The year 2019 was a whirlwind for me.

it was not the good kind of storm, where you cuddle up by the fire with a cup of hot tea and a good book; 2019 was a year that forever changed me and culminated with the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) on my 39th birthday.

I tried to be a good patient (definitely not my strength), but the medications didn’t work, and by January of 2020 it was clear I needed a new plan. I had lost most of the vision in my left eye, had left arm and leg weakness, had developed trigeminal neuralgia (severe facial nerve pain) and I had brain fog with difficulty finding words. I thought my life was over.

I made the decision to have Hemopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) with chemotherapy in Monterrey, Mexico. This is a treatment I had learned about a few years previously while attending a Rotary meeting. A fellow MS patient had also “failed” typical treatments and had this experimental treatment with good results.

With the help of family, my husband and I spent March of 2020 undergoing treatment with my kids still at home with Grammy. Anyone who has had chemotherapy will tell you it stinks — bad. The side effects were awful, I lost my hair, lost my strength, and came home to COVID-19.

Fast forward to the Summer of 2022. That’s right, I’m skipping a full two years because this isn’t a story about COVID. As an independent physician trying to run a medical clinic during an unprecedented pandemic, with no immune system, I literally just survived those two years.

I’m very thankful that I did survive.

Last summer, I finally felt comfortable learning to live again post Multiple Sclerosis/COVID/HSCT/ Chemotherapy. I realized I was only surviving and needed more.

I needed to be strong, healthy, and find my joy again. I started changing my diet. I took out processed foods, gluten, dairy, and just unhealthy foods in general. I felt immediate results with increased energy and less brain fog.

I then started focusing on purposefully adding foods that would heal my body. For instance, lion’s mane mushroom may help with brain health, and colorful fruits and veggies are loaded with vitamin C. Last, I cut out animal products.

I also needed to strengthen my left side after the damage MS had caused. At first, I could only do about five minutes of yoga at a time and would spend the rest of the time meditating (and frequently crying). I slowly added a minute more each time, until now I do yoga and meditation every day on my lunch break. I slowly got stronger.

However, I still couldn’t find my joy. I was finding physical health, I was physically stronger, COVID had improved, but something was still missing. Connections — that’s what I was missing.

COVID took my friends, made my kids want to hide in their rooms to play video games, and even made grocery shopping a “dangerous act.” I missed my people. I missed having community support; I think a lot of us do.

I said this wasn’t an article about COVID, but I suppose it is to some degree. I’m dreaming of a community where people say “Hi” in Walmart instead of avoiding an aisle because people are present. I dream of a community that offers love and acceptance to one another, instead of judgement and hate.

I think I’ve probably said this 100 times, but I believe we can make a post-COVID decade of love and joy. Many say I sound like a hippie, and my answer is, “Thank you.”

I didn’t live through the 1970s, but a movement of love happened, and I believe it can again.

Dr. Lisa Roark is the owner of Roark Family Health and Medical Spa. She may be reached at 417-847-1111.