Denervation Recovery Day Four

A lovely relaxing day!

I’ve had Deb at home as it’s Monday, her day off. The Only class I didn’t attend was the MS exercise class. Like I said in yesterday’s blog, even though it’s all seated exercise it would still be too much for me to do!
Because Deb was home that was a good distraction for me to not keep checking the time, although I did have a few cheeky time checks. No comments on facebook about it either, I can’t help but think I wasn’t missed. Silly of me right! I just don’t like to miss out on anything! Right or wrong, that’s who I am!
We had some visitors this afternoon, another good distraction from the pain!
My Dad and Stepmum popped round with their 2 sight hounds, Ava the Saluki & Finly the Lurcher.
They have only had Finly for 6 weeks so him and ours are still getting to know each other. All fun and games! A great distraction from the pain I’m still getting in my legs and spine when I’m standing.

This Evening

A boring hour and half whilst Deb and Adam went off to Fight Klub! I’m not a happy bunny, I’ve got my new boxing gloves and can’t try them out! Humph!

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Tomorrow

I have to be prepared for my mood tomorrow! I’ll be missing Pilates with Hannah Bailey and then Body Combat in the evening with Gill Cathcart!
What on earth did I used to do before exercise took over my/our life!
I know I wasn’t as happy when I didn’t go to the gym or all these classes!

Think about this,

If we all just did a little bit more to look after ourselves would we be living in a happier world?

Denervation recovery day three

The third day of recovery after having my back procedure. It’s Sunday, the first day of our weekend. The day that our alarm clocks are redundant, I do love my sleep! It also means that because I’m not on my own my mood is good even though my pain is bad!

I did have to cancel a class today, we don’t normally go to exercise classes on a Sunday but Deb and I had decided we would try a different class, one that we had both wanted to do for a while called ‘Body Pump’ A weight-based group-fitness program created and distributed globally by Les Mills International.
I was really disappointed that I had to cancel but there was really no way that I could do it! I didn’t think there would be any chance I would be able do the class after having my back done!

I didn’t stay disappointed for too long after I cancelled the class yesterday, the reason for this was because Deb told me she would also cancel as it would be better if we did our first class together!

We didn’t stay in mopping! I’d been given a HMV gift card for my birthday and I knew exactly what I wanted to get. I told Deb that I wanted to go and get the film called ‘Lady in the Van’

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I was so excited to be going out, I know it was only 2 days, 3 if you include the day of the procedure. I felt as though I had been stuck inside for too long, I mean I’m normally out every day even If just for a short time like visiting my GP to renew my medication!

I updated my social media status to something like:
“Breaking news!… I’m going out! The Vixter has left the Manor! (Fear not sofa, I will return!)”

This was short lived though and soon updated to:
“I’ve returned! I forgot that I could only stand for about 5 minutes yesterday! The pain is horrendous when I’m walking and standing! Better off staying on the sofa a little longer me thinks!”

It’s so easy for me to forget the things I can and can’t do, especially when my pain is just about bearable when I’m sitting in one place! I’d forgotten the awful pain in my thighs when I walk, the pain shooting down the backs of my legs emanating from my butt and finishing at my feet. I’d forgotten how every step was more and more painful and I’d even forgotten how I would need help lifting my legs in and out of the car! Even if I had used my wheelchair I would have still been in too much pain getting in and out of the car and also whilst in the wheelchair because of twisting to look at different things.
Still, all this said, I managed to get my dvd and we watched it tonight. A lovely film, very different to what you might expect but still a good film.

My trip out today has made me realise one thing for sure, I definitely won’t be able to attend the MS exercise class that I normally go to and being covered by Hannah Bailey. It’s scheduled for tomorrow (Monday). Even though it’s seated exercise it’s far too much for me to handle yet!
This also means that I won’t be going to Monday evenings Fight Klub! This isn’t good news! One of my favourite classes! I’m going to have to try extremely hard to stay positive tomorrow because of this! Wish me luck!

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Denervation Recovery Day One and Two

Understanding

It’s hard to remember the days when I first had to take time off work because of my MS. I have come such a long way from that person that used to sit feeling sorry for herself, not doing anything to change the way she felt, just feeling more and more depressed!

Those days are real, they did exist, I was that person! So easily I could become her again! This procedure I have had done on my lower spine is to help ease my pain I feel, to gain this relief I have to endure a multitude of pains. The physical pain which comes in so many different ways, from moving incorrectly to even just standing. Then there is the emotional pain, some of this pain I feel may be hard for you to understand. Although you can’t see the physical pain itself, you can in fact see the physical effect of it in my face, in my eyes. The emotional pain will at times be so much easier to know when I feel it, you see I suffer from terrible mood swings. Almost like a teenager unable to get their own way, when I can’t do something that I have been used to doing its painful!

