Endless Hope as a Channel of Healing

For most of my career, I've helped people and organizations understand how behavior, habits, and culture change. By early 2020, I had reached many of the goals I'd set for myself, personally and professionally. I believed I could handle anything. Then an illness no one could name taught me that the way through isn't always strategic.

That illness was SIBO: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Put simply, it's an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, and if it goes undetected, it can change the course of your life from one month to the next. This is my story.

A Silent Enemy

In late 2019, for no reason I could see, I started losing weight. My energy kept shifting. But I was convinced that "I can handle anything. This is nothing. It'll pass. It's just work stress," so I ignored it.

In early 2020, just before the pandemic, with no idea what was coming for me or for the world, I got to celebrate my birthday with the people I love most: my husband, my children, my parents, my siblings, and their families. One of my siblings couldn't make it because of work, but his love and presence were with us that day, too. I remember laughing, celebrating, and eating wonderful food. I ate carefully, though, because I'd already been having symptoms that I was simply ignoring.

That March, this silent enemy, which later became a great friend and teacher, chose to show itself. I lost more than 10 pounds in a month. I was already thin, so losing weight was no gift; it was a disaster. SIBO disrupted everything—work, family, friends, and health—and it broke my soul. As my great teachers have told me, I went through a spiritual death.

Dark Days, No Answers

Some days, my body wouldn't even accept water. What little I could keep down gave me just enough energy to open my eyes, and because of the pandemic, I could at least work from home. Those were dark days, full of fear, anguish, doubt, uncertainty, and every feeling you can imagine.

I saw every specialist I could, looking for answers to something not even they could explain because every test came back completely normal. On one trip to the emergency room, when I thought I was about to have a heart attack, the doctor looked at me with eyes that were both very sad and very warm and said, "I don't know what else to do. Medically, we've done everything! This may sound a little strange, but something similar happened to my mother, and she found help in holistic medicine. Maybe they can help you."

As soon as I got home, I started researching the best holistic option I could find. I found it, but I had to wait almost two months to see the doctor. The first thing she told me was, "I can help you, but insurance doesn't cover my practice." I didn't think twice: "It doesn't matter. I need help." Thankfully, God had allowed me the financial footing to receive that care. If conventional medicine in the United States is expensive, you can imagine what holistic medicine costs.

Finally, a Name

After listening to my story through tears, the doctor asked whether I'd ever been tested for SIBO. "SIBO?" I said. "No." Honestly, until that moment, I didn't even know what it was. We started the process, and after three long weeks of waiting, the results came in: "You have SIBO." Ironically, as scared as I was, I felt enormous relief. Now I could prove it to everyone who'd told me, "It's in your head. It's just stress. It's your nerves. It's just IBS." I'm not crazy!

We also ran other tests to take a closer look at my gut health. SIBO had done a lot of damage and had affected my immune system, among other things.

When I Stopped Trying to Control Everything

With this doctor by my side, I began my healing process. Or so I thought. We started a treatment protocol that combined conventional and holistic medicine. After about 8 to 10 weeks, we repeated the tests and found that the treatment had done little, if anything. Then we learned that my body was resistant to some of these medications. Neither the regular antibiotics nor the holistic ones worked.

Meanwhile, my body kept changing: I became thinner and weaker, and I lost more hair. I felt ready to leave this earthly plane. But the love for my children, my husband, my parents, my siblings, and my family kept me fighting. It kept me from losing hope—an endless hope that could only come from one place. For me, that's God. For you, it may be the universe, energy, your higher self, or whatever resonates with you.

Still, I wondered, "What now?" That was when I surrendered. I accepted that I can't control everything, that I needed to let go, and that if I was really a person of faith, I needed to trust God. As the months went by, my body slowly came back to life. Like a baby, I reintroduced foods one at a time. I had to give up gluten, which meant no bread. And I love bread!

Renovating, Not Becoming Someone Else

I made space to clear out old, limiting beliefs. I began to see myself with love and compassion. I took courses in spirituality, feng shui, duality, and more. I started building new habits that helped me find my way back to myself and remember who I am. I understood that I didn't need to become someone different; I needed to remember the essence of my soul and my purest purpose. I rethought my values and my vision for my life. From there, my sacred and spiritual expansion began, and I started becoming that spiritually healthy person, integrating the great lesson my friend SIBO had brought to remind me that I needed to come home.

This is what I call renovation through endless hope, and it's where Endless Hope Renovation was born.

Today, I know that, without realizing it, I walked through what we now teach as the 9-Phase Method™: from Phase 1, Sacred Disruption—The Wake-Up Call, to Phase 9, Open House—Living in True Wholeness.

A Practice for Your Own Disruption

If you're going through your own disruption right now, take five minutes and write down a single question: What is this situation trying to teach me? The Divine Interference Journal™, one of our Signature Tools™, can help you start noticing the messages that arrive disguised as difficulty.

Six Years Later

I've taken more than 15 SIBO tests since 2020. Apart from one in 2023 that came back negative, only for SIBO to return two or three months later, I can finally say I'm SIBO-free after six long years. On Saturday, October 24, 2026, I took my last test, and it confirmed that my friend SIBO has pretty much decided to take an endless vacation. Ha!

Today, I thank God for introducing me to my friend SIBO and for letting it become the teacher that helped me remember who I am. Thank you, too, to all my spiritual guides, on higher planes and on this one, who never left me alone. Especially my latest nutritionist, Araceli Benevides. I know new teachers will show up in my life disguised as uncomfortable situations. But thanks to the lesson God gave me through this experience, I now have a method that will help me renovate faster each time.

My story is not a substitute for medical care. If something in your body doesn't feel right, seek professional support, and keep listening to yourself.

I hope my story inspires you. And if you're going through a critical time in your life, whether it's your health, your relationship, your family, a loss, or burnout at work, remember: the way through is spiritual, not strategic. Welcome home.

About the Author

Lina Perez-Naranjo is the Founder & CEO of Endless Hope Renovation and a 2026 Influential Women honoree. Her bilingual spiritual-wellness and life-mastery brand helps individuals and organizations renovate from within through the 9-Phase Method™ and Divine IQ™. With a background in human capital, organizational culture, and behavior change, she brings structure to soul-rooted healing. Learn more at endlesshoperenovation.com.