After suffering from Type 2 Diabetes for almost 12 years I reversed my disease. I did what they said was impossible. I was told I would have to learn how to live with this disease for the rest of my life. For me that was not an option. That is when I started studying about diabetes, the cause and cures, which is what led to learning about the body and proper nutrition in disease reversal. Before I could be diabetes free I had to bury two daughters from pre-term births and complications of diabetes, suffer two miscarriages, go through two dehisced c-sections (with one resulting in gangrene and almost amputation from the waist down), a high risk pregnancy living in the hospital 5 out of 8 months of my pregnancy to bring a child home healthy and many other consequences of developing type 2 diabetes from gestational diabetes. I was in denial when I was diagnosed and after accepting my fate I made so many health damaging decisions along the way. Being free of this disease is still amazing to me and that I was able to undo the damage I did to my body is even more amazing. My story is long and painful. The things this disease takes from you is endless. I am here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. I want everyone to hear my story, learn from my life with this disease and not let this disease take anymore from them from this day forward. If you have the desire to change your life you can. It won’t be easy but after all is anything worthwhile ever easy? It will take perseverance, dedication, fortitude and character to regain your health. Yes you will have set backs, disappointments, failures, and doubts. Don’t let that stand in the way of your being rid of your disease. There will be people who will tell you it can’t be done. They will say you are depriving yourself. They will say that this lifestyle is no way to live. You will be challenged at every turn. Your ability to forge your own path to disease free living will come from deep inside you. It is a willingness to no longer be sick that will give you the strength to be well again. And when you do succeed at becoming disease free it is your responsibility to take that knowledge and impart it on your friends, loved ones and total strangers so that you can help them start their own journey. Some say it is paying it forward. I say it is being a ray of hope and a blessing to those around you. Remember just as I have gone through this, you possibly are going through this and probably someone you know as well is going through this or worse. I truly believe if we don’t change things soon everyone we know will be plagued with one or more preventable illnesses. America is the wealthiest country, we have the best doctors and yet we are the sickest. That is nothing to be proud of. I believe we can turn things around one person at a time, one illness at a time and one day at a time. My hopes for my story is that it touches one life, changes one life, saves one live either directly or indirectly. I have always loved the quote often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” I try to live these words every day. I have this quote framed and it hangs in my living room to be a constant reminder that I can make this world a better place just by my living in it. And I want my story to be the beginning. I am a Certified Naturopathic Practitioner, Holistic Nutritionist, Health Coach, wife, loving mother of two sons and grandmother. I am over two years Diabetes free. I authored a book about my journey to be diabetes free, “A Personal Journey to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes”. I became a Health Coach to fulfill my passion of working with children and adults to improve their health and reverse chronic illness due to the foods we eat. I received my training at the University of Natural Health where I graduated summa cum laude. I graduated the Institute for Integrative Nutrition as a Health Coach and I am continuing my studies at the school and will graduate advanced studies in January 2014. I am also certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. I lead workshops on nutrition and offer individual health and nutrition coaching. Each day is an opportunity for me to help one person to live a healthier life. I have been given the most wonderful gift of a second chance at life. Now this is my gift to others.

Cherise Scally