Inspire! Day 24- Dali

From Madelynn: Today we have a woman whose strength and perseverance is beyond me! I cannot imagine going through half of what she has gone through and still come out with my head held high. All excuses fly out the window. Dali is a brave woman whose strength is admirable, she is a Survivor in EVERY sense of the word. Please take a moment to meet Dali…

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2Cor 12:9-11

My Name is Dali which is just a nick name, my real name is Idaliza but no one really calls me that. I am on my way to turning 31 yrs old, I have do not have children, I do have a fiancé and it’s a long distance relationship but the best one I have ever been in; he is AMAZING!!!! Unlike some people I have not always struggled with weight problems, I was always 125 lbs., fit, healthy and happy. But in 2006 I began to encounter health problems, I started to gain weight, my face was breaking out and I was feeling different so I went to the doctor. The doctor decided to run blood tests and to my surprise I was producing WAY to much estrogen, my hormones were completely out of control which was causing me to gain weight. I then began to have painful and irregular periods so I had an ultrasound done to check things out and again to my surprise I had negative results. What should have been a very small exploratory surgery turned out to be huge cut/cesarean to take out a dermoid cyst from my left ovary, it was big and ugly (look it up its very nasty). This was the beginning of my weight gain; my hormones were out of control. After the surgery I found out I also had many lesions of endometriosis and my hormones caused me to go from 125LB to 160LB in less than a month. This was SO hard for me I was always skinny so I didn’t know how to deal with the weight gain and the health issues. My confidence was to the ground, I hated buying clothes, I didn’t like to look in the mirror and I started wearing a lot of black. This was very hard and no matter what I did the weight was not coming off due to my hormones. It also didn’t help that every year after that I had a surgery to remove endometriosis.

My last surgery for endometriosis was in 2010 when the disease was at its worse; my doctor couldn’t even help me anymore. After many surgeries and lupon treatment (shut my reproduction system down menopause at 26yrs) I did a forty day fast believing God to heal me from taking anymore meds or having surgeries for this and HE did it! I was healed, my hormones were controlled, and my period was normal, I was happy to have a period every month and still am! I started to eat better and was trying to lose weight, it was happening but very slowly, at this point I was 190 lbs., never in my life did I think I would see those numbers on the scale.

To make a longer story short in 2011 things were getting better, I was a vegetarian, and I ate well and was getting healthy. Then I learned my gallbladder needed to removed which set me back a little. What made things harder was five months later I was diagnosed with stage 2 BREAST CANCER… 2012 was a journey all on its own. I lost my right breast to a mastectomy with reconstruction of a tram flap; it was a nine hour long surgery. I then lost a portion of my breast; it literally died as I had a flesh wound for a month. But that’s when there was another miracle, God healed it! So I continued with CHEMO and that was, ugh horrible! I couldn’t eat, but the treatment made me big and very fatigued. When I did eat I had cravings, like wanting a burger, so I was no longer a vegetarian. Everything was different.

Sorry for the lengthy story but what I wanted to share with all of you is that my journey with my weight is different, but I still see how much it has affected my life and confidence. Thankfully, it hasn’t stopped me! I now workout 4-5days a week, I eat a very healthy plan, I don’t eat out, I have completely banded McDonalds, Burger King as well as any other processed fast food. I am fighting fatigue, I’m building muscles gaining lots of energy, losing inches, cutting out sweets and drinking 80-90oz of water and becoming a healthier me. I have only been off of treatment for four months and I have had to continue to have surgeries that set me back. But I have a goal! My journey may be long but I will complete it in Jesus name and so can you!!!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13