What does it look like to navigate lupus, POTS, and motherhood—all while raising a medically complex child and building a platform to support others? In this conversation, I’m joined by Keyundra Thompson, author, advocate, and founder of Secrets to Serenity. Keyundra shares her powerful story of growing up with undiagnosed symptoms, walking through a difficult pregnancy, and eventually receiving her chronic illness diagnoses. Through her journey, she’s learned how to balance caring for her children, managing her own health, and leaning on her faith to carry her through.
She’s also created a space for authors and storytellers to share their voices and bring encouragement to others who may be walking a similar road. This is an honest, hope-filled conversation about resilience, community, and why it’s okay to rest when your body says “enough.”
💬 Memorable Quote:
“Even when it’s hard, keep going and be you.” – Keyundra Thompson
📌 What You’ll Learn:
- Keyundra’s journey with lupus and POTS, from childhood symptoms to diagnosis
- How she balances motherhood with chronic illness, including raising a medically complex child
- The role of faith in her story and why it’s been her foundation
- Why boundaries and learning to say “no” are essential for survival and peace
- How Secrets to Serenity is giving authors and families a safe space to share their stories
📖 Key Scriptures:
- “From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” – Psalm 61:2
- “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22–23
📝 Reflection / Journal Prompts:
- When was the last time you pushed past your body’s limits? What did you learn from that experience?
- Where do you need to give yourself permission to rest right now?
- Who could be part of your “village” if you reached out today?
✨ One Tiny Step for This Week:
Practice saying no without explanation. Protect your energy by honoring your body’s needs before it shuts down for you.
📚 Resources:
- Connect with Keyundra: Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
- Zire’s Big Feeling About Feeding by Keyundra Thompson – available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, and her website
- Secrets to Serenity Bookstore and Podcast: Secrets to Serenity
👩🎤 Credits:
Host: April Aramanda
Guest: Keyundra Thompson, author, advocate, and founder of Secrets to Serenity
Podcast: The Invisible Illness Club
Transcription
April Aramanda:Well, hello Keyundra. I am so glad you’re here today. I hope that you are having a wonderful day so far.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes ma’am I am. How are you?
April Aramanda:Oh, doing all right. It’s been a good day. So, that’s good. Sometimes with chronic illness, we all know it’s not always good days. Today’s been a decent day. So, I’m happy.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes. Um I can understand. Yesterday was one of those days for me.
April Aramanda:I get it. Right. Well, I would love to start with you sharing a little bit about yourself and the work that you do through Secrets to Serenity.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes, ma’am. I am a mom. I’m a mom of two. Um, I’m from smalltown Arkansas. I like to say the big small town of Gertin, or I’m a very, very southern country girl.
April Aramanda:Well, okay.
Keyundra Thompson:Um, I am a special needs mom. My youngest um was born. He’s one of those co kids that the teachers are preparing to have this year.
April Aramanda:Yes.
Keyundra Thompson:He was born smack dab in the middle of CO in 2020. He was born five weeks early with a list of medical complexities. And as he got older, we also learned that he has autism and ADHD. So that keeps me on my toes. My daughter thinks that she is the next Simone Bows. She really keeps me on my toes.
April Aramanda:I love it.
Keyundra Thompson:But after dealing with um everything from being an ABA therapist and working in the behavioral clinic, I got to see things at a different lens, but becoming a mama on the other end of the diagnosis, it kind of
April Aramanda:Right.
Keyundra Thompson:switched my gear and like I’ve always been an advocate for special needs families, but when it hits your household, it pushes your drive a little harder. So, I wrote my first children’s book called Zire’s Big Feeling About Feeding, and it talks about my son in a week of feeding therapy because he has sensory aversions due to his autism.
April Aramanda:Uh-uh.
Keyundra Thompson:But we also have some PTSD trauma with feeding due to the overwhelming medical stuff and number of surgeries we’ve had. He’s four and he’s had 14 surgeries. So, yes. And I did not ex think that it would be like this big of a turnout, but I have like enjoyed hearing other people come to me and share their stories.
