Mobile Menu

  • Home
    • A little about me
  • Be Inspired
  • Need Help? Work with me
  • Blog
    • Podcast
  • Products
  • search
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Emotional Autoimmunity

Therapy solutions to the emotional issues of chronic illness

  • Home
    • A little about me
  • Be Inspired
  • Need Help? Work with me
  • Blog
    • Podcast
  • Products
  • search

Episode 30: Lisa Douthit: Surviving 4 cancers and living well with 3 autoimmune diseases.

You are here: Home / Podcast / Episode 30: Lisa Douthit: Surviving 4 cancers and living well with 3 autoimmune diseases.

December 31, 2019 //  by Kerry Jeffery//  Leave a Comment

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

Lisa Douthit developed her first cancer at age 25, having had no prior health issues before. She noticed that she was having trouble breathing when exercising and a few other worrying symptoms. A chest x-ray showed a baseball sized tumour on her heart that required open heart surgery to remove.

Her attitude at the time as a strong, independent woman was “I’m going to deal with this and charge my way through” so, she married 9 months after and began getting on with her life.

The second cancer came along a year later for which she received chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

All in all, Lisa has experienced four different cancers and has three autoimmune diseases that she now lives with and needs to actively manage which are: Myasthenia Gravis, Lupus and Hashimoto’s.

Lisa had been told that she would never be able to have children as a result of the chemotherapy and radiation so she was completely unprepared when visiting her doctor with worsening symptoms, to be told told that she was pregnant.

Lisa went on to have 3 children in four years with an 18 month gap in between. Dealing with the cancer had been difficult enough but it wasn’t until she developed autoimmune disease commencing with Myasthenia Gravis, Lupus and later, Hashimoto’s that it finally began to break her down, literally.

The Myasthenia Gravis began when she was away with the children on her own and suddenly developed double vision one night.

When she woke up the next morning, she was having trouble standing. She had to somehow drive herself and the children back home which was a very stressful event.  Once home, her sister helped her organise getting some tests done, and the diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis was given, which completely changed her life.

Lisa eventually became completely bedridden, could barely move, had difficulty breathing and swallowing and at one stage, was unable to eat for a full year.

She felt broken, traumatised and hopeless. Constantly being hauled into ICU by paramedics so often, kept her highly anxious and hyper vigilant of her body, all of the time.

The MG meant that she was incredibly sensitive to any form of stimulation so there was little she could do but lay in bed. She watched friends she had made in hospital die over the next years and began to think that maybe they were the lucky ones.

Her children felt like the only things that kept were making her keep her tenuous hold on life. Lisa lived for those five or ten minutes a day that her three children could creep in and snuggle with her in bed.

It was at her worst that Lisa began writing her book “Wellness Warrior – Fighting for life in fabulous shoes” which became a #1 best seller.

After helping to heal her trauma, Lisa now manages her illness using a twice yearly immunosuppressant chemotherapy drug, which completely wipes her out but helps to control her AI conditions.

This is such a wonderful story of transforming pain and suffering into strength and purpose and creating meaning through the experience.

Have a listen on the blog here or search and subscribe for The Emotional Autoimmunity Podcast on Spotify, iTunes and most podcast players.

Lisa Douthit is a Master Healer and the author of #1 Bestselling Wellness Warrior – Fighting for Life in Fabulous Shoes (for more info go to lisadouthit.com).  After struggling with four bouts of cancer (non Hodgkin lymphoma, thymus, thyroid, skin) and three different autoimmune diseases (Myasthenia Gravis, Lupus, Hashimotos), no one understands the physical, spiritual, and emotional rollercoaster better than she does. 

 
Lisa currently lives in Southern California with her husband and three children. When not working, writing, or handling her own health, she loves spending time with them in the Eastern Sierras discovering uncharted roads in the summer and skiing in the winter.  She also enjoys finding new vegan, gluten free recipes to make her family and friends and interacting with her private FaceBook group The Wellness Warrior Tribe.

Category: Podcast

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Season 3, Episode 3. Losing your old life and self to chronic illness.

Season 3, Episode 2. Moving through the grief of chronic illness.

Season 3, Episode 1: How the emotions of chronic illness really affect your body.

Previous Post: « Episode 29: How Jessa overcame pregnancy loss, managed Motherhood and built a business with Hashimoto’s
Next Post: My Big, Fat, Dietary Experiment part 1: Why I stopped eating AIP. »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Kerry Jeffery, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Counsellor

I’m Kerry Jeffery, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Counsellor and Award Nominated Internationally Certified Life Coach.

I am living well with four autoimmune diseases that affect every single facet of my life. I know all of the essential skills and strategies needed to make the difference between surviving and thriving with chronic illness because I have had to do it myself.

Now, I help people living with chronic illness world wide, make that difference for themselves.

Testimonials

“The extreme anxiety the stress was causing me had become unmanageable and I did not like the person it made me feel I had become.”

Awards

Footer

How are you feeling right now?

If it’s overwhelmed, isolated and alone, with no one who really seems to understand how you feel or what is happening to you -please know that I am here to help.

Read more about how I can support you here

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer

Copyright © 2023 Emotional Autoimmunity · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme