Well folks, it’s been an incredible, life-changing six months!  I just returned from Isis Physical Therapy at Renew and boy, I really had it brought home to me just how much my pain level, energy level, flexibility, and overall health have improved! Dr. Kevin gave me a great PT session this morning  & continued to loosen the muscles in my pelvis, hips, & glutes.  Then Adam totally kicked my be-hind one more time–for 1-1/2 hours!!!

What a difference from the first time I was there & I couldn’t gently pedal the stationary bike for one minute without stopping to put my head down to prevent myself from blacking out! I’m sure glad Dr. Hedayat was able to discover the root causes of  my ‘mystery fatigue’ & help me with this & my fibromyalgia.

I didn’t realize at first how much these health issues were preventing me from exercising–which is a crucial part of pain management for me (with fibromyalgia, three broken lumbar vertebrae, & scoliosis).  It also felt great to see my slimmer, more athletic shape in all those mirrors today!  Feeling great is the best reward but it’s nice to have the little ego-boos along the way too!

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Actually, I think my post from Thanksgiving says it all: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/for-this-i-am-truly-thankful/

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I had no idea when I began this journey how my life would be forever changed by this experience. As I’ve said before, I hope that you take away some tidbits that are helpful to you in your life–hopefully from all of us who were part of this Challenge.

I do hope you’ve found my journey especially inspirational, so I’ll leave you with some early posts when I was struggling with motivation & trying to establish new habits.

May you and your loved ones have a peaceful, prosperous, happy and healthy New Year!

~~Dawn

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My poor health had a major impact on my ability to interact with my family: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/reality-bites/

Beginning my coordinated health plan at Renew: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/yay-progress-d/

My 51st Birthday, and my test results which have profoundly effected my outlook: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/life-the-universe-everything-or-i-want-another-50-years-please/

Setting tough priorities for health & time management: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/workin-it/ http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/yikes-where-does-the-time-go/

Learning to adjust my thinking for healthy living & stress management: http://10newsblogs.com/halfyeardawn/2009/finding-the-one-who-is-not-busy/

No, I didn’t run away or hide under the covers for the past 4 or 5 days–I haven’t stopped running from appointments, to teaching class, to the school field trip (Sea World), to cleaning & beginning to decorate, to birthday parties, to taping my ‘After” video at Channel, to the myriad of ‘mom’ stuff we all do each day!!   (Well, actually I was a bum today & went back to bed for a nice leisurely nap this afternoon just because I was still kind of worn out).  But I’m very jazzed that with just a little R & R I feel great & ready to go again!  What a change from the woman I was at the beginning of this journey who hardly had the energy to function, or stay awake, on a daily basis.  Thanks again to Dr. Hedayat & Endobiogenic evaluation for unraveling the combination of thyroid, adrenal, liver, & other health factors that were causing me such trouble!  My fibromyalgia is much better too–I hardly have any muscle or joint pain now.

And, to celebrate the re-birth of my healthy life I finally got a new ‘do! My friend Sally Moreno gave me a gorgeous new hairstyle (the CH 10 video doesn’t do it justice!) & I’ve been enjoying the positive comments from friends (and the second looks from the younger guys–such an ego boo!)  I think my hubby & son are finally adjusting too.   ;-D   What with my new hairstyle & being more energetic & slim I’m really feeling like myself again! (And hopefully it will be plain when I’m out with my 8-3/4 yr son that I’m his mother, not his creaky old grandma watching him for a few hours. Yes, I really did feel like that sometimes.)

I have so much to blog about from last week but it’s almost 1:00am on Monday (I’ll post this for Sunday evening since I’m still up!) so I’ll just tell you the best thing:  During our field trip to Sea World I was playing around all day–even racing the kids up flights of stairs (one flight at a time)!!  I was just a little winded & kept just a few steps behind them–my son was shocked!  He can’t remember clearly a time when I was that energetic.  And when I told hubby his jaw fell to the floor.  He had to remind me how much trouble I was having even 5-6 months ago walking up the stairs here at home–holding onto the railing & moving slowly up, sometimes resting on each step, and having to be very cautious of my balance coming down because I was so tired.

It really has been the integrated combination of health testing & diagnosis, chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, acupuncture, & my own hard work with lifestyle change (sticking to my cleansing diet & prescribed supplement regimen, experimenting with stress-reduction techniques to find what works for me, & doing my physical therapy exercises & conditioning) that has all worked together to bring about these fabulous changes!  Thanks again to my team at Renew Integrative Health Center!

I also want to note that the poll is back up so you can Officially Vote now! There is an added step for verification of each vote, but it just takes a sec.  Thank you to all of you who vote (hopefully for me!) as my main goal for this blog has been to inspire and inform others of my personal challenges, solutions, & progress and to hopefully inspire others to create healthy changes in their own lives.  I love to get feedback from my readers so leave a comment, or if what you want to say is more private, many friends & family email me privately rather than post (or you can post comments using a ‘pen name’).

Oh, and the tree that came down in our yard during the wind storm thankfully didn’t do any damage–the way it fell it was supported by our neighbor’s waterfall & so didn’t even damage our fence! (Hubby just whipped out the chainsaw & took care of it this weekend–what a guy!)

I guess I should stop congratulating myself for being so healthy while everyone around me is sick–now I’ve got it too.  Our son got sick on Thanksgiving evening with all the classic (swine?) flu symptoms: High fever (101+), muscle/joint pain, headache, & exhaustion followed the next day by lower temp, stuffy nose & coughing. He’s recovering & feeling better every day but now I have the headache, sore joints, & fatigue.  (Hubby just got sick from eating some irresistible foods he shouldn’t–he’s lactose intolerant.)  At first I was thinking my joint pain was my fibromyalgia flaring up so I’m hoping it’s part of my flu symptoms & so will fade quickly.

So today has basically been Rory working on schoolwork–his computer reading-writing-typing program, working on spelling, reading, & other quiet stuff.  I felt a little better this afternoon & made him some of my super-healthy banana bread packed with extra protein, lots of healthy fats & grains, & very low-sugar.  So he’s been happy scarfing that down with some fresh apples while I’ve been lying in the recliner by the fire, eating fresh persimmons & nuts with yummy tea, reading some good pulp fiction (Susan Issacs’ Magic Hour).

The house is, of course, pretty scary right now but I’m getting much better at not stressing out about things that are out of my control at the moment.  I choose to rest & get better quickly, then to clean, do laundry, etc.  In the past I would have worked until I dropped, become worse from over-working, & stressed out the whole time I was sick by beating myself up for not performing the way I thought I should.  Whew!  At least I’m over that self-imposed drama, & I feel much better for it!

I did have a *great* day yesterday at Renew; it almost goes without saying.  I always feel better after some laser work on my back & a great PT session & chiropractic adjustment!  But I could tell by the early afternoon that I was rapidly losing my energy & by the end of the day I was absolutely wiped out–not my usual state now (yay!).  So I guess I’ll just do the R & R thing until we’re back to normal again, which should be in a day or so.  (The house will always be there–I mean the faeries aren’t going to come & clean it for me!  Rats!!)

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

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!