April Aramanda:Oh, wow.
Keyundra Thompson:So I decided to like push Secrets to Serenity a little further and just make a whole business out of it to where I advocate, I write more books, life coaching from the therapist point of view and like from the parents point of view because we need a village. Like they say it takes a village to raise children, but we need a village ourselves.
April Aramanda:No kidding. Well, goodness, you have worn many, many hats. I mean, author, life coach, educator, entrepreneur, mom, um, special needs mom.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:That’s a whole different hat. Um, so obviously probably you’re going to tell me the answer to this question is being mom first, but which of those roles came first for you?
Keyundra Thompson:It is definitely being mom and that started before I was a mom and it’s because I have younger siblings.
April Aramanda:Oh.
Keyundra Thompson:I get to be the crappy older sister. My sister is closer to me in age. And it’s weird because there’s an age gap between me and my brothers. Now, some of the co-workers that I have in public school either taught me or taught my siblings.
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:And the ones who taught my siblings were like, “We didn’t know there was another one.” And I have to say, “Yeah, my mom just decided to wait long down the road before they had the other ones.” But my brothers would always say, even though we had mom and dad in the house, Kandre was more of mama number two.
April Aramanda:Oh, that’s funny.
Keyundra Thompson:Ashley was the big sister. She was the mama. So, I guess destined to be Yes.
April Aramanda:You know, I am the oldest sister, too, so I understand how that goes. So, let’s talk a little bit about you personally.
April Aramanda:You live with lupus and POTS. Can you share when you got this diagnosis, how you were diagnosed, that journey that you’ve had?
Keyundra Thompson:Yes. Yes, ma’am. It’s been a long, long road. Um, I started having symptoms as early as I could remember was maybe about ages eight or nine and my body would just like shut down and lock up.
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:And being a kid, I remember the one thing that I would do and like the first scary episode that I remember having, I’m a big tomboy still. I was real tomboyish. I like to be outside and play. We stay in the country.
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:I remember being outside at my grandparents house playing, just doing some stuff. It was summertime and I got overheated and I would run in the house and just lay on the bathroom floor because it was so cool and like I would get dizzy and laded.
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:And then about a couple of months after that, it was the fall and we had our little town’s festival and I remember getting lightheaded to the point to where I almost fainted there.
Keyundra Thompson:And being a kid, you know, it kind of scares the adults in the family. Like you’re like, why is my child having these six spells and my muscles would lock up and tighten up to like you could literally see like the swelling as a child.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:So, we went through like that extensive running test going to children’s and then as I got older, it kind of went dormant and I kind of knew that like if I said I’m sick, my mama, my grandma, they’re not going to let me play sports. So I was just like when my parents would look at me I would tell them I’m okay just push through it and then after I ended up pregnant with Zier all the symptoms started coming back even harder and
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:my whole pregnancy I was sick. It was very traumatic. I ended up having a placental abruption with him.
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:And I remember the last thing I remember was the doctor telling my mom she could come in because they had to do an emergency C-section, but only one person could come in. And of course, her being my mom, she was like, “Sorry, it’s me. This
Keyundra Thompson:is my child.” But
April Aramanda:That’s right.
Keyundra Thompson:then they came back out and they told her, “No, things are too bad. We need to get her back there.” And the last thing they said before willing me back was, “There’s a 50-50 chance. you’re going to have to choose. And before she can answer, I told them to focus on taking my baby.
April Aramanda:Wow. Of course.
Keyundra Thompson:As a mom, I knew I would do everything I could to get back to his big sister. I just wanted them to focus on him. But after having all of his medical issues, my body still wasn’t functioning right. So, I went to the doctor because I was having chest pains and dizzy spells. My PCP sent me to a cardiologist and they asked, “How long had I been having these dizzy spells and I was like about some years now.” And then he looked at me, he said, “How long have you been dizzy now?”
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:And I kind of looked at him like, “How do you even know?”
