Transcript:

Today is a really, really special interview. I've never done an in -person podcast like this, and I have my dear friend Jodi here with me. She is one of the most talented, phenomenal women I have ever known. And the more we get to know each other, the more we learn, we have in common. Like, I think it was a couple years back, Jodi, I remember we were splashing in my creek with our kids and...

we are talking about, I don't know why, like, okay, so we met at a birth center where we had our daughters. So this is over 13 years ago. And we made the connection that we are born at the same hospital in the same town, just like 20 days apart. And so we just keep finding more things that we have in common. And so I'm really excited for this conversation to both connect with you and this is a really incredible.

because many, many, many women are experiencing what you experienced. Maybe they haven't made the connection yet. Maybe this episode will serve as validation for what they deep in their subconscious know. Or maybe it will help somebody make a different decision further on in their life. So Jodi, will you please just introduce yourself and tell us who you are?

and then we're going to move into your story. I'm Jodi Engstrom. I am a mama, number one of one 13 year old girl, and she's the light of my life and we homeschool. I am a musician. I make jewelry. It's a lot of things I do. I kind of - If you ever see my Instagram posts and I'm wearing earrings, I only ever wear Jodi's earrings.

And I'm just, I'm a really big fan of you as well. I...

I feel like the main thing here is that I feel really strongly about what I'm about to share with you, something that happened in my life. And there's an old saying and really a special quote that says, speak even if your voice trembles.

And I really believe that. I made the choice when I was 20 years old to get breast implants. And I'm gonna share that story with you today. It's pretty intense and it changed my life in some not so good ways and some really amazing ways and brought me to a place where I can really love my body.

and have a greater understanding of what my body can actually do. So, um...

I had about when I was 20 years old, someone in my family had said, you know, they were gonna get breast implants. And I thought, well, this is a pretty amazing thing. I grew up, I didn't have a great childhood. And I had had a few times where people had said, when saying, I wanna be a famous musician, somebody once told me that I wasn't pretty enough.

and I got, I remember you sharing a story with me and it's, this is somebody who is very close to a daughter's heart and should not say this. Exactly, exactly. Nobody should say this, but this person that said this to you is like the first person that should never say this. Absolutely, absolutely. And I was bullied. I had epilepsy when I was little, so I was on DepCo, which is,

the medication that they recommended to take. It's very hard on your liver. And it made me balloon up and I gained, I think 40 pounds on my small frame. And I was bullied as a kid and I had just come, so fast forward from all of that, I developed anorexia and orthorexia when I was 17.

probably stemming back to those things and went through this long struggle with it. I was very, very restrictive in my eating. I was running 10 miles a day and then coming home to eat cucumbers. Oh my gosh, Jodi, we should have a whole podcast on this because I did the same thing. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So I was coming out of this...

deep struggle with these eating disorders. And my family, the person in my family had said, hey, I'm getting breast implants. And I thought, there it is. There is the thing that's gonna make me happy. There is a thing that's gonna make me love my body because I kind of always felt like my body wasn't proportional and I have...

always had like a smaller upper body and then a larger lower body and I, you know, growing up in the 90s and 2000s, that was not the thing, the in thing. So I always felt un -proportional and I thought, this is the thing. This is the thing that is going to make me feel good about myself. And so I sold my car.

because it was only $5 ,000. And I went in for a consultation with a person, actually a doctor in town, and went in, had him look me over. I just wanted a little more than what I had, but he recommended a size and he sent me home with a nylon and some rice to figure out what size I wanted. What a fun thing, you know? And he said,

Um, we have, uh, we have a spot on Tuesday. Otherwise you're going to have to wait quite a few months to get in on the list. So I was like, okay, you know, here's 20 year old self thinking that, you know, I was doing the right thing because I was choosing saline. Um, and it was like the healthy option was choosing saline versus what's the other option? Latex? Silicon. Silicon. So that's where it's filled.

Actually, I believe all of the shells are made of silicone, but the inside was made mine were saline. Okay, so that was the healthy choice. They were already talking about silicone ruptures and all of that. So how long ago was this? This was, I was looking it up. So let's see, so this would be 16 years ago. Yes. Okay, yes.

