On today’s episode, I am speaking with Christina Kosyla. In 2018, Christina was diagnosed with a very rare tumor called a desmoid tumor (also known as Desmoid-Type Fibromatosis). These are rare tumors that grow from the connective tissue in your body. In her late 20s, Christina noticed a decrease in her range of motion especially when doing yoga and then a friend noticed a lump by her collarbone. Christina sought medical attention and after a work-up, was told it was a lipoma. She then traveled the Camino de Santiago, a 500 mile religious pilgrimage from France to Spain. After her return, surgery for the lipoma revealed “confusing” findings and ultimately, she was diagnosed several months later.

On today’s episode, Christina talks about how hiking the Pyrenees helped frame her mentality and mindset when she returned and had to face this diagnosis what living with a chronic (and invisible) illness and chronic pain is like, and how best to show up for people in an authentic way when they are vulnerable.

You can find more of Christina’s story on her blog.