From Wheelchair Days to Forward Motion Again: Julie’s Necrotizing Myopathy Story
There are some patient stories that stick with you, not because they’re polished, but because they’re raw. Honest. The kind that makes you stop and think, How did it get that far… and what changed?
Julie’s is one of those stories.
When she walked into the West Clinic, she wasn’t walking the way most people mean when they say “walked in.” Some days she needed crutches. Some days she was in a wheelchair. And on the hardest days, she couldn’t even transfer herself.
In the video, Julie describes it simply:
“Existing was hard.”
That line captures what so many people with complex illness feel, when your world shrinks down to surviving the day, managing symptoms, and trying to hold on to the version of life you used to have.
Four years earlier, life looked completely different
Julie wasn’t someone who lived cautiously.
She was the kind of person who pushed her body on purpose, in a healthy way. Strongman competitions. Hiking Yellowstone solo. Riding her bicycle 150 miles in a weekend.
Then, over time, that capability disappeared.
She went from “I can do everything” to “I can’t get off the couch.”
The diagnosis: necrotizing myopathy
She was told medically, she had Necrotizing Myopathy.
Put it in blunt terms: the muscles are dying.
And while she was trying to figure out what was happening, Julie describes being stuck in a frustrating in-between. She wasn’t progressing. She wasn’t getting better. And instead of being treated, she felt like she was waiting because treatment might interfere with the diagnostic process.
So she stayed in limbo.
For months.
While her body continued to decline.
Why she came to the West Clinic (8.5 hours away from home)
Julie doesn’t live nearby.
She drove 8.5 hours to be seen and receive treatment at the West Clinic.
What made that worth it?
Her dad had friends who had already been to the clinic, and they kept telling him how well they were doing. Meanwhile, he was watching Julie decline quickly.
Eventually, the decision became less about convenience and more about one question:
What if there’s another way forward?
One big difference: she wasn’t asked to “wait”
Julie explains something that matters to a lot of patients who feel stuck:
At the West Clinic, they didn’t just collect information and send her home to wait.
They started working with her.
They treated her while still doing a thorough workup.
And Dr. West explains one reason why their early focus is so consistent:
If you can restore energy, you can start making progress.
When energy returns, people can move again. Sleep improves. Healing becomes more possible. Momentum becomes something you can actually feel.
“It was shocking to see how bad it was”
One moment in the interview stands out.
Dr. West talks about reviewing standard blood tests but also doing something else: taking a sample of blood and putting it up on a screen.
When Julie saw it, it was shocking.
Because like many high-achieving people, she had been doing what she’d always done:
Pushing through.
Dr. West describes what he saw as blood that looked like it had no life or motion to it... no energy. This is something he repeats often:
When you’re dealing with complex illness, getting energy back is often the first major win.
Mobility issues… and the tremor
Julie wasn’t only dealing with weakness and mobility problems. She also had a severe tremor.
She describes it as a really bad essential tremor, and explains that when she got exhausted and cold at the same time, it could escalate so much that it looked like she was having a seizure in her neck.
Dr. West points out that now, the tremor is barely visible compared to before.
The therapies she received in the clinic
Julie lists several therapies she received during her visits:
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Ozone (she says she really liked this one)
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Dilute hydrogen peroxide IV (Dr. West clarifies it’s a 1:100 dilution)
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Vitamin C
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Neural therapy (described as a “nerve reset” approach)
This is the part people often pay attention to first, the treatments.
But what comes next is what keeps progress from slipping away.
The plan wasn’t just to improve. It was to stay improved
Dr. West says something important in the interview:
We don’t want Julie to slide back.
So the plan isn’t only what happens in-office. A big part of the approach includes coaching, mindset, and building the habits that keep the body moving forward.
Julie explains how that plays out in her real life:
She’s always been a “mover.” She loves working out. And once she started feeling better, she didn’t jump back into intense training, instead she started slow.
She began exercising again very gradually, building up over time.
She works on hydration (and admits travel days are hard).
And she keeps herself grounded by staying connected to the ongoing education by watching the podcast and tuning into the Wednesday Q&As so she doesn’t drift off track.
It’s not perfection.
It’s direction.
What Julie learned (and what she wants you to hear)
Dr. West asks her a question people don’t always expect:
When you go through something like this, do you feel like you learned anything?
Julie’s answer:
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She’s less stressed now. She’s calmer. “It is what it is,” and she adjusts.
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She learned to trust her intuition. For two years, she was told it was anxiety. She knew it wasn’t.
Then Dr. West asks what she would say to someone watching who thinks, “That sounds great for her, but it won’t work for me.”
Julie keeps it simple:
You don’t know until you try.
And if you know something is wrong and you’re not getting answers, keep looking.
If you need to go in a new direction, just do it.
“You are not your diagnosis.”
Dr. West closes the interview with the reason they share stories like this:
Because so many people start to believe they are their diagnosis.
And Julie’s story is a reminder that even if you’ve been told something scary, even if things have declined quickly, even if you’ve felt stuck…
There may still be a path forward.
Don’t give up. Keep researching. Keep asking questions. Keep moving toward the next right step.
Want to get started?
If you want help figuring out next steps and whether you’re a fit for care, start here:
