In 2003, I was diagnosed with a genetic spinal condition called spondylolisthesis. At 18 years old, the dream of a collegiate soccer career was over and the start of a painful road was here. In 2004, my first spinal fusion resulted in serious complications including a staph infection requiring additional surgery five weeks later. Even after going through all of this, I found myself 30 pounds lighter and in more pain than I was before. Fast forward to 2017, another spinal fusion down, bringing the total to eight titanium screws and six rods in my spine… yikes! Unlike the first surgery, I was a mother of two toddlers and four months postpartum with my third baby. Three kiddos all in diapers and under the age of four. Can you see it? Nursing an infant along with all things baby, potty training a three-year-old and knee-deep in the “Terrible Twos”. Chaos and Cookies were my life and truthfully, it still is. After everything, I am 100% pain-free and in the best shape of my life, mentally and physically. Once struggling to play with my kids on the floor or go for a casual walk, I can now play tag and throw crazy dance parties in the kitchen. I can now vacation without stopping to sit down and take breaks while sightseeing. With this new lease on life, my mission is to help others get off the couch and stop watching from the sidelines! You can have it all.