A Journey of Faith, Resilience, and Grace

In the last post, I shared how I embraced new beginnings and looked ahead with optimism, despite the challenges I faced along the way.

About a month later, my first biologic home infusion just so happened to land on St. Patrick's day. I sat in the living room while the nurse administered the medication and watched for any adverse reactions while I was watching one of the Belgium single-day classic cycling races on TV. My wife, Elspeth, tried to cheer us all up by getting us green shamrock shirts and cookies, just to lighten the mood a bit. I smiled, but deep down, I was so broken and hopeless.

For the next couple of months, we continued the infusions, not really noticing any improvements, and we began to wonder if the house we had purchased just before the pandemic was potentially a cause for my out-of-control immune system. So, we called our realtor friend and put it on the market, and within a couple of months sold our home and moved into my parents' basement out in the country of eastern Kansas. The calmness and tranquility of the pastures, cattle, and silence of the country certainly benefited my immune system and my psyche. By this time, I had begun to work again after having had to take a medical leave of absence for 6 months from my corporate wellness coaching job. It was so nice to be coaching, teaching, and helping others again, it fed my soul.

Also, during this time, I had been very slowly building strength, still getting the biologic infusions, but hadn’t been seeing the promising results the doctors had been telling me to expect. After about 6 double dose infusions of the best biologic at that time for calming inflammation in the colon, my wife and I made the decision to stop them. This was a bold move given what we had gone through in the previous 9 months, but something told us that this simply wasn’t for me.

One afternoon my wife had been doing some research about how to heal the colon online and came across a small internet company, with hospital photos just like mine all over the website. We discussed the possibility of working with this small company, mainly due to the idea that it might be helpful for me to connect with a community of others who were working to heal their guts naturally too and had been through similar experiences with hospitals, drugs, and conventional medicine. So, we decided to join the community and share our journey with others, all banding together in one strong healing force. I continued to learn more about how viral infections can play a role in the illness including Epstein-Barr, the various forms of herpes virus, and others. We began some new natural treatments focusing on calming these viral infections and supporting the gut with elemental shakes and other natural tools to help heal and seal the gut. I made a lot of friends through this community, many I proudly call my friends to this day.

But this wasn’t the end, either. While we licked our wounds and regained what strength we could living in my parents' basement, it was a humbling experience to go from mountain ultra-runner, expert health coach, to severely ill, hopeless, and living in the basement of my parents' country house. The deconstruction continued, but my body was beginning to gain strength and traction enough that we were able to finally get an apartment and move out on our own again. I love my parents dearly, but we were so happy to finally be on our own again, and we are eternally grateful for their generosity, love, and support during those months.

Once we established in our new apartment, things began to finally shift. My body and mind were beginning to regain their motivation, drive, and courage to continue onward, but really what choice did we have? We were far too deep into this process to turn back, we were fully committed and though we didn’t see it at the time, we were gradually building more and more willingness to allow God to flow through us and for us to follow his plan, wherever it might lead. By this time, it was the spring of 2022 when the pandemic restrictions lifted for my work and I was asked to go back into the office. I was feeling strong enough to return and had made a commitment to myself to never stop moving forward on this healing journey, despite the number of times I had wanted to give up and walk away from it all. And while my journey has been long, dark, and full of uncertainty, I can see now that every twist and turn, every high and low, has led me to this moment, right here, right now, where I stand as a testament to the power of faith, resilience, and the unwavering grace of God.

If you're feeling inspired by my story and ready to embark on your own journey of healing and transformation, I'm here to support you every step of the way. Reach out to me for guidance, encouragement, and personalized coaching as you pursue a life of health, happiness, and purpose.

Be well,

William Malcolm

IntuitiveWellnessNow