Bio
Hello, I am trying very hard to stay strong and finish this challenge. I am 57 years old. I have a Bachelors degree in Physical Education and a Masters degree in Health Education. I should know what I am doing. But, I need motivation and accountability! So I think this is it.
My husband and I adopted 3 siblings of a meth addict birth mom. Unfortunately, they came with lots of baggage. Raising them has taken a toll on both of us. I was seeing a personal trainer and working out regularly when we got them 10 years ago. That quickly stopped as they were more time consuming than expected. I had trained to swim part way around Key West, about 5 miles, a year before adopting them. So I was in pretty good shape. However, I have always been bigger than desired.
Not only did my excersing go away, my body started giving out. I had a hysterectomy and about 2 months after that my back started going out. I was diagnosed with spondylolesthesis. A spine condition where the entire vertebrae slips forward pressing on nerves. The pain is incredible. I continued to teach PE that year. I transfered to a classroom the following year. That didn't help so I had surgery that summer. I was fused from L4 to S1. You can't believe how that affects you. My flexion was limited and my core strength was totally gone. They went in through my abs and my back. I tried to work out and gain strength but it just wasn't happening. I went to a pilates studio for quite awhile and saw little improvement. I kept on teaching PE at this time. By the end of the day I was so wiped out I was unable to function at home and the pain was so bad I was distracted at school. By Feb. of 2007 I went on disability from the school. In Nov. '07 my back started hurting again. I had exrays and nerve testing on my leg and found I had developed nerve damage in my left leg. I had not contacted my surgeon as of yet. However, he received copies of my tests and called me in. I had surgery within a few days. I had another level added to my fusion. So now I am fused from L3-S1. Even more loss of flexibility. But the fun thing was about a month later I was in the worst pain ever. By the time the doctor would see me I had the worst case of Staph infection in my spine. I was lucky I didn't die. I had to go back into surgery to have the old hardware removed, new hardware inserted and all the staph cleaned out. I was so sick. I was on an antibiotic pic line for 8 weeks. It was such a pain. It was much harder to recover from this surgery. I tried PT and swimming and whatever I could do. I just got heavier and more out of shape than ever. Shortly after this we moved from Nebraska to Montana. I am still plugging along trying to do the best I can. It just didn't seem anything was helping. By summer 2010 I was having awful back pain again. I thought I had strained it or something. But after some blood work and an MRI I was again diagnosed with staph on my spine. So after sucking 200 cc of puss out of my back and two more surgeries, 10 weeks of IV antibiotics and weeks of drains in my back I was back on my feet. Or at least not sick!
Now I have become the biggest and most lazy couch potatoe on the earth. I have gone from a very active athlete and PE teacher to a tub of lard. I have decided I need to get over it and get my life back. So here I go. I am determined to get as healthy as I can. I think this is really going to help as I can share with others in the same boat. I wish everyone good luck on their journey! I woulod love to have friends to chat with and encourage!
My husband and I adopted 3 siblings of a meth addict birth mom. Unfortunately, they came with lots of baggage. Raising them has taken a toll on both of us. I was seeing a personal trainer and working out regularly when we got them 10 years ago. That quickly stopped as they were more time consuming than expected. I had trained to swim part way around Key West, about 5 miles, a year before adopting them. So I was in pretty good shape. However, I have always been bigger than desired.
Not only did my excersing go away, my body started giving out. I had a hysterectomy and about 2 months after that my back started going out. I was diagnosed with spondylolesthesis. A spine condition where the entire vertebrae slips forward pressing on nerves. The pain is incredible. I continued to teach PE that year. I transfered to a classroom the following year. That didn't help so I had surgery that summer. I was fused from L4 to S1. You can't believe how that affects you. My flexion was limited and my core strength was totally gone. They went in through my abs and my back. I tried to work out and gain strength but it just wasn't happening. I went to a pilates studio for quite awhile and saw little improvement. I kept on teaching PE at this time. By the end of the day I was so wiped out I was unable to function at home and the pain was so bad I was distracted at school. By Feb. of 2007 I went on disability from the school. In Nov. '07 my back started hurting again. I had exrays and nerve testing on my leg and found I had developed nerve damage in my left leg. I had not contacted my surgeon as of yet. However, he received copies of my tests and called me in. I had surgery within a few days. I had another level added to my fusion. So now I am fused from L3-S1. Even more loss of flexibility. But the fun thing was about a month later I was in the worst pain ever. By the time the doctor would see me I had the worst case of Staph infection in my spine. I was lucky I didn't die. I had to go back into surgery to have the old hardware removed, new hardware inserted and all the staph cleaned out. I was so sick. I was on an antibiotic pic line for 8 weeks. It was such a pain. It was much harder to recover from this surgery. I tried PT and swimming and whatever I could do. I just got heavier and more out of shape than ever. Shortly after this we moved from Nebraska to Montana. I am still plugging along trying to do the best I can. It just didn't seem anything was helping. By summer 2010 I was having awful back pain again. I thought I had strained it or something. But after some blood work and an MRI I was again diagnosed with staph on my spine. So after sucking 200 cc of puss out of my back and two more surgeries, 10 weeks of IV antibiotics and weeks of drains in my back I was back on my feet. Or at least not sick!
Now I have become the biggest and most lazy couch potatoe on the earth. I have gone from a very active athlete and PE teacher to a tub of lard. I have decided I need to get over it and get my life back. So here I go. I am determined to get as healthy as I can. I think this is really going to help as I can share with others in the same boat. I wish everyone good luck on their journey! I woulod love to have friends to chat with and encourage!
