lives in Northwest Arkansas with her fantastic husband, two brilliant kids, and some very loyal golden retrievers. Visit her at HeidiTankersley.com.

    Related to Overcoming Colitis

    Related ebooks

    Wellness For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      SIBO — The New Scourge

      Aug 8, 2018

      Your gut is pivotal to the health of your brain and heart in that malfunction can trigger a range of afflictions, from anxiety and depression to weight gain and even heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a smorgasbord

      3 min read

    • Article

      Natural Remedies For Reflux

      Jul 21, 2019

      Q I’ve been diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease and have been prescribed omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor. I’ve read lots about all the side-effects of these drugs, so I’d like to find a natural solution instead. Can you suggest any rem

      3 min read

    • Article

      How I beat MS

      Sep 22, 2019

      How I beat MS
      9 min read

    • Article

      How To OUTSMART IBS

      Aug 13, 2020

      How To OUTSMART IBS
      5 min read

    • Article

      Alternative Remedies For Crohn’s Disease

      Jan 24, 2021

      My 32-year-old son-in-law has been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and is not able to work at the moment due to the horrendous symptoms. Can you suggest any alternative remedies that could help? L.B., via email Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition

      4 min read

    • Article

      11 Easy Ways To Ease IBS

      Apr 7, 2020

      11 Easy Ways To Ease IBS
      3 min read

    • Article

      Everything YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PCOS

      Feb 4, 2021

      Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common hormonal disorder in women of reproductive age. Women with PCOS often have an imbalance of insulin and androgen hormones (such as testosterone). “The excessive insulin affects the normal functioning

      2 min read

    • Article

      Cut The Ibs

      Nov 18, 2016

      Cut The Ibs
      8 min read

    • Article

      Stay Well The SCANDI WAY

      Aug 26, 2021

      Stay Well The SCANDI WAY
      3 min read

    • Article

      Adrenal Fatigue & Your Skin

      Dec 12, 2018

      CARLA OATES is the CEO of The Beauty Chef, a natural beauty expert and the author of Feeding Your Skin and The Beauty Chef Cookbook. W: thebeautychef.com Are you constantly exhausted or lacking energy? Do you have difficulty sleeping or feel like you

      4 min read

    • Article

      The DETOX DECEPTION

      Sep 18, 2019

      Whether it’s a freshly pressed celery juice promising diuretic-induced muscle definition or a cayenne pepper and cider cocktail guaranteeing liver rejuvenation, it is tough not to be persuaded by the detox industry. The concept that you can wash away

      7 min read

    • Article

      Gut Healing 101

      Mar 20, 2020

      Poor digestion and bloating can be due to intestinal gut flora imbalance, ’dysbiosis’ as it is known. Naturopaths will often favour a three-phase, ‘weed, seed and feed’, approach. Eliminate the bad bugs (weed), introduce more of the positive ones (se

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Kind Of Magic

      Oct 2, 2022

      The first thing I notice about my new therapy appointment is that I’ve worn the wrong shoes. I’ve done everything else correctly: washed my hair, used deodorant, selected an age-appropriate shirt, practised my calm and knowledgeable voice. But thongs

      5 min read

    • Article

      Taking Control

      Aug 12, 2021

      Taking Control
      5 min read

    • Article

      Stonking Rare

      Jun 16, 2022

      Stonking Rare
      5 min read

    • Article

      Throwing Stones

      Sep 25, 2019

      Throwing Stones
      5 min read

    • Article

      Out From The Shadows

      Apr 25, 2019

      Out From The Shadows
      6 min read

    • Article

      Facing The Demons

      Nov 1, 2018

      Facing The Demons
      7 min read

    • Article

      Worst hangover EVER

      Aug 5, 2021

      Worst hangover EVER
      5 min read

    • Article

      Adam Kay

      Dec 4, 2023

      Adam Kay
      5 min read

    • Article

      Unstoppable At 60

      Aug 19, 2023

      Unstoppable At 60
      9 min read

    • Article

      Moment of TOOTH

      Mar 25, 2021

      Moment of TOOTH
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Most Powerful Words

      May 28, 2021

      The Most Powerful Words
      6 min read

    • Article

      Taking Control

      Jul 9, 2020

      Staring at the familiar green lettering ahead, I took a deep breath. Sat in my car at my local Asda car park, I clung on to the steering wheel, sweat dripping from my palms. You can do this , I thought, trying to convince myself to get out of the ca

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Overcoming Colitis

    5/5

    4 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Overcoming Colitis - Heidi Tankersley

      Beginning of the Adventure

      Bloody poo.

      I don’t know how else to say it. I was seventeen. And I had it.

      Bloody.

      Poo.

      We went to the doctor about it.

      Obviously, it wasn’t the usual, you-have-acne, so-rub-this-on-your-face kind of doctor visit. But still …

      Epic fail. Seriously.

      Worst. Doctor’s. Visit. Ever.

