We sold the house on September 2, 2022 and headed first to Tennessee so Lee could see his kids and meet his grandkids. We were both really sick during the entire home selling process and when we drove across the country. We went out of our way to spend time with Lee’s family before making the drive out west only to have his parents completely ignore our health issues and talk about other people’s health issues the entire time. It was at this point that I was done with not only my family not giving a f–k but also Lee’s family. These people went to church much like my family yet no one in our families would pray for our health, recognize our service and sacrifices, or help us in any way. There’s a reason we went no contact with both families after these painful experiences. We had brain injuries, serious digestion issues, and inflammation related diseases that were killing us because of a lack of healthcare.
Our acupuncturist got us well enough to make the trip out west. It started with stopping all VA psychotropic medications, quitting smoking cigarettes, and changing our diet completely. We went gluten and dairy free and slowly started cutting out sugar too. All of these foods were very hard to give up given the standard American diet but we were desperate to feel better and willing to do whatever the doctors and professionals told us to do. We had two different awakening experiences. One after we got off the VA medications and the other after we changed our diet. Although the acupuncture and Chinese tinctures helped us detox our bodies, something was seriously wrong with both of us and no doctors would even entertain our symptoms or ailments. We assumed Lyme disease because we were in the State of Maine which has a really bad tick problem… but no one would test us or treat us.
The last doctor I pleaded with told me I needed to drink more water. 😨
We had both given up after the beat down and horrible healthcare in Maine. And we couldn’t take care of and manage our home any longer. Both of our bodies were weak and fatigued. My love for hiking slowly went down the tubes and I was rendered mute and debilitated with some serious digestion issues. My stomach was hard and round as if I was pregnant but it turns out it was multiple intestinal infections that water wasn’t gonna do sh-t for. It was painful to eat and I was forced to wear dresses because I couldn’t put any pressure on my stomach area due to extreme pain. It was a nightmare trying to find foods that didn’t make me feel worse and Lee was dealing with the same issues for different reasons. He had E-coli and H-pylori that went untreated for years and caused him major digestion issues. I didn’t realize the extent of his problems until I started feeling better and learned more. It’s criminal that doctor’s gaslit us and blew us off instead of doing any kind of testing.
We sold the house furnished, packed a U-Haul with our personal effects and headed west. We brought our own food and cooked on our grill at rest stops where it was allowed. We took our time and drove no more than 8 hours a day. We pre-planned the trip and set up the hotels accordingly and everything went down without a hitch aside from the fact that Marriott Hotels had gone down hill post pandemic. We were very disappointed with the properties and actually tweeted about it and tagged them because every single one of them was problematic on a roughly 10 day trip from Maine to Tennessee to California. I always loved Marriott because for the most part I could always count on a nice, clean, crisp and fresh room. That was not the case and they obviously have been ignoring their capital investments account as well. They all needed work, upgrading, and cleaning. Whatever Marriott. 🙄
Lee drove the entire way because I was out of it dizzy and nauseous on top of everything else. He did a great job and looking back I am so proud of him for what he did. I watched him and he was doing what he knew best. Moving in survival mode hoping the next place he goes is better than the last. We left early the last day and got to Imperial Beach earlier than expected. We were able to meet up with the landlord and get the keys and move our stuff into our place. We both emptied the car and the U-Haul together so we could get it done and returned the U-Haul. We’re not sure how we did it all aside from straight survival mode. But I remember thinking I was going to die and if I was going to die, I was going to do it at the beach in California. That was our final wishes in life. If we died, we wanted to be cremated and thrown in the Pacific Ocean. We were done. We didn’t want a funeral because if these people couldn’t be here for us while we were alive, we didn’t want them near us ever.
We managed to take a walk down to the beach which was only about a half a mile from the apartment. We were in heaven. We couldn’t believe we had this kind of access to the ocean. It was legit a dream come true. The apartment was not ideal but the location was sweet and we were willing to look past the flaws for the time being. The sunsets at the beach were incredible so we thought it would be neat to catch our first sunset before we went to bed. We loved the little town, the beach, the pier, the parks, and the palm trees. We were really sick but we took a picture anyways because it was our first night. We made it from Maine to California safely. Now it was do or die. We either find a doctor who saves us or we die right here on the beach in California where we want to be before we take our final breaths. We’re embarrassed to even show you this picture but we feel it’s important to share so you can see for yourself that we didn’t look well. I obviously hid the basketball in my stomach and still do as it slowly improves. We don’t even look the same more than two years later with not only answers but treatment.
Interestingly enough, the next day September 14th, was our first full day in Imperial Beach and also the anniversary of the day my father died in 2001. We didn’t plan it this way but we felt like it was a nod from my dad who helped make our end of life dreams come true.
Jennifer and Lee 