From Medicine to Energy: My Healing Journey

From Medicine to Energy: My Journey of Healing

Where It All Began

I was about twelve years old when I had my first real experience in a hospital setting. I decided to volunteer as a Candy Striper at our local hospital — and I remember walking into that interview full of nerves but excited to help. I told the lady just one thing: please don’t put me in the long-term care wing.

At twelve, I was uncomfortable around the elderly and honestly terrified of death and dying. I didn’t even know why — it was just this deep, uneasy feeling I couldn’t shake. So of course, on my very first day, guess where they sent me? The long-term care wing. I just about turned around and went home.

My first assignment was to feed a woman named Catherine. I had never fed a baby, let alone an older adult, and I was completely out of my element. My hands were shaking. My stomach was in knots. But I did it — and something unexpected happened. As I was feeding her, Catherine told me she used to play piano. I lit up — I played piano too.

When we finished her meal, I wheeled her over to the piano in the corner of the hallway, and together we played the most beautiful duet. Something in me softened that day. I realized that connection, compassion, and presence could transform fear into something sacred. Catherine stole my heart, and from that moment on, I requested to work exclusively in the long-term care wing.

That was where my love for caring for others truly began.

When I was in ninth grade, my family moved to Lancaster County, and I wanted to continue working with the elderly. I became a nurse’s aide and worked in nursing homes for 15 years. After I had my children, I felt a strong pull to go further — to understand more, to do more. I loved being around nurses and learning from them, and eventually, I decided to go to school and become one myself.

Over the years, I tried other specialties — home care, cardiac nursing, even surgical nursing in a hospital setting — but I was always drawn back to the elderly. That was where my heart belonged. By then, my fear of death and dying had completely transformed. What once terrified me had become something sacred. I found deep meaning in sitting with people as they prepared to leave this world, holding space for them in their final transition.

I felt an honor to be there in those moments — quiet, tender, and humbling. And through those years, I helped many souls cross over.

The Turning Point

It wasn’t anything in my work as a nurse that made me question the medical field. I loved my job. I was confident, comfortable, and proud of the care I provided. My shift didn’t come from frustration at the system; it came from my own life.

In 2017, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That diagnosis turned my world upside down. I lost the career I loved so, so much — the work that had given me meaning and purpose for decades. I did what I’d always been trained to do: I followed the traditional medical route.

I’ll never forget the day my doctor told me, “Within twelve months, you should expect to be in a wheelchair.” At the time, I didn’t realize how deeply those words would plant themselves in me. Looking back now, I see how powerful they were.

After that appointment, I essentially gave up. I could see my future: I saw myself in a wheelchair. I pictured it so vividly that my body followed my mind. Before long, I was on sixteen prescription medications, including an injectable MS drug three times a week. I was told it wouldn’t cure me, it wouldn’t even manage my symptoms — it would simply slow the progression. And I believed it, because that’s what medicine had always meant to me: help, healing, hope.

But it didn’t work that way. Over time, I deteriorated. Some days, getting out of bed was an accomplishment. When I did, I needed two walking sticks. There were days when I experienced complete paralysis from the waist down. Days when I couldn’t speak.

I spiraled into a dark place. I had suicidal thoughts. I felt like a burden to my family, unable to care for my children, placing enormous weight on my husband. I was living what I had once feared for my patients — and it was devastating.

The Breaking Point

Those days and nights of lying in bed — unable to move, sometimes unable to speak — left me feeling completely lost and desperate. I had always been a person of faith, but during that time, even my church felt like no help. I met with my pastor, I prayed constantly, I begged God to heal me. Nothing changed.

Eventually, I reached a point of thinking: There has to be a better way. There has to be something else. Because what I was doing was clearly not working.

Although I had suicidal thoughts, I wasn’t ready to leave my family. I wasn’t willing to put my children through the pain and grief of losing their mother to suicide. I still had that spark in me, the will to try something different.

I reached out to my psychiatrist and told her I wanted to come off my medications. She refused to help. She said I needed the medication. She offered no support.

In desperation, I even called drug rehab centers. I was on 16 prescription medications, over half of the medications required tapering to avoid dangerous withdrawal. With my nursing background, I knew how serious it could be to stop all of them at once. Many were heavy-duty psych medications. Everyone around me was telling me I was crazy — and yet no one could offer me a way out.

