I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the past few weeks about how participating in the Half-Year Resolution has changed my life. (My cold is gone now & I’m feeling good.)  Over-all I have a much greater amount energy & stamina, & I don’t have that fuzzy-headed thinking very often now.  I’m still having back pain, but it’s no longer a constant, crippling pain that saps my energy & keeps me completely sedentary, unwilling to get up & walk more than absolutely needed.  And I’ve lost a total of 20 pounds now, so that helps my energy levels as well.  I’m able to do more aerobic exercise now–no feelings of imminent black-outs– & can use the bike or the walking poles for half an hour now.  (I still need to warm up carefully, & pace myself so I don’t exhaust myself in the first 10 minutes, but I’m definitely improving!)  But I think the most profound changes have been in my lifestyle–for the better.

For the first time in my life I really understand, on a gut level, how my choice of food, my stress-management, & my activity levels have a very real & profound effect on my health. I truly can’t remember ever feeling this good in my adult life, and I like it!!  This is the motivation that keeps me on track when I really don’t want to cook a healthy dinner or take time to exercise (or think to stop & drink a cup of tea outside while I watch the birds).  It’s still very much a process where I have my initial (not-healthy) reaction, then stop myself to re-evaluate, & then I’ll make the healthy choice.  I still slip-up, but I’m getting better & hopefully the healthy response will be automatic in another month or two.

The really big thing though, is I’ve found out so much more about what’s going on inside my body & why I’ve been having the problems with exhaustion, stress, having the pain & fatigue of fibromyalgia–the whole gamut of symptoms that were tormenting me & preventing me from living my life as I want to. Dr. Hedayat did the Biology of Function tests on me & the  results were (to me) stunning. As he told me the results of my lab tests, it all made such perfect sense!  I’ve struggled since I can remember with feelings of low energy, so I eat lots of sugar (whether candy or fruit juice) & caffeine.   Then I get really amped up & can get a lot done, but I have to keep the caffeine & sugar/simple carbs coming.  When I stop, I crash & it takes hours (or days)  for me to feel better.  What used to be just a regular part of life when I was in my teens & early 20′s had now become a downward spiral where I was having such intense  exhaustion, at times I would practically black out for hours & sleep.

Dr. Hedayat told me my tests showed my thyroid is under-performing (even though I test withing the range of what is normal for most people).  And because of the low thyroid output,  my adrenal glands work over-time to fill in the energy gap.  That’s why I can rev myself up so high–I’m running on pure adrenalin!  No wonder I crash so hard–when my adrenal glands are exhausted & stop making adrenalin, then I’ve exhausted my main (remaining) energy source & it takes my body increasingly longer times to recover.

Years & years & years of pain, insomnia, & physical & psychological stresses have kept my body running on adrenalin & other ‘fight or flight’ hormones (glucocorticoids like cortisol).  Glucocortoids are known to have a negative impact on a wide array of body systems including, among other things, the development & maintenance of neurons (brain cells), & can cause an overactive immune system  This can result in allergies & asthma (I have both) & in a decrease in the body’s ability to fight cancer (they supress important actions in cancer cells).

So it was not much of a surprise when Dr. Hedayat also told me I have an unusually high percentage of abnormal cells in my blood–levels that are considered pre-cancerous. Now, I had pre-cancerous lesions removed from my my cervix in my 20′s, & pre-cancerous lesions removed from my face in my 30′s, so I’m really not all that surprised to find I have these little buggers floating around in my blood cells now, in my early 50s.  (Seems to happen about every 20 years, hmmm . . . )  Fortunately I’m not yet in menopause as that’s a time of high risk for female cancers, but I will have to keep a close eye on this when I do go through that stage of my life.  This is a HUGE wake-up call!  If I wasn’t already motivated to make permanent lifestyle changes, you better believe I am now!

Fortunately, I believe I’m on the right track now. Dr. Hedayat & I will make sure I get regular blood-testing done, long after this Half-Year Resolution Challenge is over. He has put me on additional supplementation to address not only my thyroid & adrenal glands (to heal them &  augment their functioning) but he’s also addressing my immune system– I’ve already been able to reduce my asthma & allergy medication by about one-third over the last three months.   Also, I’m still on the modified-cleanse diet that’s been working so well for me. Targeting these areas will reduce many of the factors that are contributing to the generation of these abnormal cells.