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Yesterday

It was an easier day than I expect yesterday! The first day of recovery, unable to take part in my usual Pilates class at 11am. Even though I missed it, I was ok with it, that made me feel proud. The rest of the day I slept on and off.

The evening wasn’t too bad either. Deb came home from work, she sorted the dinner, homemade spaghetti bolognase that I had lifted out of the freezer and some pasta to go with. This made it easier for me as I wasn’t able to stand for more than a few minutes and therefore unable to cook the evening meal.

The exercise class I couldn’t attend last night was ‘Clubbercise’ I have only been to this class twice and, if I’m honest it’s a bit fast for me with a lot of side ways moving, which I have a major issue with. The class has also changed rooms, it used to be in an area that had direct access to outside, which was ideal for me to cool down quickly. The class is now in the ‘Dance studio’ the same room that I do Pilates in. Excellent because it has air-conditioning which means I keep cooler whilst exercising, the downside is that when I walk out of the room the temperature difference is too extreme for me, especially if my core temperature is high from cardio exercises.

This is a constraint of my MS, I can’t adjust to differences in temperature like my partner does. I can’t cool down quick enough when needed and vice versa, I don’t warm up quick enough! For these reasons I am apprehensive about going to Clubbercise again and didn’t mind that I couldn’t go!

 

Today

A harder day today, missed out on a class called ‘PiYo’ a mix of Pilates and Yoga. A class that I wanted to try from the moment I heard about it and also a class that I was very nervous about trying! When my friend told me he had been to a class a few weeks ago, I was really sad that I hadn’t gone with him. He came around to my home to tell me all about the class and how hard it was, when he told me he thought it would be to hard for me, I booked in for the next available class straight away.

I wasn’t well enough to go to the class last week because of my MS. It hadn’t occurred to me then that I wouldn’t be able to go today, but I have to be good especially after all the work I had done on Thursday.

After my first PiYo class I couldn’t stop thinking about it, I practised some of the harder moves that I could remember, until I could no longer remember the easier option that the instructor ‘Hannah Bailey’ had showed me. That’s the thing with my MS, I forget things easily and quickly!

I was so looking forward to going again! I guess I just have to wait a little bit longer. Hopefully I’ll be so much better and stronger when I go to my second class!

 

The evening,

Saturday evenings are my favourite! As much as I love going to all the exercise classes with Deb and our friends, I do miss the us time that we rarely get now. Saturday evening there aren’t any classes so we get to chill together snuggled on the sofa with our 2 dogs ‘our kids’

As far as pain goes and how my back is after the procedure, today I can stand for a little longer, around five minutes. Enough time to wash half of the pots in the bowl, the pain was starting to increase by then so I had to sit down and rest.

Baby steps! I’ll soon be fighting fit again!

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Tried something different tonight!

Body Combat with Gill Cathcart!

Was it a good class?
Let’s do my Multiple Sclerosis symptom check list…

•Unable to control temperature? Yep ✔
•Hearing gone? Yep ✔
•Blurred vision? Yep ✔
•Spazzy legs? Yep ✔
•Slurred speech? Yep ✔
•Pins & needles in hands & feet? Yep ✔
•Numbness in my thighs? Yep ✔

Did I enjoy it? Loved it ✔✔✔
Will I go again? Yep ✔✔✔

Am I crazy? Well you all know the answer to that! ✔✔✔✔✔
😜😄😂

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Image from Pixabay.com


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I LOVE THAT CLASS SO MUCH BUT MY MS FREAKING HATES IT!

WOW! I LOVE THAT CLASS SO MUCH BUT MY MS FREAKING HATES IT!
Look at my face MS, do I look as if I care!

Fight Klub is intense & I love it!

So I can hardly breathe after & it takes me over 30 minutes to cool down to a safe temperature when we finish, do I care? Errr, No!

Three little words for you…

This
Girl
Can!

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Journey to a fitter, better me to handle my MS

Ok so, I started my fitness kick by going to Aqua Fit!
A brilliant way to exercise if you can’t do much on dry land because the water aids by taking away the stress of gravity!

Once I gained confidence with Aqua Fit and felt the need to go on to something else my Physiotherapist referred me to the gym for a set program.
I loved it! I was going every morning for 5 days a week! After a few months I realised that going all those days without a break in between was a little adventurous! I started going less because I wanted to continue going to Aqua Fit! 

