In her first blog entry, Ashley describes the nightmare of surgery in her 20’s and her goal now that she’s cast-free and 30!
Writhing on the ground in Garmisch-Partenkirchen after slipping on ice, I was only worried about getting up. And, QUICKLY!! You know, before people started to stare. Little did I know that that one act of falling lo so many years ago would start me on a spiral that brought me here….and eventually to yoga.
When I was 22, I was doing my student teaching in Heidelberg, Germany. A great benefit of student teaching abroad was the travel opportunities. It was a long weekend, and I went with my roommate to visit the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics. After falling and hurting my left ankle/heel on the slippery mix that blankets Germany in the winter months, I took it a bit easy, but still managed to walk a few miles daily and even participate in a 15+ kilometer bike ride to celebrate the coming of Spring with my local pals.
The summer after coming back home to Norfolk, VA I found that my foot problems subsided. I guess graduating college and trying to find my first “big girl” job were more overwhelming that any residual Achilles pain, but I soon found that I couldn’t climb steps. It was then, in my very early 20s, that I was diagnosed with two completely ruptured discs in my back. To solve the problem, I was forced to have a series of painful steroid injections, hours of physical therapy and numerous doctors appointments before settling on spinal fusion. I was bummed to have to give up two months on my first, real teaching job. I was frustrated to move back home temporarily to recover. And, I was really sad that I would have to give up my biking and swimming routines that I had grown accustomed to.
I thought my recovery would be tedious, but in no way would I ever imagine it would have been THIS tedious. After my back healed and I was “cleared” to return to work, I started having foot pains again. Here and there, twinges of pain that would last a few days, then a few weeks, then lay dormant for a number of months. Needless to say, it was clear that something was wrong, but what 20-something year old who just went through back surgery wanted to visit a doctor for a possible new problem?
Clearly, I let physical activity take a back seat in my 20s. After wrapping up my back issues, I had my first foot surgery for heel spurs at 26 after a year and a half of misdiagnoses, then another go around at a similar surgery—this time with a tendon transfer!–with a new doctor a couple of years later. As I am a newly-minted 30 year old, I have made it a point to put my health first. Part one of this “me first” plan was to find new shoes. I can honestly say that after a long day in the classroom, the last thing I could think of was doing ANYTHING at home that required movement. Simply getting up to use the restroom or make dinner was a pathetic sight of me limping stiff-legged across a room. My husband, in a stroke of sheer genius, thought to ask his hairdresser about shoe recommendations. After doing some research on the brands she mentioned and beyond, I can now happily say that I exclusively own supportive, orthotic-conscious shoes! Jealous??
While I am not running a marathon any time soon, I now have hope. I used to cry myself to sleep in terrible pain. Now, I am pain free. I used to fear that I would never again find physical activities to do with my back and foot issues. Now, I am happily in yoga working my way towards bigger and better fitness goals.
What are those goals? I guess you’ll have to keep checking back to find out!!