But I also have to get totally serious about my stress-reduction.  Stress activates that fight-or-flight cycle & pumps out the glucocorticoids & I definitely don’t want more of that!!  So I’m learning techniques to calm myself & lower my heart-rate, even when I’m up doing housework or driving.  I’m still fighting to carve out time for yoga & exercise, but I’m winning more often now, especially now that I’ve given these a much-higher priority.  And I’m getting positively fierce about protecting my sleep time & having calm for an hour before bed.

So, I’m just going to have to do my best to balance all the various demands I have on my time & energy–just like I’ve written in the past.  I still struggle on a daily basis, but I think I’m getting better at it–I guess practice makes perfect (or at least a reasonable approximation of it!).  I DO want another 50 years here!! Does that make me selfish?  I don’t think so.  I just want time to enjoy my family, friends, & my life. Being in good health to enjoy these things means I hope to keep my body functioning well enough that it doesn’t break down & cause me to cut my life short, or drastically  impact my quality of life.  I want to grow old, get normal aches & pains, & experience the functional aging of my body in ways I can adapt to & live with, just like (I assume) everyone else does.  I pray that God grants me this grace.

I’ve had energy all week!! AMAZING!! I feel pretty darn good & even have been waking in the morning feeling happy & reasonably well-rested!  (I’m still having some trouble falling asleep, but not more than a couple of hours.)  This is just fantastic!! I do still get tired if I try to do too much without taking a real break, but if I’m conscious of how my body is feeling & respect that I can have a 20 or 30 minute break, & then continue with my day with no huge drop in energy.

Part of this new feeling of health, I believe, is I’m being very conscious of eating my prescribed meals & healthy snacks on more of a schedule–I think I was right in that I really can’t wait to eat until I get hungry because my energy level falls too low & I never really regain it that day.  So the ‘scheduling’ thing seems to be working pretty well.  (And I’ve lost almost 10 pounds!)

Dr. Hedayat ordered the blood panels for my Endobiogenic testing & I have a follow up appointment in 2 weeks so it will be interesting to see what the results show.  I’m very aware that my newly-found feelings of mental clarity, less muscle & joint pain, & greater energy are just beginning, & so are still quite fragile.  I will  have to be quite vigilant of my daily structure & actions–to continue to protect myself from myself –& not delude myself that I’m instantly better & can now go back to my old, destructive habits.  I’m in this for the long haul!!  I want to treat the root causes of my health issues, not merely trim a few symptoms here & there, so I’m very interested in what the test results will show & what my next steps are.

But I think the greatest impact my higher, more consistent energy level is having is on my physical therapy/pain relief conditioning. Now (2-3 days per week) I’m able to ride the stationary bike for 45 minutes, throw in some intense interval training (e.g., 30 seconds as fast as I can possibly go, then 45 seconds slow for rest, 30 sec on/45 sec off for 3  or 4 sets) & still not be dizzy when I finish!! (But of course I’m sweating like crazy!)  I’m finding it easier to do the core-strength building exercises & have begun to do some gentle yoga moves along with my prescribed exercises.  And I’m using some of those specific exercises as pain-relievers when my back hurts so I’m still not popping pain pills!! Sure I still hurt–sometimes quite a lot– but I’m working hard to retrain myself to use the exercises as my first-line of defense.  And you know what?  They’re helping me to have less pain in the long run!  < DUH!! >  I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to find exercises that really work!  (Or to learn to use them as ‘medicine’ instead of just part of physical conditioning.)

My biggest challenge this week has been really painful sciatica.  Dr. Buchel has been giving me really great chiropractic adjustments & Dr. Vanessa (& Dr. Kevin) have been doing lots of mobilization & mucle therapies on my hips & low back–including my favorite, the cold laser!–so between the adjustments & the soft-tissue thaerapies I’ve felt tremendous relief!  (I’m actually sitting here typing & only have a minimal amount of pain instead of it being torture, or not doing computer work at all!)   Dr. Vanessa even had me out this week waling around the block with these crazy walking poles (they’re sort of like cross-country ski poles) that totally kicked my butt, or should I say abs & core body!!  Then I got to ‘play’ (read: sweat!) on the Wii Fit doing soccer, cross-country skiing, hula-hooping (go ahead & laugh–I dare you to do it too!), & yoga.  Normally I would have taken a week to recover but I actually felt more of a normal tiredness & just slept for about 12-1/2 hours that night & felt a good energy in the morning!

