Chapter 15 – Rising iron & my SIBO healed

The year was moving slowly but fast at the same time. I was deep in my studies for my upcoming exam and living each day consciously.

It was time for my next round of bloods and to take my stool sample.

My bloods were improving, with iron now at 15 – WHOO HOO, that was enough reason to party in itself. My ferritin (iron stores) had dropped from 53 to 30. 30 was the bottom of the ‘recommended GP range’ which also meant it was low for Brooke, but with my iron level rising it wasn’t something to worry about.

Chapter 14 – Living and loving life in the mundane

Once upon a time, during my post natal depression (PND), the whole ‘mundane’ life was a huge ‘hell no.’ I HATED it. I did it, but to a bare minimum.

It was funny to watch myself now, doing small loads of washing and enjoying taking the time to put it out, or doing the dishes – just to do the dishes.

I wondered, who was I? What had changed?

Chapter 13 – New Blood Test Results

It had been 3 months since I’d had my blood tests done so it was time to see what was going on again.

I booked in to see my Dr to get the referral when I got back from Canberra. I spoke to my Dr about my irregular period in January and asked if we could check my hormone levels for menopause. 

‘Sure.’ He said, ‘but I don’t find them reliable.’

‘Oh really?’

‘Yes, what I see are three main factors to determining if you’re in peri-menopause / menopause – is your skin dry? Are you more agitated than normal? And are you experiencing hot flashes?’

Chapter 12 – Exercise, NO, I don’t want to!!!

I honestly thought this would be the easiest part of my whole journey. I’ve always been pretty good at exercise if not obsessive about it and let me say obsessive means consistent, it would be part of my daily routine. Sometimes every day other times, at least, 5 times a week for a large part of my life.

Netball of course had helped, but I always knew that some netball games weren’t fitness for me, they were just games so I always made sure I did fitness, to be fit enough to play netball. That might sound stupid but, touch wood, it also means I haven’t had a major injury and in ‘netball land’ that’s pretty unheard of.

Anyway, I had a plan, starting February I was going to walk 4-5 times a week and add in some running. Netball was kicking off in mid-March, so I figured I had about 6 weeks to build some fitness. It was a no brainer.

Chapter 11 – My Nutritionist

I met Christine online in 2021, and at the time she was only doing in person appointments in Brisbane. I wasn’t in Brissy so we had to cancel and the universe brought her back into my life when I needed to make a change.

I’d been intermittent fasting for about 18 months and in the beginning it had been great. I stopped thinking about food and when my next meal was – it was like heaven. I really hadn’t realised how much mental load our food took up. When I started, I ate pretty well, albeit carrying a bit of weight ‘my covid coat’ at the time, so there were a few things I could tidy up.