'Gentle' June Step Challenge

Wysewoman53 wrote: »

For those of you who are new to this walking thing, please don't let the amount of steps I take in a day be daunting. I really meant what I said about this not being a competition!

Some things you might want to know about me. I am 62, a wife, a mother and a grandmother, if I have to be labeled as something other than a woman or human being. In 1988, we were in a pretty horrible motorcycle accident during which my husband broke his leg in 5 places from his hip to his knee and each break was shattered. I walked away with a little road rash and pretty much unscathed...or so we thought. He had surgery and everything worked out okay for him and he has no problems associated with that accident to this day. I, on the other hand, had more problems than we realized at the time.

About 2000-2001, I started having a little pain in my hip and started walking with a slight limp to accommodate for that pain and kept on truckin'. The limp was getting worse but when I could no longer lift my leg up or bend over to tie my own shoes, I went to the doctor. I was told that because of the accident, I was developing arthritis and nothing could be done about it...my first round of pain pills began. It's just what happens as we get 'older', he said. SMH!

This went on for years and I kept going back to doctor after doctor because even tho' I was no expert, I had a feeling this was more than arthritis but what did I know? I wasn't a doctor after all. More rounds of pain pills AND now Celebrex was added to the mix. It wasn't helping. During one of these 'visits', one of the doctors 'prescribed' a cane to help me walk. So, here I am, barely able to walk at all even with a cane and just getting out the front door to my car in the driveway was pretty much a miracle for me because my hip and back hurt so much (even with pain killers!), I pretty much gave up walking at all unless absolutely necessary. I walked with that cane for almost a decade!

As mentioned, I had been going to doctors for years and finally I just got mad...I mean really angry!! Getting dressed by myself had become so painful and hard, I was starting to need help with all aspects of it. I have a very loving, supportive husband who would do anything for me but he wasn't the problem...my inability to do anything on my own was the problem. So, I was angry after one more doctor tried to give me more pills to compensate for the pain I was feeling when I knew it wouldn't do any more good just as all the others had done no good. She seemed as tho' I was old anyway and with age comes aches and pains...something I would just have to learn to deal with as part of the aging process. I told her all I had ever wanted was an x-ray to see what was wrong inside and not one doctor would order one for me all these years. Smug as ever, she said "Fine. Let's check your range of motion in that leg" and I know she was trying to prove to me I couldn't possibly know more about my own body than a DOCTOR! Lo and behold! I had no range of motion and she immediately ordered an x-ray. Come to find out, my hip had deteriorated to the point of having almost no bone left! The miracle was that I was able to walk at all!

In October of 2014, I was blessed with a hip replacement. Normally, someone as 'young' as I was...see that stupid age thing again...would not be eligible because 'they' like to wait until someone is in his/her 70's before doing that but my hip was so far gone, my quality of life was effected so I qualified. It took me 14 months after the replacement to start walking again. Not because I couldn't but because I was so used to not walking, I didn't even know how to start. I still relied on my cane because now I was terrified I would fall and break my hip! All kinds of crazy scenarios would play out in my head as my anxiety got worse and worse. Basically, I was like a toddler, learning to walk all over again.

For Christmas, 2015, I got the activity tracker I had asked for from my wonderful husband and realized I was walking less than 1000 steps a day. I wasn't working anymore because I didn't feel like I could walk well enough to keep up with what was necessary for my job after this miracle operation...all mental-ality stuff only in my own head! I quit using my cane and started walking back and forth in my living room...a 'lap' consists of 14 steps but I was walking. I was ecstatic when I finally hit the 3,000 mark...for an entire day! It was not easy by any means but I just kept walking.

Now, I walk more than that first 3,000 step goal but I want all to know, I understand how hard it really is to get steps in everyday. I can really empathize with the struggles each and every person has with motivation and support to get up and moving...Hence, this 'Gentle' challenge. Some of us will take a whole bunch of steps in a day, some of us will take fewer steps a day but just remember, every step each one of us takes is a Victory!