Jeff: My Inspiration
Growing up, I was first exposed by my mother to alternative health through home remedies such as apple cider vinegar and raw honey, Epsom salts and visits to the family chiropractor. I married my college sweetheart, Jeff Anderson, who was diagnosed with Lupus within 6 months of our first meeting back in 1996. After struggling with various manifestations of the disease, including debilitating esophageal spasms that lead to fits of uncontrollable vomiting and two years of dialysis due to renal failure my beloved Jeff died at the age of 36 from heart failure. I became a widow at the young age of 29.
We knew that Jeff would not have a normal life span. His rheumatologist told him early on that based on his off-the-charts blood work it would be about quality of life not quantity. Yet we did not think it would be this short. His myriad of specialized doctors (an internist, rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, hematologist, dermatologist, cardiologist and nephrologist) did not know what to do with him: a white male with Lupus expressing atypical symptoms. Each specialist treated Jeff’s particular organ as if it was its own closed system, completely unrelated to the other symptoms or issues. They never looked at the big picture; never treated him as a whole human being. The medications used to try and mask the symptoms became part of the problem. If the Lupus didn’t kill him the pills surely would. His experience with western allopathic medicine and my own personal experience with anxiety, fatigue, reoccurring urinary track and yeast infections and trying to cope with the stress associated with having a chronically ill spouse lead me down the road to health counseling, Laughter Yoga and healing.
Jeff was a passionate environmentalist and loved the outdoors. His degree was in Forest Recreation, but Lupus eventually pushed him to analysis and computer programming in a less physical office environment. My business is dedicated to him: Jeffrey Owen Anderson.