My Story & BEYOND Chronic Pain
I’ve spent much of my adult life battling chronic pain. While I’ve often felt mentally ready to move beyond it, my body had different plans.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned from this long, winding (very bumpy) journey is that the body never lies. It holds the key to healing—though it took me years of trial and error to understand the language it was speaking.
The First Blow: A Rare Heart Defect
At 19, I was diagnosed with a rare heart defect called ALCAPA, even though I barely had symptoms at the time—just blue lips and nails.Just two months later, I was on the operating table, undergoing open-heart surgery with a 50% chance of survival.What followed was a nightmare—feeling worse after the surgery than I did before, dealing with:
-Side effects from medications that wrecked my stomach lining:
-Food intolerances
-Poor posture from lack of proper rehabilitation
-PTSD from the entire ordeal
"To be honest, I’m still not sure all of me is back in my body yet. Pain has a way of forcing you out of ‘the house’ you live in."
The Second Blow: A Life-Changing Accident
As if that wasn’t enough, years later, I was in a bicycle accident that left me with a severe concussion (TBI) and whiplash.
The fallout from that led to:
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A decade of chronic 24-7 headaches
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Blurry vision, speech issues, and memory loss
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Hormonal imbalance
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A disc prolapse
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A whole host of other pains
Shifting Perspectives
For a blissful while in my 20s, I thought the heart surgery was my biggest hurdle (boy, was I naïve!). I figured after surviving that, I was safe from what I called the three big disease whoppers—heart, brain, and liver.
But chronic pain has a way of shifting perspectives.
"There was no luxury in surrender-- It didn't change a fig about my predicament (on the contrary!).
So I had to keep searching for a way out of the deep pit I was stuck in.
Acute vs. Chronic Pain—Two Different Beasts
Pain has a way of forcing you out of ‘the house’ you live in.
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Acute pain is its own kind of hell (the heart surgery taught me that).
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Chronic pain is another Beast entirely.
I’ve spent years reflecting on the difference between the two.
Chronic pain didn’t break me, but it came closer than I ever thought possible. It slowly eroded my sense of self, creeping into my mind until it was all I could think about.
From Bottomless Pit to Endless Sky
The name I originally chose for my blog was From Bottomless Pit to Endless Sky.
That’s what chronic pain felt like to me—being stuck in a dark, bottomless pit, staring up at a small sliver of sky, hoping one day to have the energy and skill to climb out… while the world kept spinning on without me.
It’s bleak. No question about it.
But over time, I found glimmers of something I wouldn’t quite name hope—it leans more toward faith.
I involuntarily learned so much—uncovered knowledge, healing practices, and gathered strategies that made a real difference in my daily life.
Even if that difference was snail-paced compared to the people around me... and compared to the Anya I once was, before shit truly hit the fan.
Why I Couldn’t Give Up
At some point, after many years, I realized: I can’t give up.
Even when I wanted to. Even when I was in the middle of my own personal hell.
It wasn’t an option.
There was no luxury in surrender—it didn’t change a fig about my predicament (on the contrary!). So I had to keep fighting, keep searching for a way out of the deep pit I was stuck in.
BEYOND Chronic Pain—A Journey, Not Just a Struggle
This blog is about that journey—the pain, yes, the struggle, yes—but also the wisdom, the healing, and the moments of pinprick light I found along the way.
The gold was there all along, waiting for me to discover it (but that’s a story for another post).
Through BEYOND Chronic Pain, I hope to share what I’ve learned and inspire others to reclaim their health—naturally—and move beyond pain.
My goal?
To inspire you to live a long, healthy life in harmony with your body and the world around you.
No matter how deep your struggles may seem.
No matter how long chronic pain decides to linger.
Because the ‘BEYOND’ in your life can be found before, DURING, and after chronic pain.
It’s my aim to help inspire women to carve out this space inside themselves—to move beyond chronic pain, regardless of outer circumstances.