I have to do the quick math because we're the same age. Exactly. Exactly. So this was quite a while ago. And the doctor, this is another thing, is that the doctor said, these will last you your entire life. Never going to have to get them replaced. And I thought, well, $5 ,000, never going to have to get them replaced. I'm going with the healthier version. And he's got an appointment for me on Tuesday. You know? Yeah. So I was very excited about it. And I went in and...

came out with a larger size, that's the first thing, which is funny, came out with a larger size than I wanted, which actually, as you start talking to women that get implants, you'll realize that most women come out with a larger size. And the doctor, yeah, the doctor kind of makes that decision often, you know, like, oh, well, since they're probably going to want a bigger size anyway, we'll just save them some money, you know, and put in a larger size. Um,

So a few years later, I did really well the first few years. I was on a completely raw vegan diet at the time. And I think that that helped bolster the inflammation. And I think that eating a very low inflammation diet really helped with that. But then after I had my daughter. So I just want to clarify. So yes.

you're looking back, you're guessing that the implants caused inflammation in your body, but you were on a raw vegan diet that kept the inflammation down from everything else. Okay. So I wasn't, so my body wasn't really reacting as much because I had such a healthy diet. Okay. But then when I, um, about two years later, I just started getting this chronic fatigue. It was after I had my daughter, after I met you, um, and

I had this crazy chronic fatigue. I mean, I didn't know what was wrong. I knew something was wrong. And just inside of me, I just knew like, this isn't right. I know I have a young child, but I should - Everything externally chalks it up to that, right? Like, you're exhausted because you're not sleeping the same and everything is blamed on becoming a mom. When really, this is a really, really common time.

for women to experience a shift in their health, whether it's from implants or from anything else. Like I was actually just listening to a podcast about women giving birth and why like women have the adrenaline stores that we have. And it's so that we can push our children out during birth. And those adrenaline surges are hard on our liver and it's hard on our gut microbiome. And it's natural and beautiful, but that happens. And when our liver and our gut bacteria is stressed,

symptoms happen. Yes. And so I'm so excited to keep going with your story because there was also something else greatly impacting your microbiome and your liver and your whole body health that of course it makes so much sense that it really started to surface after giving childbirth because your body had gone through a lot to grow a baby and to give birth and now to nurture the baby.

And I was breastfeeding at the time too, which in hindsight, you know, I don't like to think about how much toxins would have gone into her breast milk, but you know, it's, so I actually got incredibly tired and just, I couldn't function in daily life. There was one time that I went out on a walk with her around our little block area. I think it's, it was like a mile walk and,

I thought I just need to get outside. I need to get in the sun. It was the middle of winter and I, um, so she wasn't even one yet. She was. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I'm like walking around and I just feel I'm getting more and more tired as I'm walking. And I thought, this just doesn't seem right. So I'm, as I'm walking along, my legs feel like jello. Like, this is so strange to me. So I, um, I pulled the,

stroller over to the side of the road and my whole body was shaking. I was like, I was a quarter mile from my house and I couldn't, I felt like I couldn't make it home. That was how tired I was. And up to this point, are you just like completely baffled of what's going on? Like have you made any connections in your mind yet? I mean, my intuition was telling me that something was wrong.

But everybody else was telling me that, you know, it's, this is just part of it. This This is part of new motherhood. And not to say that postpartum depression and anxiety isn't real, but I feel that so many women are shoved under the rug because of that. Oh, you're just experiencing this. This is normal. Yes. And when really there was a lot going on in your body. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So I,

Quickly right after that, I went to a class that kind of changed my life, which was all about fermentation and fermented foods. And so I started on that path. I ended up teaching my own classes and I had a sauerkraut business and those ferments helped me a lot for about two years.

Well, I remember seeing you every single week at your most adorable, fermented stand at the farmers market. And like, that was your life. It was because I felt like you, you know, I was, I was helping healing yourself and it was helping other people. Exactly. Exactly. So I just fell head first into that and loved it and just had so, um,

I felt so connected at that time. But about two years later, I started having health issues again, and I couldn't figure it out. And I went to a naturopath. I ended up gaining 10 pounds in a month, and I couldn't figure it out because here I am, like, eating really healthy. I was working out at the time, and I didn't understand what was happening. And so I went to my naturopath, and she...

kind of went over everything with me. She did my blood panel and I thought I had thyroid issues and I was, you know, being tired and I mean, I had all the symptoms of either hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's or something like that. And so I went to my naturopath and she got me on a dairy -free, gluten -free, egg -free, fruit -free diet.

