9

Thursday, September 29, 2011

yup thats right....i walked 9 loops today at the park. First time ever being able to go past 8 loops.......still have to sit alot but I made progress today!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

PEPPERLEAH 9/29/2011 9:25PM

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NEWINSIDEOUT 9/29/2011 4:50PM

WooHoo! Great how sometimes that breakthrough is just around the corner when things seem the darkest. Report Inappropriate Comment

I long to bench the pain

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

As much as I love the look of park benches and the comfort of park benches and even the rustic touch they give to parks; i long for the day when i do not have to walk where there are park benches. Being tied to a location solely based on the fact there are many options to sit so close together is not something to be proud of. In that 1/8 mile loop there are 10 benches to choose to sit on so i am never far from a seat when i can no longer tolerate the back pain. I have been walking 4 days a week for almost 6 weeks now and I still can not go farther than 1/4 mile before i have to sit. I needed to be walking 12 loops this week to stay on track for my 5K walking training program to be at the 25 loops by the end of October. I can still only walk 8 loops at the most. Monday i was only able to walk 4 and Wednesday(today) I was only able to walk 5. This brings tears to my eyes.

I ask God...."when will my back pain stop interfering with my life?" And God stays silent. His silence does not make me angry because i know i did this to myself and it was not Gods doing. I am suffering the consequence of damaging my temple with this extra weight since i was about 20 years old......thats 25 years of physical abuse my body has taken carrying around extra weight. The lowest I have ever weighed since i was 20 years old was 250 lbs.

It is amazing how different pain can effect our abilities. When I had chronic heal pain in my feet i could still walk long distances and deal with that pain. It never forced me to HAVE to sit. When i dealt with chronic right hip pain I was still able to walk for long periods of time in excruciating pain and that did not even force me to HAVE to sit......same with my left knee pain that has finally resolved itself. BUT this back pain is something I just cant seem to work through and keep going. It literally debilitates me. My right thigh goes 100% numb if I push it, the pain slows my walking gait to a crawl and brings tears to my eyes. It causes me to breath fast and shallow and i try to go just a few steps farther to the next bench. It dictates my workouts and I am sick of it!

I tried the back support brace that did not help much at all. It actually caused more issues than just back pain to deal with. I ended up with a bad heat rash on my stomach from it, my stretch marks got very irritated where the brace sat, it was painful to sit in it, I pulled a muscle in my right shoulder the last time I put it on trying to fasten it closed. So i have benched the brace for right now.

If you made it to the end of this blog I thank you for reading all of it especially since it was not a very upbeat blog this time. Tomorrow is a new day. I will not be giving up despite the pain so you dont have to worry about that. Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. It is what keeps me going!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

PEPPERLEAH 9/29/2011 9:30PM

Teresa, you've come so far, and you can do this. You are going to cross the finish line; your goal. I KNOW you will. Your determination has brought you this far, and I know you are not a quitter. I wish there was a simple rule of thumb for how long it takes for things to "get better", but there just isn't. The one thing I CAN tell you is that it does get easier, and there will be a day when you suddenly discover you have conquered those laps in less time, with minimal or no pain, and in less time. It just happens. And you will get there. I applaud your efforts and congratulate you on your success this far. Yes, your success. You see, you ARE doing it! Report Inappropriate Comment

NEWINSIDEOUT 9/29/2011 4:49PM

I'm so sorry! I had hoped that the brace would be a good option for you. Have you been seeing a chiropractor? I recommend finding one that uses NUCCA as their form of practice. It straightens the spine without a lot of "cracking" and the body "re-learns" how to be straight. Here is a website to find one: http://www.nucca.org/find_d octor.php What has your diet plan been? It would be great to have some weight come off... I'm sure that would help the pain as well. Although it has to be a healthy diet. I had a teacher in high school who was morbidly obese (only in his 50s) He wanted to get knee surgery and they told him he had to lose weight and he did some sort of crash diet... I want to say he overdid water pills, and his kidneys failed! He had to go on dialysis and only lived a few more years after that. :( so sad! Report Inappropriate Comment

JOYATLAST 9/29/2011 2:03PM

I am always amazed by the courage and tenacity of a person who excercises through pain and hardship. There is a handicapped guy at my gym who can barely move by himself and yet I know he is there working out on the days I choose to sit at home doing nothing which is a lot lately. I salute you and all others like you who keep moving forward no matter what. God sees and He will continue to help you. Report Inappropriate Comment

