BRHUES
I have an autoimmune disease, Hashimoto Thyroiditis. My body builds its own antibodies against my thyroid gland, attacking it. Although my doctor believes this is hereditary, I believe otherwise. I am convinced that external factors have triggered my disease. From stress to the “healthy diet” I was on, to medical misinformation, to unrealistic body expectations. I was allowing for these external factors to take a toll on my body, health, and life.
Today, I am aware of these external factors. I have identified them and will no longer allow for them to bruise my body. Just like a bruise, it will take time for me to heal the damage done. Just like a bruise -purple, blue, pink, yellow- there will be stages I have to go through in order to heal. Just like a bruise, I will heal.
What you are seeing in these pictures is a thyroid gland I have molded out of clay and painted white. The projections represent different events that have "bruised" or hindered the function of my thyroid gland.
The first projection is a stress hormone,
since I never realized growing up how toxic and draining this feeling can be until I became chronically ill because of it.
The second projection of a cheese sandwich represents the diets I grew up believing were "healthy" for my body;
because I was told that by drinking 2% fat milk, to stop eating by 7:00 PM and consuming low calorie processed foods meant I was healthy.
After years of eliminating foods from my diet, I came to realize that the foods I was eating were taking a toll on my health. Leading me to radically change my diet and follow a paleo diet to heal my gut and thyroid.
The third projection of a stethoscope represents medical misinformation I received from my own doctors.
My doctors all wanted the best for my health but never understood the healing power that food had on my body.
To my doctors, I was attempting to heal an auto-immune disease that could NOT be healed. Never did I think that by the age of 17 (now 22) I would be pushing myself through my own healing journey with my doctors opposing my decisions.
Fun fact: My healing diet is working, slowly but surely, and my doctors are amazed.
The last projection of a women's magazine represents body image and self-love.
Since the age of 7, I have been receiving comments from family warning me about my weight.
Constantly feeling disappointed with the way I looked, I always felt the need to lose weight in order to be happy, confident and comfortable. In hopes that by shedding off the fat on my body, I would be more confident and happy.
By 5th grade, I was with my first dietician. By 7th grade I was with my second dietician. By 10th grade, I was with my third dietician.
After my first year in university, I gained a noticeable amount of weight and resorted to weighing my food.
But after putting myself on my own road to recovery and made it a point to put my health first, I realized that
1) My happiness is not determined by weight/shape/size,
2) I should be grateful every day for the body that I have and its capabilities,
3) I should not have to conform to societies beauty standards in order to feel confident in my own skin.
The making of BRHUES