And that helped again for about six months to a year. And then I had what I thought was a urinary tract infection, which I've had quite a bit in my younger years and struggled with that. So I...

you know, tried to fight it naturally like I always do. And I, you know, had my cranberry juice and I had my D -mannose and all of these things that I would always use. And it just kept getting worse. And I went to the doctor and they said, you have you were guessing you have a kidney infection because your back is now hurting. So they had to like,

It put this huge syringe in my back and like inject my kidneys with antibiotics and it was it ended up being this big thing. So I thought I'm never going to wait again. I'm just going to go and get the antibiotics even though I'm completely aware of how detrimental antibiotics are to my gut flora because I, you know, have been working with ferments and teaching classes and everything.

And this is so common where we have the awareness, but we find ourselves in situations where there aren't other options or we don't know of other options. Exactly. And so I want to touch more on that later in our later. Yes, absolutely. So I went in, I got that extreme dose of antibiotics in my kidneys and then I think they gave me an oral antibiotic as well and I wasn't getting any better.

It just, and I mean, if anybody's had a UTI, they know that can be some of the most terrible, uncomfortable pain. And it just kept getting worse. So about a week later, I went in.

and said, I am getting no relief. I don't know what to do. And so the last time before they had given me, they had tested my urine and they said there was no bacteria. And this next time they tested my urine, they said, you know, it looks like we're not seeing any bacteria, but there could still be. So we're just going to give you another round of antibiotics. Then about five,

rounds of antibiotics later. This is within a year period of time. Oh my gosh. Still having pain. Still just trying to make the nobody is even just like digging deeper of like what is going on. It's just here. Yes. Wipe it out. Yes. And I told the doctor, I said, you're not seeing any bacteria. There's something else wrong. You need to look into this more. So, um.

They gave me an ultrasound and did all of these things. And finally, I was referred to a urologist and he said, you have interstitial cystitis, which is also called the painful bladder syndrome. And as I'm already on this incredibly, I mean, this, this diet that's, you know, completely restrictive and

Honestly, with everything that I've had, you know, go on with my anorexia and everything, it's really not healthy for me to be on a very restrictive diet. It's very, it can, it's very triggering. It triggers me. So.

I'm, as I'm talking to the doctor, the doctor is like, you can't have anything acidic. This food, this food, this food, this food, on top of all of the other things I can't eat. Oh my gosh. And he said, I can't help you. There's nothing we can do about this. You can go to pelvic floor physical therapy, and then you can stay away from these foods. And there's really nothing else you can do.

The one thing that I found that helped was to be drinking water constantly throughout the day. And if I wasn't drinking water constantly throughout the day, I mean, just drinking, drinking, I was in excruciating pain. And I remember waking up one morning, I mean, I had pain every day, all day for two years.

Wow. So how old is your daughter at this point would you say?

Um...

probably a kid. And I'm not able to be the mother that I want to be for her. I'm not able to be the wife that I would like to be for my husband. And by this point, had you stopped your fermentation business? I had. Yes, I had stopped my fermentation business. My husband had gotten...

injured and so I had to take on a full -time job. And I had to work. I was working 60 hours a week. Oh my gosh, in this pain? In this pain. And I would go home and cry in bed because I was in so much pain. I had to work, leave work a few times. I didn't leave work more than that. And I, my whole life was falling apart really. And...

I... In the midst of this too, I think this is about the time that you guys moved into a new little home and completely renovated. Yes. Like, down to nothing. Yes, completely renovated the house. Oh, I'm thinking back to this, Jodi, and I just want to like wrap you in the biggest hug because, and like any listeners, because we as women, holy shit, we take on so much. We are so...

insanely powerful. Yes. And I just want to acknowledge you. Thank you. Because living in a pain like that is debilitating and it's hard enough to just have to take care of yourself. But to be a mom and to provide for your family and renovate a home and work 60 hours a week is beyond, beyond what any woman...

should do in their healthiest of times, right? And I say should lightly because not as judgment, but just as acknowledgement that you are a superwoman and even furthermore, because you have, you know, we're gonna keep hearing your story, but you've since learned how to heal your body and how to work less and how to take care of yourself and love yourself. And so going from this extreme,

you know, phase of your life where you were living on cortisol and adrenaline in complete pain to where you've brought yourself and that you did this and you healed yourself and you have improved your life. Like you are a superwoman. Oh, thank you. I feel the same way about you. Oh, thank you. Okay. So all of that's going on and then you've just gone through two years of excruciating pain. Yes. Then what?

So my lowest point was I was laying in bed.

