“CHOOSING TO BE A HAPPINESS AC TIVIST ” SHARLENE TRUMET My journey to and through wellness is one with many twists but started at quite a young age. I had always considered myself an active kid, not athletic by any stretch of the imagination, but one who was often found outside playing with my friends. Loved riding my bike, climbing trees, roller-skating on the sidewalks, playing kickball and anything we all could dream up. Life took a bit of a turn when I was about 8 years old. While playing, I kept falling and my right hip was hurting and finally I wasn’t able to stand on it at all. My parents took me to a highly recommended orthopedic doctor who diagnosed me to with “Osteomyelitis”. Only 2 out of every 10,000 people get osteomyelitis and in children it is acute and comes on fast and furious. The prescribed treatment was for me to wear a harness ( like an old fashioned crossing guard ) with a buckle that hung from it behind me and a special shoe that attached to that buckle. It appears the goal was to keep me from standing on that leg at all. So it was for the next 2 years. The adventure to follow that had a major impact on my life was at age 13. For unknown reasons, at least none of the reason this usually happens to people, the retinas in both eyes decided to detach. After 3 surgeries in Boston, Massachusetts my eyesight was restored but now with a plethora of restrictions to follow for the majority of my life. The experience of the surgeries and 4 months in a children’s hospital 600 miles from my home (2 of those months by myself because my mom had my dad and brother to care for too) had a tremendous impact on 32
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shaping who I was to become. You see, I was the oldest in this children’s hospital. There were “littles” of a wide variety of ages and situations and when I was able to I would go with the nurses and help with the other kids. It may have been to hold their hand during medication rounds or just sit with them and just be a friend. This helped me forget about my plight and focus on the needs of others. My next life shaping moments were probably the most life expanding. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, then ovarian cancer which then spread to her spine. The first two cancers she went with the traditional medical treatment, surgeries and drugs, but when it spread to her spine she had enough. Figuring that she had nothing to lose she found a Naturopath who had a protocol to help her with the cancer. It was an intense journey for all of us as we supported her through cleanses, multiple detoxes and basically learning a new way of life. We began by reading and understanding labels, eliminating all toxins from the house and completely changing our food habits. It paid off, much to the surprise of the original doctors, for 6 months later my mom was cancer free and has remained so for 44 years.
