Kelley Flanagan is keeping her head held high after being diagnosed with Lyme disease.
One week after opening up about her health, the attorney—who appeared on Peter Weber's season of The Bachelor—returned to social media to thank her supporters. "I just want to pop in and thank every single one of you that has been messaging me," Kelley said in a Sept. 6 video posted to her Instagram Story. "I know this is a very controversial thing."
Right now, she's focused on learning as much information she can on the disease. "Whether it's documentaries, books, you name it, I'm looking up everything and trying to just keep my life super, super clean in terms of food, makeup, skincare, detergents, toothpaste and getting all of the toxins out of my life," she told fans, noting that the process takes "a lot" of hours. "I am feeling better and again I just want to thank every single one of you that has messaged me because this is a very, very strange road to go down and there's not that much research on it."
And while Kelley said that this journey "sucks," she's going to get through it.
The 29-year-old reality star, who called it quits with former Bachelor Peter in Dec. 2020, also gave some insight into her diet. "The smallest thing makes me react so trying to eat foods that don't cause inflammation," she wrote on Instagram Story, "and anything that would make my body go into attack mode."
Kelley also noted that she'll likely start a Lyme disease "protocol"—or method to help treat the disease—at the end of September. And although she told fans she's already feeling "so much better" after spending time in bed and on the couch over the last week, she admitted it's going to "take a lot more than just that."
Kelley first shared her Lyme disease diagnosis in a tearful Instagram video on Aug. 30. "It's a blessing and a curse because now i can target why i feel off so often but also means several different lifestyle changes and extensive research on how to help/hopefully cure this," she said in part. "I know this is going to be tough for me seeing what my brothers have gone through mentally and physically but i'm going to put so much of my time and energy into figuring this out and combatting this. Love all of you and let's take on this new journey."