I really feel like the co-ordination of the different therapies, diet, & medicines are beginning to show their synergistic effect. And Jonathon has been giving me awesome acupuncture sessions that not only help my sciatica, but even more importantly, have the effect of bringing everything together. No, that’s not a very good description.  More like, confirming the placement of and & ‘comforting’ the newly re-aligned parts of my body–physically, functionally, & mentally.  I feel like the acupuncture helps in re-integrating the disparate parts of my being that have been long divorced,  & in the reconnection of  normal function & communication. Or I can just say it makes me feel terriffic & leave it at that.   ;-D

Yes!!  I’m so happy!

Friday at Renew I had my Physical Therapy & chiropractic, then Jonathon gave me an awesome acupuncture session, after I told of my sciatica & on-going insomnia.  (Not only have I been having trouble falling asleep but when I finally do, I sleep very lightly, not deep enough for REM sleep where we do our dreaming.)   Well, not only did I fall sound asleep on the acupuncture table & start dreaming right then, I had the most wonderful night’s sleep that night!    I just got into bed & fell asleep right away, & I dreamt all night, non-stop. It was like an 12 hour movie marathon in there!  (I’m making up for lost time?)  I felt sooo good when I woke up, very happy & rested.

In fact it felt so comfy & good I decided to take a short nap Saturday afternoon just so I could have more, blissful sleep &  then fell right to sleep again Saturday night!  Oh, I thank you for that Jonathon!

Dr. Kevin sure worked me over in PT on Friday though.  My sciatica is slowly getting better but the muscles across my hips, rump, & outer thighs are still very tight (even causing some bones to be pulled out of alignment, especially my SI joint).   So I had another ‘tenderizing’ session–ooch!  But afterwords I really felt better, even though I was pretty stiff until I stretched & worked out Saturday.  I’m sure glad he’s working the cramps & muscle adhesions out as the sciatica is very painful & really limits what I can do.  (I’m limited to about 10 minutes of sitting or standing, & can lie down only on one side.)  So I can actually say I’m so happy that Dr. Kevin really kicked my butt!

In fact I felt soooo much better between Dr. Buchel’s chiro adjustment, the acupuncture, PT, & a good night’s sleep that I was able to do more on the bike Saturday (40 minutes!!) & do almost all of my exercises!  Boy, it’s amazing what you can do when you’re without much pain, & with a good night’s sleep!

Today I was only a little tired, but the heat sure took everything I had.  Our son had his Cub Scout ‘Box-Car’ Derby & picnic today & even under the shade pavilions it was HOT!!  So I’ve rested most of the afternoon & I’m trying to convince myself that I can get up & do some stretches & light exercise.  I think I’ll go make a power smoothie & do my exercises half an hour after I finish it–that usually helps!

Well, I’m happy to report I’ve had more energy yesterday & today!  I’ve been religious about eating a healthy snack within the first ten minutes I wake up, & that has helped a lot. I must need instant refueling after no food all night because if I don’t snack ASAP I start getting fuzzy-headed & I never really get to full power all day.   Hmmm . . . I wonder what this means?  (Good thing I’ll speak with Dr. Hedayat on Friday.)

Also, I’m still having sciatica, but thankfully not as bad as last week (I could barely walk!).  Every time it begins to flare up I do some of the exercises & stretches that Dr. Vanessa & Dr. Kevin have given me.  I’m very determined to use OTC pain meds only when I must, so I’m referring to my exercise printouts constantly.  I’m finding which ones work best for different kinds of pain, so I should be able to just stop & do whatever I need pretty soon as I’ll have memorized them all!

I’ve read some articles about how certain types of yoga can be very beneficial for fibromyalgia patients so I may try going into some of the basic moves I’m familiar with very slowly to see how my body tolerates them. (But I guess I should probably check with Dr. Vanessa first.)   ;-D

Yesterday I was able to ride my stationary bike (with low resistance) for 30 minutes, so I feel very good about that.  I was pretty tired physically today but not so bad that it interfered with my day–now that’s progress!  Yay! I’ve had to set my timer, but I’ve been eating either a healthy meal or snack about every 2 hours–it’s the only thing that keeps my brain engaged & energy up.

Now to make more progress at night.  For some reason I’ve been having insomnia again. (Pain? Worry? So tired I can’t sleep?  All of the above?  Again, something to speak with Dr. Hedayat about.)   So now I’m off to take a relaxing shower while I sip my Sleepytime tea & do boring-type crosswords until I can’t keep my eyes open. Rah.  :-D

Finally!!  I’m getting my energy back!  I woke up this morning & actually popped out of bed within 1/2-hour, not the 3+ hours of grogginess I’ve been going through before I can drag myself out.