And I was never suicidal, but there was a point where I thought, I have no hope. I...

There's no hope for me to have a life where I'm the mother and the wife that I would like to be. There's no hope for me, you know? And I...

So very soon after that, I was on Instagram and I saw a woman post about her chronic UTIs being cured by explanting, which is, explanting is taking your breast implants out in a very specific way. There's a very specific way that doctors want you to do it.

Actually, not doctors. Most doctors will tell you, you don't have to do it this way. But this is the way where you will get all the, where you have the biggest, you'll be able to heal the best. And before we move into this, I just want to thank you for your vulnerability because no matter what symptoms someone is living with,

It's so easy for us to lose hope. And I know that I was there so many times with my son and nobody had answers and nobody knew how to help. And we are just given band -aid after band -aid after band -aid. And it is so easy to lose hope. And if this podcast, not just this episode, but all 90 plus episodes now, if all they do for someone is share hope that healing really is possible.

then this podcast is successful because every person who comes on it is a story of healing. Yes. Even when you had tried and done everything and you finally learned how to heal. And so thank you for being.

Like I said, I mean, I'm not a great public speaker, but I think that the story needs to be shared because that one woman that I don't even know who it was, honestly, that posted on Instagram, that woman made the difference in my life because I thought, well, if she's having chronic UTIs, you never thought that my breast implants could have...

in any way made me have a UTI or interstitial cystitis or any, or being tired, right? Sure. So I am eternally grateful for her. And I have always been very open about my story because I thought if I can make the difference in one person's life,

the way that she made in mine. I wish I knew who it was so I could thank her. You know? Well, it is. This is how I thank her. Well, you are. You're paying it forward because it's hearing other people's stories that help us connect our own dots because sadly enough, our system is not designed to do that. Our system is designed to medicate us. Yes. And like I had to go to the doctor and say, no, this is not cutting it. And you were still just given. Mm hmm.

And so, okay, so you've now made this connection. Oh my gosh, could this be connected to my breast implants? What happened? So I've fallen into this rabbit hole of women online that are having health issues, pretty much all the same symptoms I was having from their breast implants.

At the time there was 10 ,000 people on this Facebook group. Oh my gosh. And so when is this? What year is this? Because it has grown and changed so much. I think it was in 2009. I was trying to find out all of my timelines. So like 2009. And...

This Facebook group is called Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole. So breast implant illness and healing by Nicole. Okay. And after I'm going to all get that information from you and I'm going to put links to everything that we talked about in the show notes. Perfect. This can be really easy for anybody listening. Yes. But how crazy amazing is our world that there are that we have access to online communities like this that.

are people just like you sharing your story that help us heal. I was not online when my son was really unwell. I was not like on any social medias or I didn't know how to do any of that. And you know, I know that, I don't know, I just want to acknowledge it here really quick that there is, we absolutely have to have boundaries with social media and that's so healthy, but.

I've had this recent shift inside of myself where I used to really resent having to show up on social media because that's really where I've grown only organics is on Instagram, but I didn't love being there. And then one day I just had this like this, it clicked for me of what a beautiful gift this is that this is available to help people make connections with what they are experiencing.

and what could possibly be going on, how they can really heal. And ever since then, I love social media. Yes. Absolutely. And so you saying that this is where you found this group is really, I don't know, it just surfaced those feelings for me. Yeah. Because I think we all have this like love hate relationship with social media. Yes. But it really goes to say like what we surround ourselves with in our...

actual physical lives, but on social media, that's what we see. And so you entered this rabbit hole of this information. And what a gift. And so, I don't know, I think it's just encouragement to put yourself where you want to be and surround yourself in community that is like -minded. And so this is the beginning of you entering this. Yes.

So I got to read the stories of about 10 ,000 women that were also going through this. Now it's grown to 187 ,000 women on this group. And I just fell in and I was ready to hear it because it was the one thing that was giving me hope. It was a glimmer of hope. It was. It was. And that's all I needed. That's all I needed to latch onto because I wanted hope.

I wanted hope, I didn't want my life to stay how it was. And so they had all the information I needed on the website, on the Facebook page. I would have known that you're supposed to get your implants taken out a very specific way if there weren't women already doing it. So I looked into surgeons and they have a full list of surgeons that they recommend.

