Alright so the Mayo Clinic is amazing. I will be going there again next week for a yearly check-up with Dr. Fischer. I will have another Tilt-Table Test done so that we can see my progress since 2008 when we did the first TTT. I'm nervous but excited at the same time. I do truly know that I have improved dramatically since 2008 because I was never really able to do any physical activity since winter 2006. I am now able to walk, dance, shop, and go to a college away from home! I was only able to achieve this today through hard work and motivation.
When I say that I was never really able to do any physical activity, I mean I wasn't able to walk continuously for 2 minutes without becoming dizzy and exhausted. Such a difference from being a cross-country runner! Ha ha! But, physical activity does help. My body screamed for me to stop moving. It was tired. It couldn't handle the postural changes or the gravity or the physical exertion. It took me several months to be able to walk around the inside of my house without feeling winded. It took me several more months to be able to make a lap around my small neighborhood (only about 3 blocks).
Then the spring of 2009 I was able to walk for 25 minutes continuously. This means that it took about 3 years to get to normal functioning. The fall of 2009 is when I started college. I had to walk to my classes, haul my laundry around the dorms, go up and down 3 flights of stairs during fire drills, and take part in activities that my friends and I did like cheer at football and basketball games meaning I was on my feet for 2 hours or so. What a difference determination made!
During this 3 year recovery stage, I went to physical therapy for several months to strengthen my joints and muscles to stimulate the blood flow. I had to push myself to get out of bed, to stand up, to force my body to walk around, and not get my hopes down when I was only able to walk for such a short amount of time. This was the most difficult challenge of them all. I was so accustomed to running for miles and miles while on the cross-country team. Having my body not cooperate with my expectations and wants was very difficult and very emotional. I use the term "disability" during this time. My body is not able to function correctly. If my body were a machine, it would be as if I had a broken part on the controls. My system is not working right.
To fix the problem, I have to keep going so that I do not have a disabled body anymore. I want to make that disabled body an able body again. And I am certainly getting there. Just like Dory says in Finding Nemo, "Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming...", well I just keep going. Keep pushing myself to go further. Walk 30 more seconds. Walk to the next street sign. To the next house. The more I move, the better I will feel. While I move I may not feel the greatest, but the pay-offs to what I do accomplish matter the most. I will be able to run again one day. I just have to work my way back up :)
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