Keyundra Thompson:And he was like reading the little machine. And I was like, “About two days.” So I did the tilt table test. Come back. I have POTS. But then like there were other symptoms and my doctor was like, “I need to pull your fouls from when you were a kid because there’s just something here in your lab work that’s just like alarming to me.” And she was like, “I’m sending you to a rheatologist.” And after they did like about six rounds of blood tests where everything seemed normal, it was just inflammation. Something popped up to where it was like antibodies and they were like, “Yes, you have lupus.” And POTS is something that was like we knew it wasn’t there by itself. there had to be something else triggering it. And I was like, “Oh, so all this time I’ve been living with it.” But it made sense because I have family members who also have lupus.
April Aramanda:Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, that’s um it’s not Well, it’s more common now, but it was not as common when you were a kid for a child to start exhibiting symptoms of an autoimmune disorder.
Keyundra Thompson:An autoimmune disorder.
April Aramanda:Um, that’s something that’s just now becoming more common, but for a long time, we didn’t see that until teenage years or or adult years when something would trigger that.
Keyundra Thompson:We haven’t
April Aramanda:And so now we’re seeing more and more, of course, because of well, we won’t we won’t argue the the reasons because I got a million opinions on that one. But, um, yeah. So, it’s interesting that you have been living with this for so very long. Um, what was one of the hardest parts of living through this that people didn’t realize?
Keyundra Thompson:There were times where I played basketball, but there were times I remember being a kid and not like wanting to be sitting on the bench or not wanting my family to say it’s too much for you. So, I would push through. And one of the times I remember being real sick is I was in college. I lived on campus at the time and to be like pretty much living on my own, not being at my parents house, not being at my grandparents house.
Keyundra Thompson:And my mom was like, “Okay, I need to come up there.” But the hardest thing would probably be how many times that I’ve had to get up in pain. I have a little one who literally like has to go through and fight for his own life feeding to sleeping with oxygen and all of that.
April Aramanda:Mhm. Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:And um my mom passed away a year ago and I don’t think anybody in my family besides my sister and my grandmother knew that I was in a flare up the entire week of her funeral.
April Aramanda:So, you shared a little bit about that story with me of that flare happening the week of your mom’s funeral.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes, I have been fortunate to have a work mom.
April Aramanda:Um, why don’t you tell us about that moment and what it taught you about yourself?
Keyundra Thompson:Um, she’s one of my co-workers, but she’s also one of my childhood best friends mom. She’s known me all my life and she shared with me her journey through lupus and she’s actually been the one that’s like been holding my hand through this.
Keyundra Thompson:like, “Yep, I was around your age.” And it was shocking because I remember her coaching cheer and taking over the dance team at our school at the same time.
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:And I was like, “Wait, you were coaching cheerleading and then you came and took over us as a dance team and you were going through that the whole time?” And she was like, “Yeah, it was just things that, you know, I was a mom, too. So,
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:I pushed through.” But I remember we went shopping because we had decided on the colors that we were wearing and we were like, “Okay, let’s go find mom something to wear so they can get her dressed.” And we were calling my cousin to like do the hair and makeup for my mom. We were finding our own outfits. When we got to one of the outlet malls, I felt my body like get weak. And immediately, of course, cuz I have anxiety as well.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:I told myself, “No, this is just a panic attack. you’re
Keyundra Thompson:not ready to like accept everything. And that’s when it dawned on me that stress can trigger a flare up in the worst.
April Aramanda:massively.
Keyundra Thompson:And I remember telling my sister, I need to go get me something that’s salty so I can eat because I was thinking maybe it’s just the pots. Let me get something cool to drink. Got in the back seat, laid it out. When we got home, my body just couldn’t like shake back. And like throughout the rest of that week, I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker. But one of the things that I had did was my first published poem was dedicated to my mom. And I read it at her funeral. And like the whole time I was like, I’m not feeling good. I’m on the front row with my dad, my grandparents, and my siblings. And I’m like, nope. And I was sitting beside my dad, and I was like, I’m not going to be able to stand up. But I was able to push through.