I picked the closest one that I, for me, I felt it was very important to have a woman doing the surgery because I felt like there was less, a lot of the doctors at the time also put in implants at the same time as she did as well, but I thought she would have more understanding for me. So I went to Denver with,

my husband and my daughter and my dad and my stepmom came with. Oh, so cute. They came and took care of me. So, I'll tell you a little bit more about the way that they're supposed to take them out. Yeah, I would love to to give you more information about that. It's called an N -block.

or full capsulectomy, which is basically, and this is a really cool thing about it, is that when you get your breast implant, your body actually builds a capsule around the implant to protect your body. Wow. To protect your body from the foreign object. So what I've learned, there's a lot of different...

reasons why people will show symptoms of breast implant illness, but the biggest one is that it's a foreign object in your body, right? So if you don't take out the capsule that surrounds it as well as the implant inside, your body is still going to register that as a foreign invader because even if the capsule is still in there, it wasn't there when you were born. Oh my gosh, so I see what you're saying. So this is a much more invasive removal.

more invasive and you and it's good to go to a surgeon that knows what they're doing because they actually have to scrape the the capsule will attach itself to your ribs so yeah they have to like detach the capsule from the ribs without collapsing your lungs so it's kind of it's very I mean I was so sore afterwards but it's a pretty invasive surgery. Wow. Yeah so you so you have to pick the right surgeon.

And so I went to Denver and I...

I wasn't sure if this was going to help me, but I knew that I didn't want to. They had started to recommend removing the breast implants and putting new ones in every 10 years. I knew I didn't want to do that. So I knew that it was, they were going to have to come out either way. And I just remember I was so scared and I went in and I saw all these beautiful women that were just taking care of me.

you know, this wonderful surgeon and all of these women were like riding on into the operating room and I just had a heart full of gratitude that these women were going to give me hope that these women were they've gone through so many years of schooling and they've invested so much into this for this moment of to give me just a tiny little glimmer.

of hope and I just said thank you, thank you, thank you until you know, until I went to sleep. I wish you could see this, I'm in tears. Oh. So I was just, I just knew that something was going to come out of this. So I woke up after the surgery, I think it took about two and a half hours, woke up from the surgery, went back to

the Airbnb we were staying at, and I just felt so different already. And I thought, well, maybe it's, you know, I was, you know, I'm on probably, you know, pain, I had a pain block, so that might be, you know, what's helping. And, but I just felt so different, like my whole body, I felt like there was a weight lifted off of my chest. I felt like so amazing.

Even though I just had a major surgery, I felt better than I did before I went in. So, um, seven days later, after getting my implants out. Now remember, I have not had a pain free day in two years. Seven days later, I had my first pain free day. Oh my gosh. I whatsoever. I was on cloud nine, just feeling like this.

But I did, I was also like not wanting to bank everything on that because I was like, I don't know, maybe that was just a fluke. Sure. Well, sometimes when we get that hope, it's scary to attach our healing to it because what if it goes away? Exactly. Exactly. And so I have a question. My mind is telling me that you told me there was mold. Is this true? Yes.

This is true. This is true. So I got always requests to get your implants back because they won't give them to you unless you ask for them. I asked for mine and mine had mold inside of the saline, which you would think, how is that even possible? But I had mold inside of the saline and the shell, which also, by the way, contains

so many amounts of toxins and heavy metals and everything. The shell had actually started to decompose. Like there were spots where like I think my body had broken down the shell of the implant. So here's like my detox pathways, my bladder, right, is cleaning out all of these toxins and these mold toxins and everything that my body is dealing with for.

you know, 10 years is wow, just crazy. Wow. Um, so I, after my first pain free day, um, I did have pain intermittently, but it just kept getting better and better and better. And I really took my detoxification protocol seriously. And I saw it and I did cryotherapy and all of these things that were to support.

that detoxification and some days were pretty bad. I think it was when I

Two years after, I've had them out for five years now. Okay. Two years after, actually three days ago. No way. So basically two years after I'd gotten them taken out, I had no pain in my bladder. Now the doctor told me that I would never be pain free. He couldn't do anything about it. And...

