There has never been a time in my life where I can honestly say that I took care of my body. Even when I was attempting to become a professional golfer in college I cared more about my golf game and paid no attention to my body. When you walk into the local Chinese eatery and they already know what you are going to order, you know that you have a problem.
Fast forward about six years when I was 29 and moving back to my hometown in Southern Indiana. Unwisely I decided to move a washer by myself from the basement, there were plenty there to help me. While I was using an appliance dolly, I now know that I was not utilizing the proper technique to lift something as heavy as a washer. My body decided it had had enough of the abuse over the years, my L5, L4, L3, and S1 discs were diagnosed as bulging about a month after I ended up making it only halfway up that staircase with the washer.
It took a grueling 18 months of physical therapy, losing weight (notice I am not saying “being healthy”), and attempting to not sit for too long. While after 18 months I finally had some relief from my hip down I was never pain free. And then this April happened and showed me that I have never understood the word pain. This time when the Sciatic nerve was pinched I lost feeling of my left leg, and was bedridden for it was almost impossible to walk and sitting was out of the question.
SOLUTION
First I found the best spine doctor in the Louisville area at Norton Hospital who diagnosed me with a ruptured L5/S1 disc and that the only solution was surgery. So on May 29th, 2019 I had a microdiscectomy on my L5/S1 where they found my old injury had calcified and needed to also be cleaned while they were working on my lower lumbar. I am happy to report that I am pain free and in the process of taking it easy.
However, what are the actions I am taking this time to actually become healthy?
- Listening to my doctor and taking it easy until he clears me.
- Working with changing the nutrients that I am putting into my body with the help of Thomas Malchow. (He is a Kinesiologist, Golf Fitness Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist, and Nutritionist)
- Will be working with Thomas Malchow, Mark Smith (Smith Chiropractic), and some of the best Physical Therapist in Louisville to get my body strong and to help keep my back from getting worse and causing me more problems down the road.
Notice how I did not say just lose weight this time. Yes I absolutely HAVE TO lose weight as I am currently 70 lbs from being a healthy weight for my body. And that is where this blog comes in. See another part of all of this is keeping myself mentally healthy. I run a golf blog called Form Golf that I absolutely have a blast working on but I need to write about my adventures and failures as I try to take care of my body for the first time in my life as well.
My hope is that The Journey will help others who are going through the same things. Enjoy!
Stand Athletic 