The Pain - Part 1
I made it through the cold January-March, dealing with the Raynaud's, still just doing my thin. I was able to play rec league volleyball, even though I had to make sure to bandage up my sore fingers and make sure they were warm. Have you ever tried setting a ball with cold fingers? It's a bit painful. But it was fun, and it got my out moving. In April I decided that I wanted to get in shape. I had gained a few pounds, and even though I participated in a "Biggest Loser" challenge in a digi scrap forum, I needed something to get me out and get me moving. I slacked off a bit after the last BL challenge, so I needed to get back to it.
I found a semi-easy schedule to follow, and decided to just jump in. My hands actually did okay as I would run. They were super cold to the touch, but I think moving got enough blood flowing to them that they didn't turn the purpleish, however they would get super swollen, but it was okay. I was out running, working out to get into shape. I actually was doing really well. I could comfortably run 5 miles. I was mighty proud of myself. I was feeling good. I signed up for the Top of Utah Half Marathon, and was excited to have something to look forward to.
I wasn't very far into my schedule when I started feeling pain in my side, right around my armpit up to my shoulder (Sorry, I don't know the correct medical terms. Maybe I should draw stick figures and highlight the parts that I'm talking about. LOL) It felt like I pulled a muscle, which I thought was what it probably was, because I stretch and reach a lot at work. It didn't affect my running, so I just kept at it.
I was incredibly sore for the first weeks, which is completely normal when you don't work out forever then decide to. and I'll admit that I'm terrible when it comes to stretching. I hated doing it when I was in HS, and I still do. My sister-in-law Shaina was actually doing the training with (but not actually WITH) me, but we decided to do our 6-miler together. She kicked my butt, but kept me going, so I was happy with a 60-minute 6-miler. But afterwards, good heavens, my calves were burning. They just felt super cramped. and it really hurt to walk. Luckily I noticed I could run it off. Sure it was sore for the first little bit, but once I got going, I was fine.
I skipped my 7-miler the next week due to laziness, the day off of work, and a holiday weekend (Memorial Day), and decided to just go to my 8-miler the next week. I had my route all worked out which took me up on campus, down to first dam, back up to campus, then back home. Well, I got to campus from first dam when I get this horrible pain in my knee. I have never felt a pain so bad in my life. I thought maybe it was one of those that I could just run off. But oh my goodness no. It was not possible. I decided after that Saturday to slow it down, and not do as much. I tried stretching and yoga. I tried running over the next few weeks, and I started getting pains in my shins. Like horrible shooting pains. It wasn't like a constant thing, or something that happened when I stepped a certain way or anything. I couldn't figure out what was causing it that, or if there was a way to prevent it from happening. Needless to say, after a few weeks, I decided to stop training. It was hard. I REALLY wanted to do this, but I just physically couldn't.
The shooting pains continued throughout the rest of the summer. It would be in my shins one day, then in my knees another, then up in my biceps another, then my hips. I just couldn't figure it out. Like I said, it was never constant, but when it would happen, it would take my breath away it was so bad. Nothing hurt to the touch, so it's not like I could try to massage anything. I didn't know what it was. When I'd get them in my arms, it was like I could lift them to a certain point, and then they were just stuck. If I tried to go further the shooting pain would just kill. It was NOT fun. I dealt with this all summer, and into fall.
My joints started getting achy, my hands were still completely swollen, and I was starting to have a hard time gripping things. My stomach was also starting to hurt. I had pretty bad acid reflux, which I''ve never had before. It was hard to want to eat. Food started tasting bad to me, and I just didn't want to eat food.
Around this time, my friends Camille and Brittney asked me to play on their rec volleyball team. I didn't want to say no, so I told them I would. It actually felt good to kind of run around, and fun to get on the court again...until I tried to serve overhand and couldn't. The pain was definitely there, and I just didn't have much strength. I also had a bit of a hard time moving forward fast, but I did it. The girls were totally understanding, but it was kind of rough to realize that maybe this was something that wasn't going to go away. For the 6-7 months prior, I just kept thinking that it was going to just go away. It was hard knowing that it wasn't. Greg & I didn't have insurance at the time, so we just kind of dealt with it.
