On September 4th, 2020, I woke up from a nap completely weak, and hardly able to walk.
In my life before the nap, I ran 2 to 4 miles a day, walked 4 to 7 miles on a weekend, drove my kids to soccer and basketball practice, worked part time as an Occupational Therapist, and started a new business for moms.
But a few weeks after the nap, on a smoldering Penrose, Colorado, fall day, I lay melted into the fibers of the couch. Every inch of my body, so limp, so heavy, that I could not move. For some as yet unknown reason, I was unable to lift myself – or any part of myself – from that glued to the couch position for at least an hour.
In my pre-nap, life, the heat had made me tired, sometimes, but never this. Never a sack of skin filled with cement. Never basically paralyzed.
Never unable to do something as simple as get myself a pillow.
No one was home, and I needed a pillow. But the pillow I wanted was outside in the camper. Normally, just a hop, skip, and a jump away. But now, totally impossible. I couldn’t lift a finger off the couch, let alone get my entire body to the camper.
And that’s when, for some unknown reason, the thought crossed my mind, “Walking to the camper is as impossible for me now as it would be to walk from Penrose to Colorado Springs when I’m healthy!“
And since, as an optimistic person, I knew I would overcome the impossible, and at some point, even if not that day, be able to walk to the camper, I determined I’ll walk the 35 miles to Colorado Springs when I’m healthy!!
And eventually, over a year later, on November 14, 2021, I did walk for 35 miles from my house in Penrose to a park in Colorado Springs with one of my best friends all in one day, in 11 hours and 54 minutes. We were joined along the way by people cheering, friends and family walking part of the distance with us, a huge group of cheerleaders at the finish line and the most glorious sunset.
I have since been diagnosed with a rare disorder called Periodic Paralysis, and another called Myotonic Disorder. I have periods when I’m paralyzed from the chin down for thirty minutes to two hours and unable to speak or think clearly. Other times I look like I had a stroke. Sometimes I’m not able to feed myself and in the early stages of my illness, I was often not able to shower or change my own clothes.
But, thanks to my belief that I could get better, my persistence in finding ways to heal, incredible doctors and practitioners, a supportive village of family and friends and most recently learning about and practicing brain and nervous system retraining, I am now symptom-free and living a life that seemed impossible during the darkest days of my illness.
Now, I can do all the things so many of us take for granted. I can think clearly, find words, cook, clean, do yard work, feed the dogs and drive. I can travel alone to see my son in college and can carry my chair all the way across a grassy field to watch my other son’s soccer game. I can even hike and run again!
I believe in every difficult situation, there is an opportunity to find the good and I continue to work toward my own version of 112%.
I hope that in whatever circumstance you are in, you will find hope, inspiration and a voice as you join me to work toward your own version of 112%.
❤️ Lindsey
#112percent
#goodjobmom
#periodicparalysis