Scribed In Light

About two years ago, I stopped obsessing over my diagnosis and started focusing on the presentations – the symptoms themselves.

Instead of sitting in fear over what the doctors named it, I began to ask deeper questions:

• What’s triggering this.
• What could be fueling it.
• How to fight it – piece by piece.

I dove into research – books, case studies, nutrition science, trauma recovery, gut-brain connections, neuroinflammation. I cast a wide net across the world, and what I found was undeniable:

The root of these disorders often begins in the gut, the nervous system, and the inflammation pathways. The greatest tragedy? We often treat the smoke while ignoring the fire.

the plan i built: how i fought my way back

I didn’t heal overnight. But I healed on purpose. Here’s what I chose – day by day, moment by moment – until clarity started to return, and the fog began to lift:

• I radically changed my diet.
  • I removed inflammatory foods- gluten, dairy, sugar – and shifted to a whole plant-based way of eating with minimal fish. Every bite became a building block for my brain.

• I healed my gut.
  • Whole Body Detox, Probiotics/Prebiotics,focused hydration, and non-toxic, living foods that nurtured my inner ecosystem. Because when the gut suffers, the brain follows.

• I hydrated like my life depended on it -because it did.
  • I measured half my body weight in ounces of water each morning and aimed to hit that number – at least- every day.

• I moved my body daily.
  • Walking, Pilates,Yoga, Stretching, Light biking – just enough to keep oxygen flowing and inflammation down – just to name a few…. each extremely beneficial.
• I trained my brain.
  • Word puzzles, Cognitive-enhancing and strategy games, Music, Fine-tuning old skills – and just as importantly, learning new skills. I made my brain work …not as punishment, but as promise.
• I engaged across Social bridges.
  • My platforms of choice were Facebook, TikTok, Instagram/X, Nextdoor – as well as increasing family and personal connections.
• I surrendered spiritually.
  • Every single day I redirected any overwhelming thoughts, fears, and worries to God. I handed them off, and let God hold what I could no longer carry. I focused on and trusted the process of renewal. I unpacked hidden stress through monthly sessions with a personal therapist – and too – I periodically engaged in meditation and sound/vibration therapies.

What I now believe about dementia, healing, and hope

I no longer believe that cognitive decline is just a fate we fall into.

I believe it’s the body’s final cry for help. A clollapse triggered by years – decades even – of inflammation, depletion, trauma, disconnection, and imbalance.

For me, this wasn’t just a neurological issue. It was systemic. A perfect storm. Healing came not through one mircale moment, but through a hundred small mercies – repeated daily with intention.

I believe dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other cognitive disorders are often symptoms of something deeper – something treatable. Something reversible.

At the very least – Something we can fight back against.

And that’s what I did. I dusted off my shock and awe, even my acceptance, of the diagnosis itself. I acknowledged the splinters below it’s surface layers, and I rose fiercely, and I fought with everything I had left.

Today was a pivotal day. After years of walking through this fog, today brought a moment of confident, unexpected clarity. My neurology reassessment this morning ended with the good news that the symptoms and diagnoses of Early Onset Alzheimer’s – through Cleveland Clinic – have all reversed and dissipated. They are resting in the belief that it may have been a ‘Pseudo event’ – in relation to PTSD, and extreme stress and trauma overload.

Now, while the terminology may shift, what matters to me most is this: the majority of my cognitive presentations have been reversed. Not by accident. Not by magic. But by a fierce, faith-fueled fight to uncover the root causes, realign my life, and reclaim my mind. This was not just confirmation – it was celebration.

So whether they call it Alzheimer’s, a Pseudo-Event spurned of PTSD, or file it under Post/Long Covid (which oddly, another Neurologist suggested and even shared there are case studies on the rise regarding such collateral effects from Covid cases)… or anything in between – I know what I lived.

I know what I rose up swinging against.

And I know what I overcame.

The ending that was really a beginning

There were nights I begged God for answers. Days when I couldn’t find my footing, much less the kitchen.

Many mornings I questioned If I was disappearing…Lord knows my memory was. But I kept showing up. I kept trusting. I locked my sites on this: If I rose up, focused on Him, believed, and did my part – put forth the effort and did my very own footwork in all of this – God would meet me in the gaps. Guess what? He did. He absolutely did.

He didn’t just restore my mind. He restored my purpose. He turned my fear into fuel. He turned my confusion into clarity. My diagnosis into a platform.

So this is not the end.

This is the beginning of a new chapter.

A chapter where I get to tell the truth I lived – and maybe, just maybe, help someone else believe that healing is possible.

Because – and I’m sure you understand the difference here – I didn’t ‘mishear the diagnosis’…I just didn’t let it have the final word.

If you are facing something that’s trying to write your ending – I hope you won’t let it have the final word either.

“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities: the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:5

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.‘ – Psalm 91: 1-2

“My child, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to the whole body.” – Proverbs 4: 20-22

“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.” – Jeremiah 30:17

With Grit, Grace, and Love,

-Tina Campbell | Scribed In Light