AKCHELLE 9/29/2011 5:44AM

I am also doing the 5k challenge, but not in the four weeks that is planned out. You can repeat weeks as needed to build up endurance at a slower pace. Talk to your doctor or maybe go see an O.D. instead of an M.D. Take care. It took years to put on and it's a journey to take off. Good Luck. Report Inappropriate Comment

REDSHOES2011 9/28/2011 11:26PM

I know how you feel, I suffered a serious spinal injury and packed on the weight, my 5"3" frame didn't do the extra kgs so well.. Keep working on your nutrition and as the weight comes off you may experience a little less pain.. I used to chew 1200mgs omg+ painkillers daily and had to sit down too on the way to the shops to purchase food for my kids efter my husbands death.. I had to loss half my body weight to make the pain go away, funny thing is if I try to leg press my previous weight the pain is there instantly- the damage I did to my joints isn't gone- my booty is just carrying less weight to make the injuries protest.. xx Red Report Inappropriate Comment

My Friday

Friday, September 23, 2011

Good evening. I have had a good day today. Went for my morning walk with mom and was able to do 8 loops today. I did not meet my goal of 10 loops this week so there is next week to shoot for that goal. Adjusting to my new back support brace was more painful that I had anticipated it to be LOL. The positive was my usual regular lower right back pain went away but the negatives outweighed the positives this week. The brace did cause some lower left back pain and both hips muscles were not liking the back being realigned LOL I rubbed hot spots on my belly from wearing the back brace against my skin and with the sweating and friction I caused some sores. So that resulted in me having to wear an tank top under the brace then my t-shirt to that added to my clothing layers making me even more hot and sweating even more and today when i took off my back brace and tank top i have a slight heat rash now that itches like crazy LOL......who knew a back support could do so much LOL LOL. So it is a 2 day rest break for wearing the brace as i can not wear it at work as i have to bend over way too much to do my job and the brace is not designed to let me bend over and I cant squat due to my bad knees. But my poor skin needs a break anyway LOL I am looking forward to walking when it is like 40 and 50 degrees out now that I have to wear 2 shirts LOL.



It got up to 88 degrees today so after my walk and a quick trip to the grocery store i came back home to my AC and did laundry, read emails, watched some tv shows, now watching Mariners baseball and will go cook my dinner as soon as i send this off. Sunday is susposed to be rain and 69 yaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!! After baseball is over will go to bed and read for a while then up to my 630am alarm to go to work saturday morning.



Have a great weekend!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WILDFIREKRISTIN 9/24/2011 3:29AM

I am really glad you had a good day and I am also glad to see you are getting stronger and hope that soon you will be super strong and feel much, much better! Report Inappropriate Comment

PEPPERLEAH 9/23/2011 9:24PM

So sorry you are running into obstacles. But I pray you will be feeling better and stronger every day. You are going to win! Report Inappropriate Comment

WOW what a day LOL

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

WOW what a day LOL

I woke up with a bad charlie horse spasm in my right lower back that took my breath away and almost made it impossible to even get out of bed. I managed to finally get to a sitting position with my legs over the side of the bed. But everytime I tryed to bend one of my legs up onto the matress again so i could put a sock on it hurt like _______. I finally got my socks on, then my underware and pants to my knees all while sitting on the bed. I looked at my back brace and wondered how in the world i was going to get that on when it hurt to lift my arms up or do any twisting movement and leaning forward was the worst. I was going to put it behind me and lay back to fasten that thing but with the back spasm I knew that option was 100% out as i would never get back to a sitting position once the brace was on LOL LOL so off to plan a plan B LOL I decided to skirt the breace around me to get it behind me and then I slowly slid off the matress till my feet hit the floor(i have a high bed so i have to slide off of it LOL) then I stood and got the main velcro fastened........that reactaved my spasm all over again so it was a rest before attempting the toughest part of my brace fastener(the long belt like strip that has to go through a plastic eye then pulled tight and fastened in the front). It is the hardest part because the plastic eye is on the end of a loose dangeling material that is maybe 2 inches long and I can not hold it with my right hand and still have my left hand reach it at all to put it through the eye. I cant twist this morning due to the spasm LOL so here I am with the long end of the belt thingie in my left hand trying to slide it through the eye thingie as i chace it wround my right side.........15 mins later it is threaded through and breace is now on tight and secure LOL........now i pull my pants up and put my shirt on and gingerly walk to the front room to sit and rest and let the sweat drip dry on me LOL

The brace does help the spasm pain after a while and I decide to NOT call mom up and cancel so at 10am I walk out the door and try to get in my truck with the back brace on.......that is tough when it is designed to not let you bend at the waist LOL I get in and off I go......i pick up mom and she looks at me and says....."your frowning" I just said..."oh i did not know that" Sitting in the brace behind the wheel is very uncomfortable to say the least LOL.

