2025 In Review - Winter

What can I say about Winter 2025? A lot happened, but it mainly had to do with my health.

In February, I went to see a doctor about a suspected disability. The symptoms were all there so it was just a matter of going to see a specialist. I knew it was going to take some time before I got in to see one, and sure enough I didn’t get a call until summer.

I did the test they gave me, which was one I did on my own then waited a few weeks to hear the results. Sure enough, the doctor told me I tested positive, but the case was really mild and if “you lose some weight, it will probably go away”.

I’ve heard this before. Many issues I have gone in to see doctors for have been brushed off as a result of my weight. So it was no surprise it was happening again.

But then I had my follow up appointment with the specialist and when she asked me “how did hearing that make you feel?”, I paused. Then I just broke down. No one had ever asked me that and when I took the time to truly think about it, I realized how wrong it was.

It’s easy to tell someone “Just lose weight”, but when that person has zero energy, suffers from chronic fatigue, cannot eat raw vegetables for long periods of time due to an autoimmune disorder that will land me in the hospital with internal bleeding and incredible pain, it’s not a simple task. There are days when my body just crashes. I get home from a 60 hour work week and sleep through my two days off because I’m just so fucking tired.

So I told the specialist all of this and she agreed with me that with how things currently were for me, I wouldn’t be able to lose weight. Even if I went to the gym and dieted as much as possible, my metabolism was so slowed due to the fatigue that it wouldn’t do much. She also suspected that my case was more severe than what the initial test showed. So she sent me in for a full evaluation. And to no real surprise, the test came back two points away from being so severe that I wouldn’t be able to drive. An extremely different result than “it’s super mild, just lose weight”.

I am so incredibly grateful that I had a doctor who took the time to ask me how I felt and took the initiative to investigate further. She truly changed my life.

After nearly a year, I finally got my diagnosis and began treatment.

With that taken care of, I thought I was finally in the clear, but then I woke up one morning and I was in such immense pain that I couldn’t move. With every slight movement, it felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to my chest. So I was rushed to the hospital and underwent multiple tests. We figured out what it was and started dealing with it, but I was out for weeks. I had never been in so much pain before. It was incredibly scary, and I hope it never happens again.

One good thing did happen in winter, though! After a conversation with my mom, I decided to randomly look up properties for sale in the area, and found a place I absolutely loved. There was even an open house that weekend. So Lucas and I went to check it out. We spent about an hour there and were the only people that showed up so we got to really appreciate the place.

Now, even though we both loved this place, we didn’t want to just jump into purchasing the first house we looked at. So we checked out a few more places, but we just couldn’t stop thinking about that one. So we ended up putting in an offer and we got it!! At the end of February, we would be able to move from a condo to a HOUSE in an area we absolutely loved.

It was a much needed win to end off the year ❤️

⭐️ Jenna