I then went on to try Pilates (for the 2nd time, a different type of pilates! 1st time was Pilates for Pregnancy which I didn’t realise until I arrived in the class and so didn’t need it! 😱😂)
As most know I have been going to 3 classes a week for nearly a year now. It would be easy to say that it’s my passion!
Last week I even had my first 1-1 private Pilates at home, it was completely different to a group class because it was tailored especially for me! I even thought it was better than an appointment with my Neuro Physiotherapist! I was that impressed that I booked another 1-1 and i intend to continue with it!
I loved Pilates that much that I stopped going to Aqua Fit and reduced the amount of time in spent in the gym.

At the beginning of this year I started going to another class with my partner called ‘Fight Klub’

“FIGHT KLUB® is the high intensity fun workout that makes getting in shape an addiction. Set to music, the program is a combination of boxing, kick boxing and dance.
FIGHT KLUB® is a workout built around a freestanding professional grade punch bag using simple combinations of kicks and punches whilst keeping time with the high energy beat.” (Taken from the Fight Klub website)

Yes Fight Klub is high intensity which is why I don’t go as often as I’d like to! It’s hard work but it’s seriously exhilarating! As soon as my adrenaline kicks in I forget about the Chronic pain I suffer 24/7!
I might not be able to do all of the exercises the same as everyone else but I still do them, just in a different way!
I have to start my cool down before everyone else because my body doesn’t cool my core temperature down quick enough! I’m not sure if this is to do with my MS or my Fibromyalgia. Maybe it’s just an anomaly, who knows! All I know is that if I don’t cool my self down quickly by pouring cold water down my neck then I pass out!
Yes that part scares me but I love the class that much, I still go back! Just not too often!

This next video is something else that I really want to try! I haven’t the strength yet, well, I don’t think I do!
I don’t know anyone at my local leisure centre that offers guidance with this alone and I’m too nervous to just have a go!

It still surprises me every day how much I am loving this new me!

Click here to see what else I want to try!


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MS, you will never beat me! #thisgirlcan #ishapeme #megaspecialme #MS

Our new favourite class! Fight Klub!
Absolutely amazing!
Photo taken just before I went off and poured half a litre of water over my head to cool down!
MS you can try and stop me from doing things I enjoy, I’ll find a way around it, you will never beat me!

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My friend, pilates instructor and now also our fight klub instructor Hannah Bailey at the front.
Me and my partner at the back right, Deb in blue and me to the left of her!


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Paingry – when your in so much pain you feel angry!

What to do when your Paingry – when your in so much pain you feel angry!

I want to scream so loud my throat hurts, I want to cry so much that I run out of tears!
Crying makes me angry, I try not to cry! I don’t like to feel angry! I’ve felt enough anger in my teenage years, I don’t want to feel like that again!
I need to get this feeling out of me!

It hurts so much to move though, every twist or turn of my body. Every step I take, one step out, leaning forward on that leg before I put my next leg down. The pain that shoots from my back, into my bottom and down my leg. Repeat that motion as I take one more step, the same pain on the other side now!

It’s too much, I need my appointment! Please let me have my appointment date in the post tomorrow! It’s been 2 weeks, I need that appointment!

I’m angry, this pain makes me angry! I’ve done nothing wrong to deserve this!

I don’t want to be angry! I need to let it out! I need to go to Fight Klub!

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What’s that? You think I can’t do Fight Klub because I’m disabled!
Think again! No boundaries!

Adrenalin takes over, the pain is forgotten, I punch the bag! 👊 💥

In this time I know not of this disease inside me that no one can see.
I feel like I’m free!
Don’t stop me!

I need water, pour it over me
I’m too hot, I can’t see
So this is what happens when I want to feel free!
This is what I put my body through just to be me!


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I’m dedicated and I’m on it!

I’m wondering how dedicated I actually am to pilates!
I’m so tired, It’s so cold outside, I’m in so much pain and the cold is only going to make that worse! Gahhh!

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Ok, thought about it, weighed up the pros & cons!
11am Pilates, Hannah Bailey be ready for me girly!

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I’M DEDICATED AND I’M ON IT!
WITH AN ALMIGHTY PUSH, I’M GOING!

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One tough cookie!

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Well 5 years since diagnosis & the pain has only gotten worse! I don’t think it’s gonna end yet!
Dig in deep girly, we’re in this for the long haul!

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Thank gawd I am strong! This is hard!

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Good job I got the tough cookie genes!

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