Keyundra Thompson:And it was after like the whole family ate and we came back to my grandparents house, I just crashed. I was like, “Okay, I need to mentally rest so my body can heal.
April Aramanda:Yeah. Yeah. That’s first of all, I’m very sorry about losing your mother. um that it’s it’s an interesting thing that a lot of us, especially when you’re older and you have children and you have, you know, a life outside of, you know, just your chronic illness, we we really do push through um a lot more than we probably should.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:I am very bad about that. So, I totally understand what you’re saying because I mean I was a single mom for almost 18 years. Um, and I didn’t know I was dealing with chronic illness at the time, but I was. And I would just push through everything because what are you going to do? I mean, you you’re the bread winner and the mom and everything else. So, there are a lot of times that we we push past our limits that, you know, maybe we shouldn’t have or maybe we should have pushed less or whatever the case is.
April Aramanda:That’s I totally understand your story. Um, yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:Well, let’s switch gears a little bit and talk a little bit about I am tongue tied today, guys. Secrets to serenity. It’s it’s a very unique platform. So, can you tell us more about that and what it offers and who it’s for?
Keyundra Thompson:Okay. Yes, ma’am. Um, I started it as an online bookstore because I noticed that a lot of authors like myself when you’re starting out, and I’m blessed to have like a great publishing team behind me, a publisher who works as a mentor, but a lot of people who I have known personally that has gone the indie route as authors, they don’t have the platform or the people behind them to push their work.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:And I was like, okay, let me create a platform so that they can come on and either have an outsourcing spot to sell their books or even come join the podcast or have a way to like promote themselves on my website.
Keyundra Thompson:And with the podcast, we do feature authors, but it’s not just for authors, even though it’s an author podcast.
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:It’s for anybody who has a story because I am big on like wording. I guess I’ve been a book word worm all my life but serenity means peace and it’s one of the fruits of the spirit.
April Aramanda:Yes.
Keyundra Thompson:Um my daughter’s name is temperance which is self-control right with serenity.
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:So yeah it was a kind of play on that but to have like the secrets to serenity. I just wanted everybody to find that place of peace to where they can operate in their calling and show it to the world.
April Aramanda:Mhm. So, what exactly do you do for people? What it what does Secrets to Serenity actually do?
Keyundra Thompson:We allow authors to come on. Um I offer book reviews because I’m always looking for a good read anyways.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:But um there’s like a written book review that I do. I post it as a blog on my website and share it on all my social medias.
Keyundra Thompson:And then I do like a little short video for the children’s book authors. My daughter, she likes to read just as much as mommy. So, I like to have her to come in and play around and like read the books as well.
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:So, you get the little kid read aloud in there, but we also do author interviews on our podcast, Serenity Secrets, so that they can come on and tell their stories because there’s always a story and a why behind
April Aramanda:Yes.
Keyundra Thompson:anybody writes a book, no matter what the genre is. And even if they’re not authors, there’s always another story out there that can help someone else find peace. Um, after the interview was done and we posted on our YouTube page, we also shared that to our social medias and my author website. I have over with all of my social media platforms combined, I have over 7,000 followers, you have that growing audience.
April Aramanda:Wow.
Keyundra Thompson:And I have been fortunate to like connect with others with my own mommy story.
Keyundra Thompson:And I like to I’m one of those I like to network.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:I like to ring everybody in. Hey, let me introduce you to this person. Did you know it’s their story? Come in and touch this person. So, yes, it’s all about networking and building that marketing brand for others.
April Aramanda:That’s awesome. So basically marketing for authors.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:That’s fantastic. So you have said that you set the bar high and you think outside the box. Well, how does that show up in your business?
Keyundra Thompson:Well, one of the things that people should also know about me, I not only have a baby who’s on the spectrum, but I learned that I too have combined ADHD. So, it’s weird as being an adult with a big imagination, but I’ve learned that it’s kept me competitive my entire life. whether it was sports or in academics, I was always competitive. And I’ll tell my best friend who’s a part of my production crew like, “Let me know if I’m doing too much, but I don’t think it’s too much because we’re from a small town. Let’s
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:try it this way.” And when you push yourself, that’s when you get the best results. You can’t limit yourself if you want success.
