From Mobility Loss and Extreme Obesity to Hiking Mountains in Peru… – an MS Patient’s story

Carolyn Kaufman has been the biggest girl in EVERY room for as long as she can remember, weighing 100 lbs more than her peers by 12 years old. Beyond dealing with her weight issues, Carolyn maintained a positive stand and embraced her body. She wanted to lose weight, she just didn’t understand how and didn’t see the point of hating herself in the process. 

In 2009, Carolyn was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and as her symptoms progressed, her life crumbled around her. Within two years of diagnosis, Carolyn had experienced blurry vision, muscle stiffness, severe pain, muscle spasms, and trouble with balance. She also hit her all time high on the scale at 357.4 lbs.
The pain was chronic and severe enough that she couldn’t work, suffering daily for the next 9 months.
Finding relief through alternative healing, Carolyn began to get better. Her exacerbation faded but she was left with chronic “manageable” pain and a myriad of symptoms. She went back to work, rebuilt her social life, and tried to keep her stress level low, despite feeling tired and uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, she didn’t understand how to use food as medicine and experienced her second major MS exacerbation within another year and a half. This time Carolyn lost the ability to walk, the use of her right hand, and sensation throughout the right side of her body, all before her 25th birthday. Frustrated and scared, Carolyn knew there had to be more that she could be doing. She spent the next few months on disability researching her options, discovering how to use food for healing, and different ways to reduce inflammation in her body. 

Dedicating her life to health, fitness, and healing, Carolyn has paused progression of her illness and lost over 155 lbs naturally. In 2016 she decided to quit her job to travel, something she never thought possible at her prior size and with MS.

She went all through California, to Orlando, Miami Beach, and spent a month backpacking through Peru. From not being able to walk to trekking Machu Picchu, Carolyn finds time to be grateful every day for having a second chance at life. She has discovered her personal balance through trial and error and is deeply passionate about providing the tools she’s learned to show people what chronic illness can look like if you take care of your body in a loving and supportive way.

Check out Carolyn’s Instagram for more before and after pictures!