I was at the hairdresser's last week wearing a T-shirt, exclaiming, "It feels like spring!" 🌤️
You would think by now I would know better.
Today, even the sand on the beach in Dunedin is covered in snow. 🏖️
It's also my youngest child's 21st, but she's on the other side of the world - on her OE, currently in Nordlingen, Germany. 🎂 It's fair to say I am feeling discombobulated, but also reflective as I build a photo montage of her 21 years. 📸
We started Zestt in a time of discombobulation - during the COVID pandemic.
We had been researching to determine how to use plant bioactives to reduce the inflammation in Darcy's lungs. In 2017, he was diagnosed with stage 4 sarcoidosis, and for a time after that diagnosis, he was taking 26 pharmaceuticals, including heavy steroids, to stay alive. 💊
We launched our 1st version of Zestt Breathe+ in 2020 (then called EXhale). The unshared version before that was liquid in an oral syringe! 🧪
We couldn't believe how many people loved EXhale, and I still remember the phone call I got from an American man telling me how much it had helped his 98-year-old mother with her breathing. 📞
"God bless you," he said to me over the phone, and I cried. 💚
Darcy is in remission from his sarcoidosis, but he still has scarred and damaged lungs that he has to manage. That said, he now only takes 3 pharmaceuticals.
And to top it off, he is currently travelling in Africa! 🌍
One of the mantras Darcy and I repeat to each other is "It's never too late." ⏳
Feeling like you can make small changes, even during poor health, is an important feeling of hope and self-determination. This hope can guide you through discombobulation and even desperation. 🌱
I miss my daughter on the other side of the world. 💛 She's celebrating her 21st in the midst of summer away from family, yet I know that both of us are exactly where we're meant to be.
Wherever you are today, keep learning, keep taking tiny steps with your health, and if you are in Dunedin, the snow has started again, so make another cuppa ☕ and pull the rug up higher, and imagine the daffodils to come! 🌼