BEN: You have such a positive outlook on all of this. I love it. What can you tell us about the health challenges you faced years ago.

KATIE: Thank you so much! Well, I was born with a mild form Elhers Danlos Syndrome Type 3, which is an inherited connective tissue disorder. It affects most of my joints, ligaments, skin, hyper extensions, etc… By the time I was in my early 20’s I already had arthritis in both knees, among other health issues. When I was 34 I ended up in the ER due to a infection in my leg, which had turned into sepsis. I was very sick and almost died. The surgeons removed most of my inner thigh to the bone.

     The infection destroyed most of the muscle, so they had to remove it in order to save my leg and my life. A little over a year after my leg surgery, I found myself in the hospital again. However, this time I had lost all function below the waist. For the year prior to this surgery I had been suffering from major back pain, to the point where the pain affected my good leg the worst. I would just fall over. It was embarrassing. I ended up with a cane, then a walker, then an emergency discectomy of my L4L5. I had an arthritic disk that had fully herniated into my spinal canal causing pressure on my spinal cord and eventually shutting off all communication from my brain to the lower half of my body.

     Bone spurs were removed from my back and I was suffering from stenosis as well. I was in so much pain, it makes me want to cry thinking about it. I still had a lot of pain after my surgery. They were not able to cage or fuse my spine, so I ended up going through an all- natural bone-on-bone fusion while pregnant with my son.

     When my son was just six months old I had another infection in my leg. This time resulting in a four day hospital stay. This is while I was recovering from a separate surgery from a birth complication. At this point, I think my body was in shock, as this all had happened within a five year span. Heavy antibiotics, medications, surgery and stress took its toll. My skin started reacting from the stress and my hair started falling out. I lost over half of the hair on my head, eyebrows and eyelashes due to alopecia. I became a very sad and miserable person for a while. I hated my body. I hated my situation, I hated the way I felt.

     I had to make a decision and either live in pain or try to do something about it. I started working out again. Slowly, one day at a time, I found how much better I felt working out. So each day I gave a little bit more of myself. Now, I feel great! My joints still flare up and my back will flare up, but all-in-all I feel great. Mentally and physically. Now I am happy, healthy and very well.

BEN: Wow, Katie. What a powerful story! And so incredibly inspirational. I am sure your story will resonate with so many. Especially those who want to give up on their goals and think, “I can’t”. Love this! I so look forward to seeing what’s next for you. And I am excited to see you back on the IPL stage in October! I have a feeling you are just getting started! Any final thoughts?

KATIE: Awe, wow! Thank you so much! I know it is not the hardest of journeys. We all go through so much in this life. I guess I would like my final thought to be, if you have a passion or dream then go for it. Surround yourself with positive and supportive people. Let all negative thoughts go in one ear and out the other! You got this!