But really, I’ve felt like this week would never end. I can’t believe it’s taken me TWO weeks to recover from that intense cleaning/house arranging marathon!  I hate being this fragile.  But I guess it really shows how run-down I was because even though I’m feeling better than before I began my health journey, I must be mindful that I still have a long way to go to be ‘sturdy’ again.   (Must . . .  pace . . . self . .  . . . . . . . have . . . patience . . . . . . Gah!)

This last week I had extreme sciatica to boot so walking has been full of surprises–I’ll be fine one moment, then I’ll stand for 5 minutes & can barely hobble across the kitchen.  Dr. Vanessa is on vacation so Dr. Kevin & Adam really helped put me back together.  Lots of stretching, plus Adam really worked over all my seized up muscles.  I felt so much better!  (And when I got home I was even better after a hot shower & Tiger’s Balm!)  I guess some of my sleepiness has been due to the pain–it totally wipes me out.

But  today I’m feeling pretty darn good, which is very encouraging.  (Yes!  I need encouraging right now!)  I’ve been very careful to stop, have a healthy snack, & rest whenever I start feeling tired so I’ve been able to go pretty much all day.  Not a lot of heavy work mind you, but the everyday chores I’ve had a hard time tackling.  So, yay me!!

My hubby, MIL (Mother-in-law), & son are coming home tonight from their week-long vacation, so I guess my vacation ends tonight too.    ;-D    Guess I’d better pull my garlic-roasted chicken off the rotisserie, grab my mega-salad & curl up with the DVR before they get home!

Yikes!  All I have to report is: sleeping! Since my last post I’ve managed to sleep through most of each day, especially since I’ve sent my hubby & son on a week-long vacation in the Eastern Sierras.   AAAH, the bliss of a quiet house!  I can sleep as much as I need!  (I guess I must need quite a lot right now as I’m still recovering from all the major stress & over-work last week.)

Today I actually got up before 10:00 (not after 1pm!) & was ready to tackle some over-due paperwork so I worked at the computer this morning & only took a 2 hour nap (not 4+!).  Now it’s time to hit the sack as I do have a long day tomorrow.  Good thing I’ve almost recharged my batteries, I’m going to need it!

Later, . . .  my pillow . . . is  . . . calling . . . < * snore * >

I was so excited to be making progress on Friday (previous post) & then (duh-duh-DUH) I really overworked Saturday, Sunday, & Tuesday—what a mistake! My hubby,  mom,  MIL (mother-in-law) & Uncle-in-Law all came up & we worked to finish off the upstairs ‘renovaton,’ cleanup, & do major reorganization of the 4 upstairs bedrooms.  (Talk about an exhausting game of musical furniture!   Whew! )  It does feel good to finish this seemingly never-ending project but man, I’m still whipped!  Even though I tried so hard to pace myself I had folks calling me all day long from all over the house for help, direction, decisions, blah, blah, blah.

Bottom line:  Now I’ve gone back to the extreme exhaustion, dizziness spells, & muscle fatigue.  I’ve barely had enough energy to follow my food plan (it would be soooo much easier to make an organic PB&J instead of cooking &/or slicing & dicing) but I’m being good, even though it’s very tempting to go back to my old stop-gaps.    And I know that I have to fight myself to take it easy when I’m  recovering! How could I have thought I was being careful?  What was I thinking?? (My pattern has been:  I begin to feel good then–bam!  I don’t have the patience to wait for the real recovery to be complete so I plunge forward, then end up back at square one, or worse.)   This time though, I simply felt guilty that everyone else was working so hard & I thought I looked like a slug whenever I put my feet up for a five or ten minutes.  I really try hard not to let what others think of me drive my behavior, but after a while the big sighs & eye-rolling made it hard to be firm with myself & rest.

Anyway, I am feeling better after lots of rest yesterday & today & I’m looking forward to my appointments tomorrow at Renew Health.  I’m seeing everyone tomorrow, except Tina Mears, so it’ll be a long morning but I know I’ll feel better when I’m done–I always do!

