One of the major gifts I was able to get back once I was GF and not anemic any more was being able to “BREATHE” effortlessly again on long walks or at high mountain altitudes. Iron was being absorbed again and oxygen was coursing through my veins.

We went to Vail, Colorado on a vacation for Christmas, and my mom called, so I stepped out into the front entryway of our hotel to speak to her where there was a roaring fire and two big, inviting leather chairs. My family was listening to the guitar player at the bar in the lobby so I was by myself. I started to tell her how we took the gondola to the top of the mountain, and it felt like a miracle that I could breathe well and felt GREAT. The altitude didn’t bother me at all. Just as I said that, the two giant wood doors to the entryway opened. Out through the doors steps my physician from Florida—the one who had given me intravenous iron for 6 weeks to restore my iron levels and cure my anemia. Here he was in Vail, too! I had no idea. We couldn’t believe it. It was a “momentary celebration of health restoration” and synchronicity. And as anyone could imagine, I was—and still am—incredibly grateful for this.