GAZELLE MAGAZINE AUGUST 2018 | Page 92

GAZELLES IN OUR MIDST Life is a Highway MUSICIAN OVERCOMES DEBILITATING ILLNESS By Vi c k i Fr e n c h B e n n i n g t o n A few years ago, musician Myra Hughey made the vow to live life to the fullest every day, after gaining control of an assortment of autoimmune diseases. One way she accomplished that was to hit the road on her own Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a hobby from her younger days that she hadn’t pursued since her early 20s, when she began to have a family. The picture of health for more than 40 years, Hughey was blindsided when she was diagnosed with severe endometriosis, and the only solution was a total hysterectomy. While that was bad enough to endure, the real trouble started when the surgery triggered a host of autoimmune diseases that literally took her to her knees. “I was told that sometimes a traumatic experience like that can set off autoimmune diseases, especially if you have a family history of them. When I was 13, my father died from autoimmune disease,” she said. After her surgery, the pain began right away – and traveled throughout her entire body. “I started falling all the time; I couldn’t go up and down steps. It got to the point I couldn’t even dress myself or get into the bathtub,” Hughey said. “We had a huge house at the time, and my husband said we needed to downsize. He couldn’t keep up with it by himself, along with caring for me.” So they sold their dream home, and moved to a small ranch house. At first, Hughey was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. She was given steroids, which caused weight gain. She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, and was in and out of emergency rooms. “And I was so sleep-deprived because of the pain. I really wanted to die,” she said. She had four vocal cord surgeries, also due to the inflammation in her body that caused tumors to grow on the cords. This was not good news for a singer. She was basically silent for months – couldn’t even speak - until the fourth surgery resulted in restoration of her voice. She began to find answers when she was referred to a rheumatologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and was started on methatroxilate, a type of chemotherapy drug also used for arthritis, which began to make her feel better. But she slowly became immune, and the dosage was continually increased until she was at the injection level. Around the same time, she heard about a homeopathic doctor, who 90 GAZELLE treated her with acupuncture and supplement drops. He also taught her about food and how certain combinations can cause (or relieve) inflammation, depending on the person. She began to tinker with lowering the dosage of the methatroxilate. “My medical doctor didn’t like that I was messing with my medicine, but after two years of my lowering the dosage, and I was actually getting better, she finally said to keep on doing what I was doing,” Hughey said. “There was no denying the improvement in my condition.” She has found that the best balance is a low dosage of the drug, while continuing with the homeopathic care. “I don’t eat sugar or flour, either, and I follow a diet designed for my blood type,” she said. “And I can sleep now, which makes a big difference in how I feel.” It was the year of her 50th birthday when she felt good enough to give motorcycle riding a try. She felt like she had a new lease on life, and she wasn’t going to waste it. She started out with a loaner, riding it back and forth to work. Her husband was worried about her, saying, “You almost died and could barely move, and now you are putting yourself in harm’s way.” Hughey said it was because she had been so ill that she wanted to do it – to feel free again to do what she wanted. She bought a white and black Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe, trimmed with chrome, and “chopped” just a little that she refers to as a “her.” Before long, she taught Jack to ride, he bought a Harley-Davidson Road King, and the two began to travel together. They have ridden their Harleys around the country, encountering hurricanes, mudslides, pot holes, downpours – even being beaten with hail. “With everything we’ve encountered, it’s a miracle nothing has happened,” Hughey said. “I hit a huge pot hole in Tennessee, and my bike was shaking, so we pulled off the highway and it turned out I had a hole in my tire. That could have been bad if I would have stayed on the road. “But no matter what, when we’re out on the open road, I find myself crying – with joy – that after all I’ve been through, it’s possible for me to be out there.” They’ve made their way to Kentucky, Daytona Beach, North Carolina, Glacier Park in Montana, and San Antonio, which was her first long ride.