If everything that made you who you are was taken away from you in an instant, what would you do? In this episode, NICU nurse Ashanti tells her story of going from fit to suffering from a rare severe chronic illness, her life now and the lessons that have come with it from which all of us can learn.

1. FROM FIT NURSE
TO ME WARRIOR
WITH ASHANTI
DANIEL
T H E T H I N K A L P H A P R O J E C T
V A L E N T I N E E W U D O

2. ASHANTI
DANIEL
If everything that made you who you are was taken
away from you in an instant, what would you do? In
this episode, NICU nurse Ashanti tells her story of
going from fit to suffering from a rare severe chronic
illness, her life now and the lessons that have come
with it from which all of us can learn.
Ashanti Daniel was successful as a nurse, specializing
in Neonatal ICU, but she also has a love for health
and fitness. It was truly a lifestyle for her, not only for
the aesthetic benefits, but because it made her happy
and gave her a positive outlet.
Ashanti spent her life as a cheer-mom to her daughter
and a baseball-mom to her son who has been playing
since he was 5. She was the picture of health, until
she was suddenly diagnosed with Myalgic
Encephalomyelitis (ME). As an ME Warrior, Ashanti is
now searching for her new passions and purpose in
life while educating others on this rare and incurable
disease.

3. KEY TOPICS
Ashanti was suddenly diagnosed with ME, which is
also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
She was living a healthy lifestyle, and one day she
got sick with respiratory symptoms.
She never got better, her doctors thought it was a
bad asthma attack, but at her 2nd hospitalization,
she knew that this was something else.
She had extreme fatigue and muscle weakness,
and she continued to search for answers.
Her sisters stumbled upon ME and sent Ashanti the
information to look at, and she finally found a
specialist that could help her.
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

4. How Ashanti’s Life Has Changed
When you don’t know what’s wrong with you, you hold on
to hope, but now she knows that there is no cure because
there just hasn’t been enough research done on the illness.
People with ME disappear as they are often in bed, can’t
drive, and although she may not look sick, Ashanti has lost
over 20 pounds.
She was told that she will never be able to workout again
and had to stop her nursing career, but she has to hold
onto hope that will someday change.
She was very adventurous and now she has to grieve the
loss of her life as she knew it.
She has to find her new purpose, but she’s still searching
for that.
Raising Awareness
Ashanti was at an event for a documentary called Unrest by
Jennifer Brea.
Jennifer directed the documentary mostly from her bed, and
it gives people a glimpse at what life is like with ME.
Ashanti made a conscious decision to stay as positive as she
could, it doesn’t cure the illness but it helps her to see the
good – she has her family, and she can help to inspire and
help others.
Have you been to Nigeria? (22:42)People need resilience to
keep on pushing through.

5. Key Quotes
I ended up getting an appointment to see him on May 12th, and
that’s when I was given the devastating diagnosis, and ironically
May 12th is actually International ME Awareness Day. (11:12)
It’s kind of like you die, but you’re forced to watch the world
continue without you. (12:29)
There’s a lot of people living with an illness that don’t necessarily
look sick, so don’t judge a book by its cover. (18:24)
This is fatigue at a level that you can’t even imagine. This
fatigue is worse than the days that I’ve gone over 24 hours
without sleep. (32:01)

6. CONTACT US
http://thinkalpha.net/
5550 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles CA 90036
val@thinkalpha.net
(323) 835-1906
http://thinkalpha.net/itunes
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