Back in May I ended up in the hospital (again) and they did an unsuccessful spinal tap on me. That caused a muscle in my lower back to spasm up quite badly. If you know me, you know that I am not the one to go to the doctor as soon as something hurts. But after a week with this pain and no relief I finally gave in and crawled to my doctor and got some muscle relaxer. It helped a little bit but not as great as I hoped. So I started go to Body Balance Massage here in Wills Point to see if Karla could help me. The muscle has become better and better but now and then it reminds me of its existence. I take another muscle relaxer, put some Tiger Balm on, a heating pad and call it a day. It is what it is.

Last week I was going to take a walk with the dogs. I put on my shoes and realized that those shoes were the worst thing ever for my feet. I don’t know what was going on that specific day but I put my feet in the shoes and walked a couple of minutes and both my legs was sore. I realized that a new pair was much needed. I knew that this wasn’t the best quality shoes (a pair from Walmart for $20) so maybe it was a good idea to invest in something better. But last time I did spend some more money on walking shoes they didn’t turn out as good as I wanted. They broke after just a couple of months.
I can’t remember if it was that specific evening or a couple of days later, I was laying in bed and an ad came up for Brooks Running Shoes. I had looked at those shoes before and laughed and asked myself who in their right state of mind would pay $150 for a pair of shoes and would they be THAT good so it was worth it? Well without hesitating I looked at my finances and said to myself that maybe this will be the answer of some (if not all) of my pain. I will at least find out why people buy shoes for this amount of money, they just got to be worth the money or I will throw a huge fit. The entire day after I regretted what I had done. $150 is a lot of money for me! And last week they finally arrived.

On Thursday we had a patient that had to be lifted on a stair chair from the second floor. I took the upper part of the chair and a firefighter took the lower part. And boom. It was just like the day after the spinal tap. The pain in my lower back came back and I could barely move. I tried to move normally on Friday, took the dogs for a walk and most of the day was okay but then I moved in the wrong way and it was like someone stabbed me in the butt. I went to bed with muscle relaxer, Tylenol 3, Tiger Balm and a heating pad. But nothing helped. I woke up in the middle of the night because I could not move in bed. If anyone would have recorded me trying to get out of bed Saturday morning it would have been a viral sensation. I had the CERT training and I knew that the moving and walking would probably help the stiffness and pain that I had. More Tiger Balm and muscle relaxer and off I went. But I also sent a message to Karla asking if there was any openings either Saturday afternoon or Sunday. Something in the back of my mind told me that I needed help with this. Thankfully she did have an appointment Saturday afternoon.
I don’t think thou, that Karla realized how bad that muscle really was. She had to work with hot stones, cuppings, liniments and whatever she could. I had to lay in positions I’ve never had while getting a massage so she could stretch those muscles. It was painful but a good pain. The kind of pain when you know that it’s for a good cause and you can feel it getting better.
And I could feel a great difference already the same night. I was able to move in bed and even though I was a little stiff yesterday morning, I could get out of bed without major problems and I could move around without support of BamBam (convenient to have a big dog sometimes).

I had not have the time to try my new shoes on a walk yet but yesterday was the day! I had walked a couple of minutes in my house to see if the size was right and I could already then figure out why you pay that amount of money for a pair of shoes. But now was when it was put to test. I have had a lazy 1.5 month and quite honestly am out of shape. I said to myself that I aimed for a 5 mile walk but as long as I did 3 mile I would be pleased. I would have to stop if the pain came back. So off I went. And yes, hands down. I have figured out why you pay that amount of money for a pair of shoes. OMG. They are amazing. I don’t really know how to explain it but it’s like you walk on a mattress. I had no pain in my heel, legs or hip while walking! My legs felt light and I could just walk without thinking. It was amazing. I hope that these shoes doesn’t fall apart as the other more expensive ones did and if they do, I’ll throw a fit. This is how awesome it went… and this is the first 5 mile walk in exactly 2 months!

It may be a lot of money but it was an investment in myself and my health, that’s for sure. And I can not come up with the excuse that I don’t have good shoes now, it is just to get out there and get the workout done. And those days I can’t walk because it’s dark or weather, I still have the gym membership. Just get my big butt there and get it done!