Oh how awesome it feels to have a day without negative craziness! Busted out my morning wake up as usual. It amazes me how much more challenging that has gotten through these first few days of regular workout sessions. Luckily, I am more than up to the challenge!
At work I hopped on the scale that I have been using to keep an eye on my weight. Weight loss isn't my #1 goal, but it helps the back and increases the ole self esteem. After just 3 days of regular workouts and dramatically reducing my soda intake I'm already down 7 pounds! I know I should cut the soda completely, but if I'm not allowed to have it I want it more! So I've gone from drinking truthfully over 100 ounces of soda a day to maybe 1 or 2 20 ounce bottles and a whole lot of Propel flavored water! I've been hovering in the 270s-280s for years, and today the scale rewarded me with 261! Two pounds away from cracking the 250s! I don't think I've seen those numbers since I graduated high school over 10 years ago! I realize 7 pounds isn't much, but the 7 pounds just feels like the ice in the water! An added benefit! The best part about this journey (and truthfully I've done sessions off and on since the beginning of the year, but this is my get serious everyday push) is the results I can FEEL!
Back in '05 I had a severely herniated disk that after nearly a year of PT, 7 cortizone injections, and countless types of prescription pain pills I finally threw in the towel and allowed the doc to cut me open. I believe the official name was a laminectomy/discectomy at my L5/S1 (that might not be right, it was my low back). Doc said he had to scoop out a whole lot of the disc and I would most likely be facing a full blown fusion in my later years due to the amount he had to remove and an additional herniation above the one he fixed. Oh and while he was in there he noticed a small pin hole in my spinal cord, presumably from one of the injections. So he used "bioglue" to fix it up. Surgery was around 7pm, discharge around 11am the next day. Fast forward to three weeks later and I have a large ball of fluid at the top of my incision. Fluid starts leaking, I go to ER....hey, you're leaking spinal fluid. I'll never forget, that was the Saturday that Penn State lost to Michigan in the final seconds of the 4th quarter and blew their undefeated season (die hard PSU fans at Mink Manor. WE ARE!). Anyway, I had to stay in hospital until they could operate again on Monday. Monday morning they went in, stitched up my spinal cord, and "double" stitched my back up "like a baseball" I'll never forget that odd explanation, or the questions of "can you feel your legs?" when I finally came too. This time I was in the hospital for 3 days after the surgery.
After "recovering" from the two surgeries it wasn't long before I was back at the doctor with uncontrollable pain shooting down my leg and that pins and needle numbness again. Doc says, looks like you are part of the 20% of failed back surgeries... WHAT?! Back to the pain pills....well that lasted for a few months before my tolerance to the various prescription meds continued to build and the pain continued to be unbearable. I couldn't take it anymore. The meds were making me, a red head, even more short tempered than I already was. I was snapping at the dumbest stuff and felt like a prisoner in my own body. I reengaged with the docs and said I needed off the pills. It wasn't fun. It wasn't easy. The pain and numbness came back, I was back in the surgeon's office and told I will need a fusion, rod, and screws. NNNNOOOOOOOOO! I'm still in my 20's (at that point). Can we try one of those injections again? Please? Luckily we tried and it relieved the pain enough that I could tolerate it, and never went back to the doctor. Now I was determined to find my own path to being pain free, or at least not being slave to my pain.
It took awhile of willing myself through the discomfort, half-hearted attempts at weight loss, and way more bottles of ibuprofen than I wish to remember. I finally came across Arthur's video as I was researching what I could do to improve my back. The more I looked into the YRG program the more I knew this was the answer. Now it was figuring out a way to do the exercises while navigating the day to day mine field of my back/leg pain. I spun my wheels for a few months, but when I was able to do the workouts I could feel small improvements.
Gone is the cane I sometimes needed to lean on/walk with in my mid 20's! Gone is the hunch and heavy limp that was setting in! Gone is the cramp that never seemed to leave my left calf and would wake me in the middle of so many nights! Gone is the constant state of discomfort! Gone is my despair of never experiencing a day without chronic pain! I'm starting to feel like my old happy go lucky (but still red headed so watch out) self! Back then I was probably floating in the upper 280s lower 290s so about 30 pounds, 7 years, and a whole lot of sweat equity later....I'm managing my pain and more, I'm owning my life!!!
Anyone I hear talking about aches and pains I recommend this program. Anyone looking to make a positive change in their life, I recommend this program! If anyone is on the fence, I urge you to give it a shot! Swallow the stigma you may have surrounding yoga. Own and take enjoyment out of falling all over your living room. Swear, grunt, scream, laugh while DDP challenges you and pushes your limits everyday! Make the workouts your own! Mike and I always joke when we finally are able to meet DDP, we don't know if we will want to hug him or hit him (reach a little higher, stretch a little further) lol!
Sorry for the long rambling post this eve. I've been known to get a bit chatty when I am in a great mood! Sadly Mikey had to jet out to a gig before he was able to add his two cents. Wait a minute....he's not here to post a response to my post.....Did I mention how he just sat there eating chips, candy bars, and drinking a gigantic soda that I swear I saw him put extra sugar in while I was sweating my way through fat burner today?
I tease, I joke, I kid! My big brother is an awesome workout partner! Even though he does a workout with his girlfriend he pushes it and will still sweat it out beside me in the evenings. Who better to hold you accountable than someone that has journeyed to hell and back and hell and back and hell and back and hell and back again with you?! Besides, if I didn't tell the truth about Mikey working out beside me I couldn't take my daily enjoyment out of proudly proclaiming I pushed him over during the broken table and almost pulled him off balance while hulking it out of a diamond cutter as he tried to throw me off! Little brother power!!!
Don't forget to do your DDP tomorrow! I know I won't.....BANG!!!!
Max Mink
No comments:
Post a Comment