The rehab centers turned me away because I wasn’t addicted to street drugs like cocaine or heroin. They said they could only help me with one thing — coming off the Xanax — but it would cost $30,000 out of pocket.

I hung up the phone after that call and something inside me snapped. I walked into the bathroom, gathered all 15 prescription bottles, and emptied them into the toilet. I took my MS injections out of the refrigerator, carried them outside, and ran them over with my car.

I was done.

In that moment, I made a choice: I was either going to die from the withdrawal effects, or I was going to get better.

The Awakening

The months that followed were some of the most horrific months of my life. The withdrawal from those medications was brutal — something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I honestly don’t know how it didn’t kill me, but deep down, I believe it didn’t because I was meant to be here — to share this story, to help others, to live the life I have now.

For nearly two months, it was pure hell. My body shook. My mind raced. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t find peace in anything. But somehow, day by day, I survived.

During that time, I met someone — I don’t even remember how — who introduced me to essential oils. At first, I laughed. With my medical background, I was a firm believer in pharmaceuticals and Western medicine. The idea that something as simple as an oil could make a difference sounded ridiculous to me.

But then I thought about it: the medications hadn’t helped me either. What did I have to lose?

So, I tried them. And to my surprise, they worked. They helped ease some of my withdrawal symptoms and lifted my mood in ways I hadn’t felt in years. They made me feel alive again. I started using them more and eventually became a wellness advocate for doTERRA.

The experience opened my eyes. If essential oils could help me heal naturally, what else was out there that I didn’t know about? What other forms of healing had I dismissed because of my medical mindset?

Around the same time, my hairdresser mentioned that her mother was a counselor — but not just any counselor. She was also a life coach, a psychic, and a healer. We had been talking about the loss of my mom, and something inside me nudged me to reach out. I thought, Maybe she can help me connect with my mom.

That first session with her changed everything. She gently guided me into understanding the mind-body connection — how our emotions can manifest physically, how energy moves through and around us. She helped me see that healing isn’t just physical; it’s emotional, mental, and spiritual too.

For about a year, I continued regular talk therapy with her before I was truly ready to explore the energetic side of healing. That’s when she introduced me to Reiki.

I had heard of Reiki before, but I had never experienced it. And I had no idea how profoundly it was about to change my life.

The Path of Self-Healing

As I continued my sessions with my counselor, I became more and more intrigued by the idea of Reiki and energy healing. But beyond that curiosity, I had a deep desire to find something I could do for myself.

This journey was never about starting a business or helping others at that time — it was purely personal. I wanted to find ways to support my own healing. After everything I had been through, I needed to learn how to live again, how to feel peace, how to manage the stress that had taken such a toll on my body.

Through reflection and experience, I realized that my MS attacks were triggered by stress. When I learned to calm my mind, my body followed. Managing my stress became the key to managing my symptoms.

That’s when I discovered sound therapy — sound healing, sound meditation — and it completely changed my world. I started small, with just a couple of chimes. But the more I explored, the more I felt called to go deeper. It wasn’t long before I invested in a full set of crystal singing bowls, and when I played them, I could literally feel energy moving through my body.

For the first time, I understood — not just mentally, but experientially — how energy affects the body. The vibrations helped release emotions I had buried for years, and that emotional healing slowly began to manifest as physical healing.

Through sound, I began to truly understand the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

And when I reached that point, I finally felt ready to experience Reiki for myself.

My First Reiki Experience

Now that I had a better understanding of how energy worked — and could actually feel it for myself — I decided to have my first Reiki session with my counselor.

I remember it being a very emotional experience. From the moment it began, something in me softened. Tears came easily — not from sadness, but from release. It was as though years of fear, pain, and tension were gently melting away.

What stood out most was the warmth I felt, especially in my feet. They became so hot that it almost startled me, but the sensation was deeply comforting at the same time. There was also this incredible feeling of love — pure, unconditional love — and compassion that surrounded me.

In that moment, I felt a connection I hadn’t known in years. It was as though the energy itself was embracing me, reminding me that I was safe, that I was loved, and that I was healing. The peace I felt during and after that session was unlike anything I had ever experienced.

I knew then that Reiki wasn’t just something nice — it was something powerful. It was real. And I wanted everyone to feel what I had felt that day.

