Starting Over

Sometimes... I wish I'd never gotten off the couch.

After several years of a mostly sedentary/computer gaming/drinking lifestyle, I decided a few years ago to get myself together, and try to get my body in some semblance of shape. I essentially want to put off dying for awhile and that seemed like a good idea.  At one point in my life I weighed over 330 lbs and smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. I dumped a lot of those bad habits a decade ago, but it still wasn't feeling healthy or "Fit."

It started with some bicycling, and went on to training for two 100 mile bike rides for charity and a few thousand miles a year of training.  I felt great. This evolved into full on personal training, and I shifted my focus to functional training and kettlebells - which ended up evolving into a passion for me. Everything was going great.... 

And then the wheels fell off. 

On December 2 of 2012 I "tweaked" my lower back... And that started this crazy roller coaster that I've been riding.  I've lifted ten times that weight thousands of times before, but I picked it up at just the right angle, at the right time, with the right amount of fatigue -and I felt a sharp pain and I hit the floor. A visit to the chiropractor and a subsequent MRI confirmed that I had not one, but two disk herniation in my lower lumbar spine - L4-L5 and L5-S1. It seemed like an awful lot of damage for one small twinge - but as I later learned - that "injury" was just the straw that broke the camel's back. The REAL injury is the culmination of a couple decades of sitting at a computer, poor posture, poor pre and post workout habits, being overweight, stress, wearing crappy shoes, and a billion other things that eventually caused my body to say ENOUGH! - and throw me out of whack. THAT is one of the main reasons I started writing in this blog.

Several months of chiropractic, acupuncture, soft tissue work, and physical therapy and a lot of mind/body work got my back to where I am about 95% pain free and functional without anything stronger than ibuprofen and without surgery. THAT is another reason I am writing in this blog. 

At some point during that healing process, my upper body decided to revolt (I have a theory that it was either jealous of the lower half) and threw me into a really scary cycle of arm and hand numbness and tingling, hands falling asleep at night, loss of function and dexterity, freezing hands, and all sorts of other stuff. There were days I couldn't even type - which, when you use your computer for a living - is not good.

I've been poked, prodded, tested, had Xrays, MRI's, EMGs, etc etc etc - and I've fortunately so far t

ended up with just a pile of symptoms in an otherwise healthy body. After a host of visiting specialists, Blood tests, Xrays, etc. to rule out various potential systematic causes - I have the pleasure of dealing with some double crush nerve impingement and what looks to be what is called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome - which is a really fancy way to say "more nerve impingements."

I also managed to turn a rib, give myself pneumonia, and sprain my shoulder in the past month. I don't mess around with this stuff.

One thing I learned is that these all can be symptoms or result of some deeper and more chronic manifestations. Tension. Stress. Poor Sleep. They all pile up into a shitstorm... and they have to be dealt with.

THAT is another reason I'm writing in this blog.

The point of this, and subsequent posts...

I've been reading and studying so much in the past several months. I've had opportunities to work with some of the most skilled healthcare practitioners in the area. I've learned so much about the human body, movement, rehabilitation, recovery' nutrition, etc. - and it should be shared. 

So I am writing for the following reasons:

- I need to journal this stuff for me.  I want to have it all in one place so that I don't forget things, so that my reference points are centralized, and so that I can see progress or lack of as I work forward in trying to get back to health. 

-I feel that I need to give back. I've had so many gifts along the way helping me.  If I can write or share something that helps someone else be healthier or avoid injury - then that's great. 

- I miss and enjoy writing, and I need to continue to practice it or I'm going to forget how to do it. 

- because I think I'm on to something here....

So that's it for now.  Expect random updates on health, fitness. Eating, nutrition, amateur butchery, body mobility and recovery, and all of the other weird shit I'm into. My only request is that if you're going to follow this - be respectful. Everything may not be your cup of tea, but it may help someone else. I'd like to keep this as positive as possible.

My acupuncturist told me on the first day she saw me that this injury will end up being one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I'm starting to see that she is right.

Sto'Lat. (Polish for - May you live 100 years) 

Tom