It was 7th grade, the end of the school year games. My peers had split into 2 teams to see who could get that great big ball (it was huge) to the other end of the football field. Do you remember the Snoqualmie Middle School football field back in the late 70’s, how wet and mushy the ground was back then? Well I had slipped and fell into the mud as both teams ran over me. My Uncle Jon Weller had come to pick me up and said I looked as white as a ghost. I later found out that I had a cracked tail bone ~ what a great summer that was!
Years later being the energetic person that I like to be and giving birth to my crew of children, my lower back always seemed to ache more and more. Then one crazy evening in 2004(?) I was creating an Oct. 31st church middle schoolers fun night with a Frank Peretti scare theme. I was hanging a spider web and stepped off a chair and missed my footing- BAMB landed on my back. And I have never been the same. My spine specialist told me I have Spondylolisthesis that my past has compounded to create. Translation: the condition in which one vertebral body is slipped forward over another = yes, that would be my L4 and L5.
So my love/hate relation with Physical Therapy started trying to strengthen my back and core. After many years of this and countless times crying from the pain, I asked my spine specialist if I could just have surgery and get past this! He pats me on the head and informs me that he will not encourage surgery at this time in my life and tells me I need to accept that I am disabled. Definition of Disabled: having a physical or mental disability: unable to perform one or more natural activities because of illness, injury, etc.
It was a very dark day for me to hear this and come to terms with it. I have always been a very active person and now I had to change. I cried. It is very difficult to make such a life change, one that I have fought with everyday since.
3.5 years ago my hubby and I moved to California for his work. I could barely make it from the car to the front door without pain. I had written off most things to do and had a hard time finding fun things that I could do. I am not one that likes to complain about the pain, I push through the pain knowing I need to live my life and not have it control me.
During the first year here in California my hubby met a Chiropractor in the local area and wanted to introduce me to them. I had stopped going to Chiropractors because I would hurt worse after the visit than before, and it took a good week to get back to “my” Normal. But I honored my hubby and went to meet this Chiropractor. I did inform them that I was not interested and why. Dr. Catherine convinced me to come and see what they are all about and that they do things differently. It was intriguing that they followed the http://maximizedliving.com philosophy. I had knowledge of Dr. Lerner back in the days when a group of us all got into “Fit for Life” Book. After seeing the place and learning more we decided to give it a try.
Both Dr Tim and Dr Catharine worked with me, along with teaching me more about healthy foods and how my body responds to it. They hooked me up with exercises to do at home every day. At first it just felt good. Then I started seeing my xrays and how my L4 and L5 where moving back together!!!! I was starting to move again. I walked a mile with some pain and after a while that got better too. Then 4 miles. Yes, I still have days when I have pain, but I actually have days of no pain.
A few months ago I met a group at a local store front called Thrive.
https://www.facebook.com/thriverocklin/?fref=ts
They are Herbalife distributors / health coaches / nutrition leaders / cheerleaders. I joined their fit club and I am learning even more about food and when to eat! I am exercising aggressively and my body is responding. Down 7 lbs and 4 inches. LIFE is getting better!
Why have a written all this? These two awesome groups of people are dream givers and I have a dream . . . it all started in the mud . . . I am going to conquer this in the mud!
That is … as a Tough Mudder Half