Once a person has struggled through treatment and has been able to regain a healthy
balance in his or her body, he or she may find themselves reflecting on the sacrifices
and losses that were endured during the years of suffering.

These things may include loss of sexuality and sexual encounters, loss of friends due to
fear surrounding social settings, loss of good relationships with family members due to
feeling misunderstood, loss of education due to having to drop out of university because
of lack of ability to concentrate or sit in a room without having to urinate, the loss of money due to the inability to hold a job, the loss of vitality that a person may have felt over the years, the vibrance that comes from being in good healthy balance-only to be regained years later. 

All of these things may have affected marriages or intimate relationships and may even have culminated into divorces that would not have otherwise occurred. 

Dealing with such a sense of loss is really a difficult thing. Finding help to cope and developing good coping mechanisms is very important to that the pain that one may feel in one’s heart
can be dealt with.

A bit of advice on this tender subject is to embrace the improvements achieved thus far so that you may not take any moments for granted and know that each day that you have gotten back without pain or with very little symptoms is a gift. Let go of the past because you cannot change it. But do reflect on how happy you feel that you are no longer living it.
 
Embrace your intimate partner and love him or her to the fullest, thrive in your job, express your voice and make sure that it says everything you feel. Don’t be silent, live your life with
the new version of yourself and your new tools for eating well and living in a balanced manner.
Hold your head up high amongst others that may mock you for your “health nut” kind of eating and attitude and be an example of someone who has worked hard to regain his or her
healthy balance. And most of all-teach your children all that you have learned so that
you might successfully prevent them from going down the same road that you once traveled.
 
Life is today and then comes again tomorrow so live it with your hearts wide open.