I had heard many stories about women dying from opioid overdose because they had

terrible. It's a terrible disease. And breast implants don't cause it in everybody, but it did in me. And I sometimes I have to pinch myself. Like I, one of the symptoms that I had before was I didn't want to go anywhere because I was always sick. Always sick. I was scared to go to the library. I was scared to go to the hot springs. All these places were on my like,

don't go there list because you're gonna get sick. I would get sick first of my whole family. I would get sick worst of my whole family. And I developed like this mentality of like, if I don't go anywhere, I can't get sick. Well, because sickness on top of that pain is too much. But of course your immune system was weakened. Your whole body was so much weakened. And so,

I want to talk about the mold for just a minute because something that comes up a lot and only and I see it. Okay. So it's women come here really to rebalance their gut and to heal their gut, which then helps support their liver and their bladder and their whole body. Because when our gut is balanced, we have healthy gut microbiome. And I know you probably even know more about this than me from your fermentation.

um, years, but it creates inflammation from the gut outward. And so when women come and they are, you know, rebalancing their gut ever their child's gut, and they do back to back rebalances and they see healing, but then the healing kind of plateaus and they're not fully healing. They'll come and they'll say what's happening. And this is, this is rare. This is maybe like,

Like it's not really common, but my question is always, is there any chance that you are being exposed to mold internally or externally? Because that is the only time that the rebounds isn't working is when we are chronically exposed to mold. And so you are on antibiotics that should kill any pathogens, good and bad in your body, but it wasn't enough.

And so the rebalance is very, very different than antibiotics because it's not harming the good bacteria in your body. But when you are on something really strong, like five rounds of antibiotics within a year or two year period.

this should be enough to kill any good or bad bacteria in your body, but it wasn't enough. Because it wasn't, mold is so hard. And like you said, it's releasing toxins into your drainage pathways. And so I just wanted to touch on mold because, and all of those women are just, that's when they're like, oh my gosh.

I'm so glad that you're saying this because I've been suspecting mold in my house, but I wouldn't let myself acknowledge it. Mold is a scary thing. It's hard to overcome. And, um, and so when I invited you on this podcast, I had had a few women reach out to me and we kind of went through this of, okay, the rebounds isn't working. Have you avoided the foods that feed the bad bacteria and pathogens and the yeast?

Have you been consistent with the supplements? Have you done all the things and their answers? Yes. And so my question is, is there a chance of mold? And breast implants have come up a few different times. And I was just like, oh my gosh, I have got to have this conversation with Jodi because this is, I mean, 187 ,000 women in this group. This is happening. Absolutely, absolutely. And.

I think there's biggest chance for mold and saline implants in the healthier ones. And I would also say any kind of implant. I was just going to say that too. Like it's not just breast, it's implant anywhere inside your body. And your body is going to create that casing no matter where you have that implant. Yes. And I think breast implants because they're plastic.

are the very worst. But yes, if you're having health issues that you don't know where they're stemming from, you're doing everything right and you just can't find health, start looking into things like that. You know, root canals and implants. You know, of course, with my story, I'm always, that's my first thing that I go to because it helped me so much. And there,

Like I said, there's problems with the mold in the breast implants and the casing, the shell. I mean, people will build up. Also, if they, if you have a specific, um, gene that you can't detoxify properly, you're not going to be able to detox out those heavy metals that are in that, in that shell. Right? Yeah. So there's all of these different things that can play in.

Do it.

and we don't need them. Now, of course, some people have to get implants, but I really believe that at least people should know because nobody tells you that. Sure. Well, and this is like a really interesting perspective too because, you know, some women will get breast cancer and they'll get a mastectomy. Yes. And culturally, it's, well, get some implants.

Your body has just fought for its life. And so absolutely no judgment here. I'm just hoping to really like raise awareness around this of like, we as women are so freaking beautiful. And I can't wait to move into the love that you found for yourself since this journey. And...

Our boobs are not what make us magnificent. Absolutely. And so...

I don't know, like if you're listening and you just need to hear this, maybe you've just had a mastectomy and you're considering or you know that this is coming, you are beautiful because you are you, not because your breasts. And if you are in a position where you are making this choice.

look inward and not culturally. Yes. And I will tell you that as much as I thought those breast implants were gonna make, you know, make me love myself, I don't love myself anymore because I actually didn't like him the whole time I had him in. Really? I didn't like him. Oh my gosh. And I had capsular contracture, so one moved kind of into my armpit and I felt...

Self -conscious anyway. Self about that. Oh my gosh. Well, and I mean, so many people do go into implants, like with the intention of loving themselves more. Yes. Which I did. Which you did. And at 20 years old, I think we're all trying to figure out who we are and how to love ourselves. And I don't know. I just hope to like share this with.

with everybody listening. And so tell me since then, what has happened in your life? Well, I've been forced to really get clear with myself and realize that everything that I do has a direct effect on my health. And now I have my health back. I mean, like I was saying, I was sick.

time. All the time. Scared to go anywhere. And I think in five years since I've had them out, I think I've been sick twice. Oh my gosh. During a pandemic even. Just twice. Twice. Yeah, we went through a pandemic and I've been sick twice. Isn't that wild to think about if you hadn't healed before the pandemic? Yes. I think about that all the time. And I...