April Aramanda:dream big.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:So why do you find it important that we create a space not just for authors but even with what I’m doing, what other people are doing, for anyone whose story can bring peace to someone else. All
Keyundra Thompson:I am a big mental health advocate. I’ve worked with mental health. Um I have partnered with a local business here and that is one thing that we push. You never know what a person goes through when they have to keep things inside, especially like a platform like yours.
April Aramanda:right.
Keyundra Thompson:There are some I am one of those. I don’t like to talk about having lupus or POTS even on the bad days when I’m not feeling good. I don’t want to tell people I’m not feeling well because I’m scared they’ll be like just shake it off.
April Aramanda:Right.
Keyundra Thompson:You got to toughen through. Or you’ll hear the stereotypical you’re not the first, you’re not going to be the last. Just push through.
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:They need to know that they have a safe place where people understand them and that people can lift them up. And you can learn so much from somebody who’s lived with it longer than you. They might have answers to questions that you need or they will tell you what questions to go in and ask.
April Aramanda:Yes. Yes. So very important. I I think that that we forget sometimes because we’re only thinking about our world and our situations that the people we’re crossing at the store, at a restaurant, you know, that everyone we that crosses our path, even if we don’t know who they are, we have no idea what they’re going through at all. And one of the things that I know this is living with chronic illness has taught me is to be a little more cognizant of that to remember that more that people are going through something I don’t know about because I am and they don’t Now,
Keyundra Thompson:Yes. And I think that is very important for people to understand because um especially today like you see a lot of people the mindset of being for yourself has changed society and there isn’t enough love or compassion for each
April Aramanda:I agree.
Keyundra Thompson:other in the world and we need those secret spaces to where somebody can be like you know what they were bold enough to speak out let me speak out or she was brave enough to Go chase her dream. Let me go chase mine.
April Aramanda:Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. So, how do you balance being a mom to medically complex and special needs child working, managing your own health, you know, how do you how are you balancing all that? What boundaries do you set in place to make that possible?
Keyundra Thompson:Um, amid plenty of nights crying and feeling guilty because mom guilt sets in a lot, but I’m always wanting to I’ve always been the go-to person.
April Aramanda:Yeah, good.
Keyundra Thompson:So, I feel bad when I have to like I don’t like rejection. So, when I feel like I’ve rejected someone else’s needs, I feel bad.
Keyundra Thompson:But, I have learned to say no. Especially when it’s a situation to where it’s not necessarily like a life or death need. It’s just, oh, let me use you for this, that, and the third, even on your tired days. No, I can’t. My cup is full. My energy is low.
April Aramanda:Yep.
Keyundra Thompson:I can’t. I have to step back. And I have learned to allow myself to rest, which is still a hard thing for me to do because I feel like I have to do so much. And I feel like I’m not accomplishing my goals when I have to rest.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:But this summer has been one of those things for me to where I’ve had to shut down on days and be like, “Let me rest before my body shuts down on its own.” Because if I don’t get my rest, it’s going to rest one way or the other.
April Aramanda:Yeah. True. So, very true. It has been a little bit harder summer for me, too.
April Aramanda:And I’m I’m wondering if that’s something that a lot of people in our situation, you know, with chronic illness have found that it’s just been a harder summer. Um, and to your point of saying no, I will I’ve said this before, I will say it again till I’m blue in the face. No is a complete sentence. Period. End of story. So your no does not have to be explained to anyone.
Keyundra Thompson:And that is something that I am still learning because I always and I have to not guilt trip myself and go back cuz I’m like okay now I’m drained.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:because I felt like I had to go save everybody else’s problems.
April Aramanda:Yeah. Well, and I think that some of that comes with being the first child, with being the oldest, right? That we have this need to help everybody and fix everything. Um, and it is hard depending on the people especially to say no in certain situations.
Keyundra Thompson:Yeah.
