Okay, I guess this won’t be my “official” journey, but it will be about me and what’s going on in my life. As I read through the “journeys” posted here, I should have started a long time ago (with the beginning of my road to competition, but I will add that in here somewhere.)
A little about me…. I have always been an athlete, always involved in some sort of activity, whether it be in volleyball, softball, basketball, etc… I never really thought that at some point in my life the activity would end, until my surgeries…
As far back as I can remember I have had back issues… My father had “slipped” discs and had to see a chiropractor all the time. My mom and sister had 2 back surgeries a piece. I thought maybe it was “heredity” that doomed me…lol
I was going through my divorce when he got hit with a HUGE snow storm. Living on my own and not having someone there to dig me out for work, I had to do it myself. After shoveling for about 45 minutes, I was out, but the ball of my right foot was numb… That was on a Wednesday, my mother insisted that I go to the doctor, but I told her that I had no PAIN, I’d be fine. Thursday night was my co-ed volleyball night, so I went to play. I took a couple of my high school players and went to the Y to play. Of course, my ego stepped in and I wouldn’t let them get the best of me, so I played my heart out…lol The next morning , I woke up and I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t stand up straight and the pain was unbearable.
I went to the ER and they gave me meds and sent me on my way with an appt for an MRI. I went, had my appt with a neuro in town and they wanted to do surgery. He had just done the SAME surgery on my sister and she went from a cane, to a walker, to a wheelchair and there was NO WAY I was letting him touch me. He told me, in a year, you’ll be back…
It was about 8 months later (December 2003), I had locked my keys in my car and had to get into my house. I climbed through my window, one hand on my desk, the other on my health rider and slithered through the window. Evidently that wasn’t the best for my back…lol A week later I have the MOST AWFUL pain in my leg. I couldn’t stand up, walk, sit, lie down… NOTHING would relieve the pain. I ended up at the ER, MRI, and Neuro appt. I chose a Neuro at Cleveland Clinic this time (my boyfriend / hubby now suggested that I not piss around with the docs in my area….) He saw me on Thursday, I had a herniation at L5-S1, he did surgery the following Monday.
I had no physical therapy that time, wasn’t allowed to lift ANYTHING over a gallon of milk for MONTHS… I had put on a ton of weight because you know, hey, if you can’t workout, what’s the sense in eating properly??? MY FAULT…
Fast forward….
I started back to the gym in February 2006… I started heavier that I should have, but I thought I was okay. I had NO weight on the leg press at first. Four weeks later, I had worked up to 50 pounds on the press. I got off the press and stretched. As I did I felt a POP in my lower back… Again, no pain, but a pop. Weird. Six days later, I had a pain go down my leg and it took me to the floor, I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS…. I went to the doctor and they laid me up in the hospital for 6 days. Shot up every 4 hours with pain medication, no calls to my neuro, and an EMG to see if there was nerve damage... Yep, after being laid up almost a week with no response, I had nerve damage. I asked if I could call my Neuro, they told that I could, I did and they wanted me in the CC ER now. I went the next morning and scheduled my surgery the following week (March 06 on L4-L5).
I mentioned that I have nerve damage… My Neuro said that when he went in this time that the nerve was purple and pretty beat up. Yep, definite nerve damage, definite size difference in the legs, and definite weakness in the right leg, and I get the MOST AWFUL leg cramps in the right leg. I tend to roll the right ankle quite a bit, so my shoe selection is VERY limited, high heels are out, dammit… EXCEPT for my competition heels which are 4 inches…lol
Fast forward …. I went BACK to the gym in January 2007. I was 181.5 pounds (not my HIGHEST, but where I started.) At that point EVERYTHING was back-supported and literally NO weight on ANYTHING… Talk about FRUSTRATING… But it needed to be that way… I didn’t do that the last time… Leg press, squats, most deadlifts, are out… I REALLY MISS THE LEG PRESS , by the way…lol I really have to watch my form and remember “Hey dummy, you have had a couple back surgeries, you don’t want MORE do you???”…
I have always wanted to compete (since 1992) but I have let others get in the way of that. You know, the boyfriends that are SO INSECURE that they don’t think that their woman should lift weights, LET ALONE, be in a gym with others that enjoy staying healthy??? I guess I chose the insecure ones that wanted to keep me fat…. Silly, silly girl… Anyway, I am a whole new girl now…lol
Fast forward…. I have decided to do a figure competition on April 26, 2008. I don’t plan on beating the world, believe me, it’s just a personal goal of mine to compete. I have dropped 42 pounds, so far, revamped my body and I want to see where I can take it. We’ve laid some groundwork, will take the judge’s critiques and take the summer to work on what needs work and IF I compete again, I will shoot for The House’s Mid Atlantic Grand Prix.
If you are STILL reading this, thanks for your interest… I RAMBLE, I warn you… If you have met me, you know already…lol I am sure MOST of what I write will be personal crap going on with me, but I will try to get my workouts in here, my feelings on them, and I am sure I’ll be bitching about anything and everything sooner or later…lol
Feel free to comment, see how my day is, and/or keep me accountable… That’s what this is here for, I guess…
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Originally Posted by ThirdEye