      THE VISIT WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

      The doctor blinks, staring at me over thick, black-framed glasses. "The symptoms lead me to believe you have what we call ulcerative colitis, perhaps even Crohn’s disease. And, gauging from the severity of your condition, combined with your increased risk of colon cancer, it is possible you will have a bag for a colon within ten years."

      I glance helplessly over at Mom. Bag? Did he just say bag? For what? To hold my bloody poo? Attached to what—a belt? A hot-pink fanny pack?

      My mom clears her throat and motions for me to close my now hanging-open mouth, even as she struggles to shut her own.

      The doctor rolls his chair over and sidles up next to me where I sit on the examining table. I’m going to listen to your lungs now. Everything’s going to be okay.

      My eyes flicker from the stethoscope hanging around the doctor’s neck to the tongue depressors sitting in a glass jar on the counter in the corner. The rest of the world goes a bit fuzzy, but those tongue depressors stay in full focus. Did he just say bag?

      The doctor unwraps the stethoscope from his neck. Don’t worry, you can take a sticker on the way out. We just got some new stickers. Oh, and some steroids. You’ll need steroids, of course. For less bloody poo.

      END DOCTOR VISIT.

      (Reader, the doctor didn’t really say that part. About the stickers, I mean.)

      As mom and I stepped out of the doctor’s office and into the sunshine of another normal day (for thousands of other teenagers), I thought about what the doctor said.

      His final equation, as far as I could tell, went something like this:

      Sketch No. 1

      Who wants to hear something like that? Not me. But, it didn’t matter. I just had.

      Fast forward to the year 2015. I turned 33.

      I don’t have a bag for a colon.

      Let me repeat. My colon is not a fanny-pack. My colon is not a bag. My colon is my colon. And I don’t have bloody poo anymore.

      And here, in this book, is how I did it.

      1

      Sketch No. 2

      THE STORY:

      After the worst news of my teenage life.

      We drove home from that doctor’s visit.

      It was a few weeks to Christmas.

      The instructions: Stay on the steroid pill. No eating leafy vegetables, no high fiber foods, no seedy foods. Especially DO NOT eat these things in times of bad bloody poo. White flour had officially been deemed good, because it was supposedly easy for my poor little colon to process.

      I followed the instructions.

      Kind of. For a bit.

      Until Christmas day, which went something like this:

      My family of seven sits at the table, eating our traditional Christmas morning brunch. My older sister, Hannah, has returned from her first semester at college. My three younger brothers are chattering and making nonsensical noises.

      Meanwhile, I stuff my face with another homemade cinnamon roll.

      Mom, this is awesome. You make the best cinnamon rolls, I say. (But I know this isn’t awesome, because stuffing myself with cinnamon rolls isn’t solving anything. I can feel it. More bloody poo is undoubtedly on its way.)

      Mom sets down her fork, glancing at Dad. I wonder if this is sustainable.

      No, Dad says, this Christmas brunch is not sustainable, not if we keep having children.

      Not the meal, John, Mom says, the tension in her voice alerting everyone at the table that she’s serious. "I’m talking about eating white flour. It can’t be healthy for her. It doesn’t have any nutrients."

      I pause, with another forkful of gooey cinnamon roll on its way to my mouth. Wait, are you referring to me? (I know she’s referring to me.)

      NOO-TRENTS? Daniel says. I cough on my bite, humored by Daniel’s one-year-old attempt at the word.

      My Mom turns and makes eye contact with me. I think we need to give your body foods that are going to help it get better. Foods with lots of nutrients. And I think we should look into alternative treatments that could help you get well. Taking pills for years and then getting a bag for a colon just can’t be the best solution. We’ve got to figure out something else.

      I swallow a bite, tentative. Okay… But internally, I feel relieved. You mean, you think there’s a way I’m won’t be condemned to a fanny pack colon bag?

      Then, the next feeling washes over me. I’m hesitant—and scared. But, if we don’t do what the doctor said, what DO we do?

      I say none of this out loud.

      How much money are we talking here? Dad says.

      Can you please pass the jelly? Nathan, a first grader, says softly, as if he’s not sure it’s okay to be asking questions right at that moment.

      I’ll pass you the jelly, Henry, a seventh grader, says, and proceeds to smear jelly across Nathan’s cheek with his index finger.

      Ugh. Hannah crinkles her nose. I’m surrounded by immaturity.

      Mom’s voice shifts to a warning tone. Henry, go get a washrag. And stop tormenting. She looks at Dad, resolute, then back to me. I’m going to make an appointment for you. With an herbalist. The one who helped Hannah with her depression. I also just read an article about an acupuncturist in Buhler. I’m going to check her out. It’s only the next town over.

      Mom! Hannah cries. "I’m soo over that. Don’t even say it out loud!"

      I know you are over it, and that’s because we found something that worked. Mom eyes me. "What do you think?

      Okay… I say again.

      How much are we talking here? Dad repeats.

      Henry returns from the kitchen and throws a rag at Nathan. It lands

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1