We get to the park and begin our walk. I was able to walk 3 loops before I needed to sit down!!!!! Then after that it was a loop and a half before sitting again and I was only able to walk 8 of the 10 planned loops. So it helped for the start of the walk but after the 3rd loop i was in pain again......and my pain has moved when walking with wearing the brace. It was just the lower right back before the brace.......today it was lower left back and both hip were screaming at me so it had put me back in alignment and my body was protesting LOL

By loop 4 the skin on my tummy felt like it was on fire but i said nothing as I did not want to get into any discussions about my pain, the brace etc with mom......that is a long story in and of itself......short version....i avoid health, body, pain discussions with her if I can avoid it. She means well with her suggestions and advice but she tries to hard to FIX my problem instead of just listening to me and respecting the fact I know my body and I know what I am talking about.

When i got home I took the brace off and i had rubbed hot spots from the sweat and friction on a few areas so i now have to wear a tank top then put my brace on then put my t-shirt on so now i will sweat even more wearing 2 shirts LOL

I then watched some TV while reading emails.....took a break for dinner and logged off the computer.

I turned on the baseball game at 5pm and decided to finish up my emails and my computer said it could not find my wireless device.....I was like WHAT!!!!! it was there and working 30 mins ago LOL. I spent the next 2 hours trouble shooting why my connection manager was telling me I had never choosen a wireless server(I had one 30 mins prior LOL....Verizon LOL) so after 2 hours of internal searching, trouble shooting, restoring my system to where it was prior to the driver update(no I am not a computer techie geek LOL) I just kept going where the pops up told me to try next LOL, restarting my computer 4 times, then finally shutting it off totally for about 5 mins as i discuss the issue with God and begged Him to get my connector to connect to my Verizon wireless. I turned the computer back on praying the entire time and WOOHOO it said i had a wireless server and could connect LOL.......first thing I did was a full system virus scan.......all was ok and here I am trying this out finally. I began this journey to talk about my day at 5pm and it is now 8:15pm and I am finally typing away LOL

I am mentally exhausted now but I am still smiling!!!!!!!! Oh and the mariners won the ball game!!!!!!! Goodnight.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

WILDFIREKRISTIN 9/23/2011 12:43PM

Oh my goodness dear, what a day indeed. Even through all of this your attitude remained beautiful and that sure helps you get through days like these. I am hoping the rest of your week is full of good health and no more back issues..have a blessed weekend! Hugs, K Report Inappropriate Comment

WCATAP 9/23/2011 8:09AM

You keep smiling you are doing a great job with your walking, pain and attitude. :-) Report Inappropriate Comment

FLMOMX2 9/22/2011 5:23PM

Praying for yo to get better. WOW!! Walking in spite of everything. Report Inappropriate Comment

PEPPERLEAH 9/22/2011 11:13AM

Oh Teresa, I hope today will be a much better day for you! Report Inappropriate Comment

JUNEBUGG02 9/22/2011 9:41AM

Reminds me a bit of the children's story, "Alexander and the No Good, Very Bad Day!" Do you know the story? Alexander has a day where nothing goes his way, and with every disappointment he says he wants to move to Australia. Finally, at the end of the day his mother tells him that everyone has bad days -- even in Australia. Yours was an extreme case!!! Amy Report Inappropriate Comment

A 30 day challenge video

Thursday, September 15, 2011

This is a great video!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnfBXjWm7hc

I am going to do this beginning October 1. I have 2 ideas i am bouncing around in my head of what i want my 30 day challenge to be.

I know for sure i will definitely draw something everyday for 30 days. I pray this will help me get past my fear of creating art.

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

PEPPERLEAH 9/16/2011 10:07PM

I like that idea! I am going to give it some thought, and see what I can come up with, as well! Report Inappropriate Comment