I mean, I'm healthier than I was at 19 before I got put in. I'm just, you know, I have so much energy. I'm, you know, I'm just healthy. I just feel good. I, I always constantly would feel bloated, you know, and just feel like I'd fluff, you know, just fluff everywhere and inflammation. And I don't feel like that at all anymore. I can eat anything. I choose to eat healthy food.

but I can eat anything. Wow. I mean, you have completely healed your body. Which has also helped me heal my mind. Yeah. Because I'm not having to be on these crazy restrictive diets, constantly trying to turn off the trigger of the anorexia. And, you know, because those things, you know, they never completely go away. Well, it's kind of, it's addiction in its own form. And it never is part of you.

once you have gone through that, like it doesn't go away and it is so crazy easily triggered. Like I have a friend who talks about intermittent fasting a lot and doing like a keto diet with intermittent fasting. And I was really intrigued to learn about this. There's a book where it connects intermittent fasting and like keto diet with a woman's cycle. And I have since, you know, I,

my mind gets really excited to just learn new ways of living. Like I just, I just love learning, even if I'm not planning to do it myself. But as I'm learning and especially, you know, I support a lot of women through Only Organics and food is brought up a lot. Like, what do you think about this and this and this? And I'm always sharing just as a friend and like what I've learned for myself. But instantly it was just like, oh my gosh, this would like trigger my anorexia.

like crazy. And like I could be really damn good at that. Because of the anorexia that lives deep inside of me. Yeah. And, um, yeah, I'll just say it on here. I am not following either of those or doing any of that, but it was just intriguing to me because I am all about cyclical living and I love learning different ways to.

support our menstrual cycles and connecting everything we do to our menstrual cycle. And so I was interested to learn how those forms of eating can be connected. But that's a whole, that's a whole other conversation, but it's going to say, you get to live free from those triggers. Completely free, completely free. And it's really helped me heal my relationship with my body. I really had to,

completely accept my body for what it was and how beautiful it is and how strong. I mean, I feel like, you know, those two years and before that having, I mean, my, my immune system was just getting a workout and now it's just like, it can fight anything. It really is amazing what your body can do and just giving my body gratitude.

for everything that I've put it through and to just give it love and really be grateful to, you know, really my journey too, because I wouldn't be here sharing this with you if I hadn't gone through this. And hopefully it makes a difference. And if you hadn't gone through this, you wouldn't...

Be in love with yourself this way. You wouldn't be this healthy because you wouldn't have learned all the tools that you learned over those really hard years. And now you get to live as your very best self physically and emotionally. And how beautiful that your daughter is.

been on this journey with you and she has been part of all of this. And I know that we are very similar in our mothering approach and like she knows all of it and she has been part of all of it. And she like, what a gift for your daughter and for all of our daughters that we get to lead by example and be really vulnerable. And

Your daughter, our daughters are best friends. Yeah, they are. Having them together is their magic. They are. Your daughter's magic. Your daughter's magic. Okay, I'm trying to think.

that I want to touch on before we wrap up is.

What have you done to, like, have you, I know that your daughter did a Children's Gut Rebalance Kit. Have you done anything to really, like, heal your microbiome following all of this? And, like, have you reincorporated fermented foods? Because I remember actually talking many years ago that your body started to reject that. It did. That's something I forgot. And so,

I know that you're able to eat and do everything now. So what was this like detox and healing like for you? Because you know, a woman reached out to me recently and she's like, they've told me I'll need antibiotics after I have them removed. Is there a way that I can just take cleanse? And...

you know, not being a doctor, I cannot give medical advice. I can share what I would do. I would take a really, I'd take a higher dose of cleanse for an extended period of time and remelons my gut. And I, I trust in the products that that would serve me very, very well. And so when I was having this conversation with her, I was like, I'm going to ask Jodi what her, after they were removed, what her healing really looked like as far as.

food specifically, like what things did you keep out of your diet through your healing? And yeah. So I kept dairy eggs and gluten out of my diet because I was very scared to bring them back in because I wasn't sure if I would start to get - a fluke? Yes, it was a fluke for quite a while and I did take the antibiotics right after.

uh, the surgery, be just because I was already just, I just didn't want to have more problems. Yeah. I was kind of so traumatized by the whole thing. Uh, and then I, I did take a probiotic for quite a while afterwards, but I'm not a big supplement taker. I, I have a really hard time remembering to take supplements. My husband's always on me. So I, but I,

Definitely, I mean, I did, I've done quite a bit of, I didn't do exactly a rebalance, but I did do something, I think it was maybe around the two to three year mark. It was kind of when I was figuring out what you were doing and I was so intrigued and I loved it. And I did the cleanse and the probiotics. And actually I always have a bottle of your probiotics at home. And.

