The early years
Born as a middle child, I always felt different, I had the darkest complexion of my family, I was the quietest and mostly sickly. I guess this was part of middle child syndrome… but this diagnosis did not exist at the time. I must add, I grew up in a God-fearing home and had everything I needed, I thank God for that privilege.
In my teens
Fast forward to my teen years, really excelled in sports and loved the competition field it was where I felt the most freedom. At the age of 16 I had the flu that would not go away, I was treated by a Dr for this and it was not until I had joint pains and blisters on my fingers that the Dr sent me to hospital for testing. That is where I met my current physician Dr JJ Kritzinger, who diagnosed me with SLE (aka lupus) We obviously had no clue what this was and while he was explaining what it was all I can remember him saying that here is no cure for such a disease and if it is not managed/treated correctly, you could die. This devastating news could not come at a worse time, as my dad’s business was being liquidated and we were losing everything, it was the first time I saw my mom burst into tears as if all hope was lost. The feeling of death, hopelessness, insecurity had set in, and although we believed in the healing power of Jesus Christ, I couldn’t help to feel abandoned by my Lord.
Took me 8 weeks to recover and get back to school. I was a skinny tall child, but when I got back on my feet, to get back to “LIFE” I was flesh and bone, with absolutely no fat.
Took me another month to get back on the sports field, I just made sure I was medicating, sunscreen and clothing cover. I was in no way going to allow lupus to take my sports away from me, because that is where I found my true identity, I was more or less fine for the rest of my school days, I got sick often but it did not land me in hospital again.
In my 20's
Reaching my 20’s I started on my downward spiral again, I landed up in hospital about 3 times of which 2 was because of a lupus flare and the birth of my son. Yes, I got married by age 23 and gave birth to our son and age 25 years old, know that pregnancy can be a danger because of blood clotting that can put the mom and baby at risk. But my pregnancy was an absolute breeze, I did not even suffer from morning sickness, which was another blessing that I was thankful for.
My 30's
30’s has been the most eventful and challenging decade for me… these are my eventful episodes
I eventually got so tired of this cycle I decided to make a lifestyle change and that is by eating correctly and exercising. Through the consistency of this, it changed my life. I have never been healthier that I am now. Through sheer commitment and determination, I have landed up in hospital once, after 3 years of good health. I even pushed it a step further by competing in a bikini competition and I did this purely to prove to myself and others what I am able to achieve if I set my mind on it.
We are so limited by our thinking, that we sometimes fail to go beyond what we are able to achieve. If you don’t know, competing in a competition is hectic, 6 weeks of gruelling exercise, cardboard eating and it is really stressfull on the body. Stress is a known trigger for lupus and could be one of the reasons why I ended up in hospital 3 months later.
Through this experience I started my business Maxed Me, where I know I can help other ladies with the same struggles to gain not only their bodies back but also their health, confidence and life back. We get so caught up with the “busyness” of life we often lose track and start to neglect ourselves, which is to our own detriment. We are here now in 2019, turning 40 in a few weeks’ time and I can’t wait to enter into a new era in my life. I really believe and expect that the next decade is going to be blissful and full of good experiences that will add wonderful memories to my life.