The Deepening

Even after my first Reiki session, I knew there was still more for me to explore. Something inside me kept calling me to go deeper — to understand energy and healing on a level beyond anything I had known.

I’ve always been a homebody. Traveling far from home has never been easy for me; anxiety had always kept me close to my family and my familiar surroundings. But this time was different. There was a quiet, powerful drive inside me — something beyond fear — urging me to trust and step forward.

Around that time, I came across a television series called Kentucky Ayahuasca. I was fascinated by the stories of healing, transformation, and spiritual awakening shared by those who had participated in the ceremonies. The idea of ayahuasca — a sacred plant medicine long used for emotional and spiritual healing — intrigued me deeply.

I reached out to Steve and Teri, the owners of a center in Kentucky called Ayaquest, and after completing all of their requirements, I made the decision to go. In October 2021, I drove myself to Kentucky to experience an ayahuasca journey.

That experience changed my life completely. It felt as if everything I had been carrying — all the fear, anxiety, grief, and trauma — had been gently lifted away. When I left Kentucky, I felt like a clean slate. My heart was open, my mind was clear, and my spirit finally felt free.

On the drive home, I reflected on the countless success stories and thank-you letters that Ayaquest had received from people who had gone there to heal. Reading those messages stirred something deep in me. I realized I wanted to help others experience that same feeling — the release, the peace, the reconnection to self.

I knew I couldn’t provide ayahuasca ceremonies, but I could offer something that invited others into that same energy — something accessible, nurturing, and deeply transformative.

That’s when the vision for Elevated Karma Wellness began to take shape.

I started creating sound-healing journeys, blending everything I had learned about vibration, emotion, and energetic flow. For about two and a half years, I poured my heart into sound therapy — helping others find stillness, healing, and clarity through the resonance of the bowls and chimes.

Eventually, I felt the call to expand again. Reiki had been such a cornerstone of my own healing, and I knew it was time to step fully into that role — to not only practice it, but to teach it.

I went on to complete my Reiki Master Teacher training, so that I could share the sacred art of energy healing with others who were ready to walk their own path of awakening.

Where I Am Today

As I stand here today, people often question my journey. They see the woman I am now — healthy, vibrant, living a life of purpose — but they didn’t see the woman I used to be.

They didn’t see the sick me.

The me who couldn’t get out of bed.

The me who was so doped up on medication that I could barely function, let alone care for my family.

And because they didn’t see the journey, it’s sometimes hard for them to understand the healing. And that’s okay. I’m learning to make that okay.

What I want people to know is this: healing is not easy. It’s not a magic pill, or a single session, or a weekend retreat. It’s work — deep, emotional work. We have to face the pain we’ve been carrying, feel the emotions we’ve buried, and allow them to be released.

But on the other side of that work is freedom.

On the other side of that work is peace.

On the other side of that work is a life you may have thought was no longer possible.

I am living proof of that.

My journey from medicine to energy wasn’t a straight line, and it wasn’t quick. It was a path of surrender, discovery, and devotion — to my own healing first, and now, to helping others find theirs.

The Ongoing Journey

If there’s one thing this entire path has taught me, it’s that healing never truly ends. We are never “done.” Healing isn’t a destination — it’s a lifelong process of learning, growing, and releasing.

Even now, after all the years of transformation, I still recognize places within myself that need healing. There are layers of old pain and trauma that surface when I least expect them — little reminders that I’m still human, still evolving. And that’s okay.

We have to stay open to the process, to accept that we are not perfect and we are never completely healed. The work never stops, but neither does the reward. The more we commit to our healing, the more freedom, peace, and love we find within ourselves.

Through it all, I’m profoundly grateful for my husband, who stood by me when things were at their hardest, when I was no longer myself. His patience, love, and quiet strength helped carry me through the darkest times. And to my children — thank you for enduring the pain of watching your mother be sick. My hope now is that you also get to watch your mother heal.

Every step of this journey — from medicine to energy, from patient to practitioner — has led me to where I am today. Elevated Karma Wellness was born from that evolution: a space created to share the same compassion, calm, and connection that once saved me.

Healing may never end, but it does expand.

And through my work now, I hope to help others discover that same possibility — that light within — that once helped me find my way home.

With much love & light -

Denise✨️