As I mentioned, my stomach started hurting a bit, which made me not want to eat. I also decided to go off of birth control, wondering if that was causing some random weird effects, and during that volleyball season, I lost about 15 pounds. I didn't know what to do. Food was gross to me, and I just hurt. I didn't want to tell people, and didn't want to answer questions, because I never knew what to tell people. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what to tell them. I just knew that I had to stick it out, again believing that it would all just eventually go away.
It was an interesting 2012 to say the least.
I found a semi-easy schedule to follow, and decided to just jump in. My hands actually did okay as I would run. They were super cold to the touch, but I think moving got enough blood flowing to them that they didn't turn the purpleish, however they would get super swollen, but it was okay. I was out running, working out to get into shape. I actually was doing really well. I could comfortably run 5 miles. I was mighty proud of myself. I was feeling good. I signed up for the Top of Utah Half Marathon, and was excited to have something to look forward to.
I wasn't very far into my schedule when I started feeling pain in my side, right around my armpit up to my shoulder (Sorry, I don't know the correct medical terms. Maybe I should draw stick figures and highlight the parts that I'm talking about. LOL) It felt like I pulled a muscle, which I thought was what it probably was, because I stretch and reach a lot at work. It didn't affect my running, so I just kept at it.
I was incredibly sore for the first weeks, which is completely normal when you don't work out forever then decide to. and I'll admit that I'm terrible when it comes to stretching. I hated doing it when I was in HS, and I still do. My sister-in-law Shaina was actually doing the training with (but not actually WITH) me, but we decided to do our 6-miler together. She kicked my butt, but kept me going, so I was happy with a 60-minute 6-miler. But afterwards, good heavens, my calves were burning. They just felt super cramped. and it really hurt to walk. Luckily I noticed I could run it off. Sure it was sore for the first little bit, but once I got going, I was fine.
I skipped my 7-miler the next week due to laziness, the day off of work, and a holiday weekend (Memorial Day), and decided to just go to my 8-miler the next week. I had my route all worked out which took me up on campus, down to first dam, back up to campus, then back home. Well, I got to campus from first dam when I get this horrible pain in my knee. I have never felt a pain so bad in my life. I thought maybe it was one of those that I could just run off. But oh my goodness no. It was not possible. I decided after that Saturday to slow it down, and not do as much. I tried stretching and yoga. I tried running over the next few weeks, and I started getting pains in my shins. Like horrible shooting pains. It wasn't like a constant thing, or something that happened when I stepped a certain way or anything. I couldn't figure out what was causing it that, or if there was a way to prevent it from happening. Needless to say, after a few weeks, I decided to stop training. It was hard. I REALLY wanted to do this, but I just physically couldn't.
The shooting pains continued throughout the rest of the summer. It would be in my shins one day, then in my knees another, then up in my biceps another, then my hips. I just couldn't figure it out. Like I said, it was never constant, but when it would happen, it would take my breath away it was so bad. Nothing hurt to the touch, so it's not like I could try to massage anything. I didn't know what it was. When I'd get them in my arms, it was like I could lift them to a certain point, and then they were just stuck. If I tried to go further the shooting pain would just kill. It was NOT fun. I dealt with this all summer, and into fall.
My joints started getting achy, my hands were still completely swollen, and I was starting to have a hard time gripping things. My stomach was also starting to hurt. I had pretty bad acid reflux, which I''ve never had before. It was hard to want to eat. Food started tasting bad to me, and I just didn't want to eat food.
Around this time, my friends Camille and Brittney asked me to play on their rec volleyball team. I didn't want to say no, so I told them I would. It actually felt good to kind of run around, and fun to get on the court again...until I tried to serve overhand and couldn't. The pain was definitely there, and I just didn't have much strength. I also had a bit of a hard time moving forward fast, but I did it. The girls were totally understanding, but it was kind of rough to realize that maybe this was something that wasn't going to go away. For the 6-7 months prior, I just kept thinking that it was going to just go away. It was hard knowing that it wasn't. Greg & I didn't have insurance at the time, so we just kind of dealt with it.
As I mentioned, my stomach started hurting a bit, which made me not want to eat. I also decided to go off of birth control, wondering if that was causing some random weird effects, and during that volleyball season, I lost about 15 pounds. I didn't know what to do. Food was gross to me, and I just hurt. I didn't want to tell people, and didn't want to answer questions, because I never knew what to tell people. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what to tell them. I just knew that I had to stick it out, again believing that it would all just eventually go away.
It was an interesting 2012 to say the least.
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