I did, you know, I did a lot of things like sauna and, um, but because, but when, what I love about your program is that most detox programs are all about, you know, food and that, and I love good food. I am like, I, I'm a chef as well. And I have always been a woman of so many traits and she's really good at all of them. And I've always pretty much.

eaten clean and all of that. But I do have a harder time with cleanses that are all based around food and you can only have these things. And so what I love about yours is, you know, just the cleanse and the nourish can do incredibly amazing things. And so I would recommend the full rebalance to anybody because they're they now as

There are, when I got my breast implants removed five years ago, there was no detox protocol whatsoever. Now, if you go to the right person, they're gonna put you through a full, you know, liver detox and everything too. And I would have done that if I could have, but I think it probably took me longer to heal because I didn't do that. I think that I...

would have probably healed a lot faster. And I think lymphatic massage could be pretty amazing for two. And something too though that I just want to acknowledge is you had already cut out the foods that are feeding the bad bacteria and pathogens and yeast in the body. And so that really did help in your recovery is not having the...

foods that are going to be feeding the fat inside of you. And so just out of curiosity, do you frequently eat those foods today or do you feel better without them? The foods that... So the wheat, the dairy and the eggs. Oh, I can't... You know, I think dairy has always been a thing for me, but...

really don't notice a huge difference anymore, which is really amazing. That's amazing. It was like immediate when I would have dairy and eggs and gluten, anything. I always love asking because my brain works in such a like black or white. And so like when I learned that those foods feed bad bacteria, yeast and pathogens in my body, I was like, okay, I don't ever want them again. And a lot of people, we

naturally don't function that way. And I think it's really, really beautiful to not be so rigid. And so I just always love to ask, like, has your body you've healed enough? And I know you said earlier that now you can eat anything, but I just want to clarify, like, that is absolutely remarkable. And it really speaks to how healthy and strong your body is. Because through all of this, something else that happens is

you become really sensitive and really aware to any little red flag that your body waves at you. Yes. I feel like that happens when we go on any health journey is we are really, really cued in on like, Ooh, what's happening there? Absolutely. And that's, I think one of the most beautiful gifts that we're given when we go on these health journeys. Yes, for sure.

And you know, like I said, I can eat anything, but I usually stay away from dairy and eggs and gluten most of the time anyway, just because I kind of learned to live that way, you know? But it's really freeing for me to be able to, you know, have that stuff if I feel my soul needs it or whatever, you know? Like if I, and just to know that I can have them, I don't even have to have them. It's just to know that, you know? And...

You know, I had complete, I mean, this is one thing I kind of forgot to mention is like I had leaky gut. Like my, everything I could eat, I was starting to like with the ferments, I was starting to react to. And so that's basically telling me that I had leaky gut because those things were leaching out into my bloodstream, which then would get attacked by my immune system. And you know, I can, I mean, I.

The ferments are amazing. I mean, I got so much help from them and I still ferment and make, you know, water kefir and sauerkraut and everything to this day. It's such a big part of my diet. And so I think that that will show you too, like how reactive my immune system was. That I was actually like some of the healthiest food you can eat, I was reacting to. Wow.

Okay, Jodi, is there anything else? I don't think we covered everything. Yeah, I just I have like this whole list of things that we can put in the notes. Perfect. Show notes. Okay. To give any more information and so you can also connect people to resources and connect. I'll share your information if that's okay. And I'm happy to talk to anybody. Okay. If anybody wants to reach out. I didn't have somebody that

Um, there was no podcasts talking about this. So I would like read people's stories, but I didn't really have a real voice to talk to me. And so I'm always welcome to, I mean, I'm so happy to talk to anybody about this. I mean, I really, this has just changed. I mean, my life. It gave me life again. And made it better. Yes. Thank you so much, Jodi. Thank you.