April Aramanda:So, it’s good that you’re learning that because you need you need to be able to say no so that your body doesn’t say it for you.
April Aramanda:Um, so I know that you have faith. So, how has your faith played a role in your personal life and your work and the whole system of you?
Keyundra Thompson:Um that would be I think it’s actually the center foundation for all of it because even in work life working in special education.
April Aramanda:Good.
Keyundra Thompson:I tell people all this and I shared it with some of my students and I have shared it with like some of my little cousins. I’m like, do y’all know that when I was y’all’s age, I told the teachers in this same school building that I was never coming back to this building? What? You were a student here? And I was like, yep. When I got ready to go to the high school, I looked at some of these same teachers and said, you’re never going to see me again. I’m never coming back. Then I got into my late teens and said, “I’m never having kids. I could never be a teacher.” But
April Aramanda:And here you are.
Keyundra Thompson:yes, so it’s allowing God to step in and direct your path because in the end, he knows where he wants you. He knows where he needs you. And even with my journey as a mom, there were times when I thought that it was like too much to bear. And I tell people, it’s funny because I went through a hard postpartum after my daughter. She was my rainbow baby. So, it was like a new thing to have like that one healthy pregnancy. And I was I had to go back and say I was thankful that I went through postpartum with her because after years passed and I had my son and he went through what he went through, I was able to use those coping strategies that I learned in therapy and some of the same tools that I have taught others as an ABA therapist on myself.
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:And I was like, it just all works full circle because I probably would have lost my mind if I was not strong in my faith and I did not have those coping mechanisms that I need.
Keyundra Thompson:But even with our journey, I had to learn that it’s not just our journey. And that is why I was okay when I wrote the children’s book because I had a friend who told me to write a mom book. And I was like, I’ve made too many posts on social media. They’ve seen our story on the news. They’re probably tired of me talking. But then I was like, let’s write it from a kid’s point of view because every child who goes through something like this, they need to learn. Even at your little age, this is your ministry. You never know what other child’s family is waiting for your story to be told so they can understand that they’re not alone and they can raise their child, too.
April Aramanda:Oh, I agree. I have I have several books um about living with chronic illness for children that I’m going to be going through and and hopefully getting to talk to some of those authors because I think there is a lot to be said about taking it from the child’s view.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:What’s happening to them, what’s happening to you, how they’re, you know, how they can cope with it. That’s it’s just a really neat thing that God called you to do. Um, have you ever found yourself wrestling with your faith in the middle of some challenge or flare or anything like that?
Keyundra Thompson:There was a time when I had to get out of my own head because it was one of those my son he’s neutropenic as well. So that immune system of his is like anything that’s in the air he got it and it’s going to hit him 10 times worse than everybody else.
April Aramanda:Right.
Keyundra Thompson:So having his own chronic illness, then me dealing with mine, and I have lupus, so my immune system is not big either. So we’re both just like two little bubble babies wrapped in the house, especially during cold and flu season in the winter. And I was like, I can’t do this. I’m tired. I don’t I don’t want to pray. I don’t want to I just can’t do life.
April Aramanda:Right.
Keyundra Thompson:And I had to like sit and that’s when I learned that it was okay for me to sit and soak and understand my own feelings. It was okay for me to have those feelings, but it was how I got up in the end after having those feelings.
April Aramanda:Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That is so true. God doesn’t say don’t don’t have these feelings. He said, “How are we going to get you past them? How are we going to get you over that?” Um he doesn’t tell us not to wrestle with him. In fact, there’s quite a few scriptures where people wrestle with their faith and with God.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:um that really makes me feel better on those times when I struggle with something and I’m like why one more thing every time I turn around there’s another issue with my body you know and so I agree it really it is okay to sit in it for a season and then to work with God to pull yourself out of it that’s awesome
Keyundra Thompson:Yes. Because even yesterday um after you and I had talked and I went to the doctor, she looked at me and she’s like, “I have to send you over to the hospital for some tests.” And right there I was like, “We can’t do this. School starts back this week. I have to be in the classroom with other people’s kids.” Like
April Aramanda:I know you’re like, I don’t got time to be sick.