I did feel much better on Monday after Dr. Vanessa worked me over (she even used this new cold laser I’d never seen before to help breakup old adhesions in my muscles & reduce pain).  I did have to really take it easy during my workout though as I felt, literally, like I was an empty shell.  (I did finally get to meet Crystal though!  I knew she’s at Renew also but we’d never connected until then.  She’s so nice & she’s really working hard–just watching her workout kicked my be-hind!)  ;-D

After my body work with Dr. Vanessa & workout with Adam in PT, Dr. Buchel gave another awsome chiropractic adjustment, then I was back to see Dr. Vanessa to get more kiniseo-tape to help put me back together.  I did feel much better after I left on Monday, & I did rest when I got home, but I didn’t rest enough & then it was back to work on Tuesday to finish the house.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Hmmm, let’s see, what have I learned?  Anything???  (Darn, I sure hope so!)

First:  Don’t let others’ expectations, or my presumption of their expectations, goad me into behaviors that I know are unhealthy for me at the time.  I am strong enough in my resolve to guard my health & if some folks don’t understand my situation then I’ll just have to live with their diminished opinion of me.

Second:  I have to watch myself more closely than I thought as I continue to recover my health. I’ve been advised in the past to look at what I think I should be able to do at each stage of physical recovery (after knee surgery, etc) & cut that expectation in half.  Then, cut it in half again.  I guess I’ll have to go back to this mindset when I’m tempted to ‘break out’ on the days when I’m feeling really good.  Even though boring, I know that slow & steady is my best plan for now.  Rats!  ;-D

I’ve become very aware over the last few days that I’m in the habit of reaching for the Aleve & Advil wa-a-ay to quickly!  In the past, whenever I’d start to have severe pain I’d pop some of these OTC meds to help me function.  Trouble is, the pain would always come back when the pills wore off.   < Doh!! (head-slap) >  But I just figured I couldn’t do much about the pain right then so I’d continue to run in coping mode instead of health mode.  This has become an unconscious, knee-jerk response for me over the years & now I must work hard to break this pattern & re-train my brain!

So now I’ve been really careful with any medications while I’m doing this cleansing diet Dr. Hedayat has me on to rest several of my organs & body systems (liver, pancreas, gall bladder, endocrine system).  I figure any medications I use now are inhibiting my healing process, since over-use of medications is a major cause of many of my current health problems, Dr. Hedayat tells me.  So I’ve decided to be very aware of every pill I take & carefully weigh if I truly need it.  Instead of pills, I’ve been trying to put to use all the great things I’m learning at Renew.  EEK!  Must . . . learn . . . new . . . coping skills . . .

I will say that my experiment in pain management has been about 80% successful–80% realization of my habits & the remaining 20%  just plain old hard work on my part to break them.  The exercises I’ve been given have been my mainstay right now. Every time the pain begins to hit the point where before I wouldn’t have been able to relieve it except through pills, now I do some specialized crunches, stretch hamstrings, psoas, & hips, & do some upper-back & neck exercises.  Wow!  I won’t say the pain is gone, but it does ebb back below the critical level–Wahoo!!

It’s so exciting to find I can get actual, meaningful results when using new methods to reduce & manage my pain! I honestly felt I’d be able to reduce my pain somewhat, but the results I’m seeing now are, frankly, about where I thought I’d be in 3 or 4 months–not after 3 weeks on the whole program!!  I’m so astounded I can’t express the full depth of amazement that I feel.  My pain is there, sure.  But it’s less severe on an every day, ongoing basis, & I’m able to manage it more easily.

I guess it’s all starting to gel a little bit: I feel more energy on this cleansing diet & herbal supplements prescribed by Dr. Hedayat; After an acupuncture session with Jonathon I feel more calm, ‘whole’, & healed (for lack of a better description) & I know from past experience this will continue to build over time; The chiropractic adjustments from Dr. Buechel (& Dr. Hummel) are helping to straighten my rotated pelvis & all the other stuff that’s out of alignment in my spine & body; Dr. Vanessa, Adam, & Dr. Kevin are hitting me with awesome exercises, specialized massage to unlock spasmed muscles, lots of joint manipulation & stretching, taping me up like a mummy, & (the best part) teaching me ways of doing the same types of body work at home!!

I’m actually starting to believe that my goals I originally wrote out will all be achieved! I admit it. When I wrote about the restoration of health that I wanted in my life, that I honestly believed was possible for me, I wrote about my absolute, best-case, dream scenario.  (I’ve found throughout my life that if I set my goals high, but not so high as to be completely unrealistic, I can achieve results far beyond the expectations of my pragmatic side.)

