September 2021

Logically, you would think that Jackie Olmstead would have grown up with little to no health issues since her father was a physician and her mother a nurse. But at six months old, she was diagnosed with asthma. Being hospitalized several times while enduring breathing treatments, steroids, antibiotics, inhalers and oral asthma medicines was challenging and a lonely and scary way to grow up. All the treatments, medicines and emergency room visits continued into her forties but at least she didn’t have to be admitted to the hospital anymore since in-home nebulizers became available. Viruses, flu bugs and sometimes exercise would trigger an asthma episode that would last for one to two weeks. It was expected usually a couple times a year. Other diagnoses: IBS and depression in 1983, hashimotos and hypoglycemia in 2007, depression and anemia in 2015. With the diagnosis of celiac disease in 2015, she was forced to relearn overnight how to shop, cook and eat without gluten. Determined to never be sick again, she researched for months the safest way for her to eat: Whole foods, plant based and of course, gluten free. Miraculously, today she doesn’t own any inhalers, and has only once had to take steroids with her nebulizer since 2015 because of a bad cold in 2020.