Keyundra Thompson:right Yes. One of those moments and I was like, “You know what, Lord? you don’t have to pull me through this cuz at this point I’m like let’s just extend summer cuz I can’t understand that it is a process
April Aramanda:I get it totally. Well, what advice would you give someone who’s either newly do di diagnosed or currently in a struggle right now?
Keyundra Thompson:and you are going to have those feelings. It’s okay to have those feelings. It’s okay to get frustrated because we’re human. We know what our bodies were capable of before all of these things started.
Keyundra Thompson:But even in that process, find your tribe. Find your people. Um, I love the fact that I was able to connect with people through Facebook and social media groups, but I also encourage anyone who’s dealing with it, especially if you’re like newly diagnosed, find someone in your community that you trust that you can talk to face to face because there is something about having that physical being beside you who can hold your hand and cry with you and tell you, “Yes, you’re having a bad let’s have
April Aramanda:Yeah.
Keyundra Thompson:bad weeks together.
April Aramanda:Um, you have also mentioned using things like stress balls, support group therapy, even ice cream. I’m curious about this one. So, how does that fit into your self-care and could help someone else?
Keyundra Thompson:One of the things that irritates me the most about my lupus and my POTS is when my body shuts down, my body, like my hands and things, they cramp and they go numb. I’m very active. I write. I teach. I’m a mom.
Keyundra Thompson:Um I I need all my limbs to work properly. So that is my way of like getting a little OT in while also like de-stressing. So I’ll play with stress balls. Another thing that the kids when I am in the classroom, even at home, they will never know that, oh, she’s just playing with one of our puppets that she had in her treasure box for us to earn. But the whole time I’m sitting there trying to de-stress myself or trying to loosen up my own joints.
April Aramanda:Right.
Keyundra Thompson:And a lot of people know when you deal with chronic illness, there’s always going to be like that underlying thing with food somewhere.
April Aramanda:Mhm.
Keyundra Thompson:I have gluten and dairy intolerance, but there are days when I be like, “Okay, oh, stomach issues is not going to hurt me. It’s the weekend. I’ve had a hard week. I need a bowl of ice cream and I need to binge watch my shows.” And I’m going to sit and I’m going to turn on my heated blanket so it can help massage my body.
Keyundra Thompson:And I’m just going to eat my bowl of ice cream.
April Aramanda:Sometimes you just need a bowl of ice cream.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:There’s so much truth and wisdom in that statement. I swear my nutritionist is probably, you know, screaming right now. But sometimes you just need a bowl of ice cream.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes. And my diet, she’s probably gonna watch this and be like, I told her to stay away from the ice cream.
April Aramanda:Uhhuh.
Keyundra Thompson:I am sorry.
April Aramanda:Every once in a while you just got to have a bowl of ice cream.
Keyundra Thompson:Yes.
April Aramanda:Well, this has been such a great conversation with you and I would love for people to be able to get in touch with you. So, where can they find you? Where can they find you? Your books, your podcast, all the things.
Keyundra Thompson:Um, you can find me on Facebook, Kandra Dominique. Um, I also have my business page, my online bookstore, Secrets to Serenity Bookstore on Facebook. And on Instagram, if you’re one of those who like Tik Tok like my kids do, you can follow us. I say us because they are the muse for anything I do on Tik Tok at Keandra Thompson. Or you can check out my author website ww.keandrathtompson.com where you can also order signed copies of my book. I have two other projects on there.
April Aramanda:Awesome.
Keyundra Thompson:You can keep up with my blog. You can see what’s happening with podcast and new episodes. And if you want to order books, there’s Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Good Readads, to keep going.
April Aramanda:Well, before we end this conversation, what is one final encouragement that you’d like to leave with our listeners today?
Keyundra Thompson:Even when it’s hard, keep going and be you.
April Aramanda:That’s so good. Well, thank you, Kandra, for joining us today. We so appreciate it.
Keyundra Thompson:Thank you.