But, now that I feel I’m making significant headway towards my goal of health, although I’m just starting on the path, I actually believe it in my very soul that I will achieve all my goals! I have the will, I’m acquiring the tools, and I have a fantastic team that I believe will give me healing.  This is the solid foundation for the permanent life changes I so devoutly want, & desperately need.  And each of these changes takes me closer to my new self, & my new life!!

I really do have to watch what I eat and when I eat it. Today I didn’t eat breakfast until I’d been up for almost two hours working & then only remembered to eat because I was getting foggy minded & shaky.  Then I scarfed 5 walnuts and ate about 2 cups of cherries.  Of course I ran out of energy/brain power in about an hour and a half so I had a few more nuts and a plum.  Again, fuzzy & tired in 1.5 hours.  By now it penetrates that I need some serious protein, not this ‘fast food’ pattern I’ve fallen into again. (see my previous post, Chasing Time.)

So I pry myself away from the computer where I’ve been stuck with bills, business, & other boring stuff & get ready to cook myself a nice veggie omlette.  But just then my 8yr old comes powering into the kitchen & wants to make me a healthy breakfast because he knows I’ve been working hard.  His idea is to make me a power smoothie so he puts non-fat vanilla yogurt, unsweetened cocoa, & a dab of milk into the blender.  I also put in a few teaspoons of fermented soy powder to add some extra protein, and 2 bananas.  Tasted pretty good & I drank about 2 cups, but again no energy in a couple of hours.

This time I’m dizzy, foggy-minded, & exhausted.  My body is really showing me what it likes & when I don’t listen, it whacks me down hard. So I finally sat down & ate three hard-boiled eggs, a giant handful of cherry tomatoes, & small handful of baby carrots.  Sat down in the recliner & took a nap when I was done eating.  Better . . .but still not that good. I managed to get through the rest of the day with some nuts, a banana, & yogurt with blueberries,  plus I’m finishing another ‘super salad’ as I blog (again, see previous post).  Unfortunately by the time I finished cooking the chicken/prepping the veggies, my left leg was so numb I had trouble walking to the computer–standing really gets to me right now.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good meal–honest!!  Just watch me at Thanksgiving, or when I get the baking bug.   But most of my life I’ve thought of food as merely fuel (I’m not a picky eater), or as a reward/energy boost.  I’m so used to trying to ignore back pain that other body signals like hunger are sometimes something I just don’t notice until it gets critical.  (My friends are falling down laughing right now!  I’m known to walk into a store so hungry that I’ll aimlessly walk up & down the aisles like a zombie, almost unable to choose something to eat.  Crazy, huh?)

So I definitely learned (or re-learned) three very important things today:

• Eat proper meals with meat or eggs–yogurt doesn’t do the trick
• Eat breakfast within 1/2 hour of waking
• When I’m so exhausted/fuzzy, I’m not using my muscles to support my back–Ouch!

This time the knowledge is coming to me at a time when I’m putting it into proper context.  I’m really beginning to understand how this pattern of making food a time-waster in my mind has caused me to develop some very unhealthy eating habits–even though the foods I eat are, in and of themselves, generally pretty healthy.  Well, tomorrow is another day!

I had an eye-opening physical therapy session today.   In all the many times I’ve been through PT I’ve never been taped up–on my torso!

Even though my posture is better overall, I was still having major cramping & pain in one muscle on the right side  of my back after my ‘attack of the tummy’ Thursday night.  (Friday & Saturday that muscle was so sore I had to really stretch to get moving.)  So after Dr. Vanessa worked on the muscle until I wanted to cry uncle, she did a novel (to me) therapy–she taped my stomach & lower back.  Weird, but boy does it feel good!!

First she watched me walk, then she carefully & scientifically taped one muscle group at a time, having me walk & move between each application.  When I stood for the last time I was shocked, & so was everyone else!  I have a mild scoliosis (my spine has an S-curve from side-to-side) & after the taping when I looked in the mirror I was straighter than I can ever remember being!!  I couldn’t believe the change, or how good I felt. Thanks Dr. Vanessa!!

When I got home my 8yr old son saw my tape  & laughed, “Ha Ha mom, now you’re a mommy mummy!)  It’s really only two tapes on one side of my abdomen & several down each side of my spine, & across my lower lumbar/sacral area, but who wants to ruin a good joke?