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About Heidi
Here I am. 53 year old female who has been through a lot. I’ve lived many lives and yet it all feels “normal” to me. So, where do I begin? I’ll begin where I’m at. I am a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Integrated Health Coach. I have my own massage business and have a wonderful clientele.
My WHY
Almost 3 years ago, when COVID was just starting to shut down life as we know it, something started happening to me. I was suddenly losing weight. Every day I was excited to get on the scale and see my weight go down a pound at a time. Okay, yes, I was under a tremendous amount of stress. I had recently moved 1000 miles away. I was opening a new business. I was literally building the rooms to my wellness spa, while I was working on clients. I didn’t have much money and as I worked on clients, that money had to go straight back into the business. With that said, I figured this weight loss was from working 7 days a week, painting, building, massaging clients, and keeping up with my home life. I felt fatigued, but so excited to be building my own place.
I had been an athlete most of my life: I danced for almost 15 years and was a ballerina, and gymnast, played volleyball, basketball, was a swimmer, and competed in 6 events in track and field.
My sister, a Nurse Practitioner, recommended I see a gastroenterologist just to make sure everything was okay.
I first got the colonoscopy and here is where my life begins to change. As I woke up from the procedure, a nurse came up to me, explaining that they called my husband and that I needed to start getting dressed and get ready for him to pick me up. As she scurries off to the next patient, a different nurse comes up to me and says something to the effect of: I want to let you know that I was a cardiac nurse for over 20 years, and during the procedure, your heart did something I hadn’t seen before.
A little bit of my health history:
I have had stomach issues my whole life.
Up until 3 years ago, I had: Hiatal Hernia Surgery, ovaries removed due to cysts, chronic stomach pain, migraines, anxiety issues, had been in several car accidents with injuries, had 2 very difficult deliveries with my boys (got meningitis from the epidural with one and the 2nd was 10lbs face up and gave birth naturally) and a host of other minor injuries and illnesses.
There was a point when I thought I had heart issues, but my doctors chalked it up to heartburn since my tests always came back perfect and I was young!
I would have called the cardiologist immediately. I have your tape and you need to go to a cardiologist right away.
I left a little drowsy and confused, but I figured “well, I just turned 50, we have a history of heart stuff in my family, so here we go.” I sent a pic of my tape to my little sister, and she immediately gave me the name of a cardiologist that she recommended.
I went through all the tests with my cardiologist. He was thorough. Some tests were difficult because my insurance company didn’t think some things were necessary to do on a “healthy” and active 50 yr old. We persevered. Every test comes back perfect. No blockages, no hardening, no problems.
He says: “Well Heidi, everything looks good, we only have 2 other tests we could do and 1 would be getting a CT, so we could actually see what’s going on. It the least invasive. What do you think?”
I said, “yes” but I almost didn’t go. During covid there were so many people who were sicker than me. Spots were limited and I felt I was taking someone else’s appointment who may have needed it more.
On the day of the CT, the nurse commented on how weird my heartbeat was. It felt a little validating since I was still thinking that this was kind of unnecessary and a little bit of “overkill” … now, let’s think back to my health history and ALL the surgeries and procedures I’ve had over the years, and no one has ever mentioned my heartbeat.
I thought for a moment.
My old self would’ve said. Nah, everything seems ok. I don’t think that’s necessary. But a little voice inside me said, yes… just get it done.
After my appointment, I waited.
I had opened my practice back up with the COVID restrictions allowing us to practice as essential workers. So, between doctor appointments, I’m still building my practice, doing 5 or 6 massages a day and now managing a staff. With the stress of COVID constantly looming and learning how to manage staff and still slowly decorating and building a practice… it was a lot.
I finally got the call to come in and go over my CT. I had my husband come because I somehow thought this might be important. It was.
He explained that I had a congenital heart defect and it’s putting me in heart failure. I would have to have open heart surgery as soon as possible and I’d have to stop EVERYTHING I was doing immediately. He called the heart surgeon from his office and he agreed to stay late in order to fit me in. He sent me immediately across town to see the surgeon.
OK… so here I am. I made it. I had my surgery. I recovered.
During this journey, I continued to see clients, educate myself, and really lean into what saved my life.
If it hadn’t been for that nurse, just saying:
“Hey… you might want to check this out.”
I probably wouldn’t be here.
Education has been very important to me, not just certifications, but I also listen to life. I talk to a lot of my clients about choices, lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, aches and pains, injuries, and issues.
I’ve worked with many to help them with their journey so they can be informed, educated, and look at things through a nontraditional lens.
I’ve created Heidi’s House to help navigate and teach you about taking care of your body and mind like it is your house. Research, trial and error, forgiveness, determination, and everything in between to keep your house happy, healthy, and balanced.
WELCOME to Heidi’s House!
I hope what I offer helps you think, understand, question, and really start looking at things with a broader perspective of how everything works together.
