Really super long...go to the bathroom and grab some popcorn!
My name is Cassandra I go by Cassie. I am married and the mom to 2 wonderful little boys (ages 3 and 1).
Starting with the birth of my youngest I started having health issues. The first was about 2 days after he was born my back gave out. I could not do anything. Standing up was the best pain wise but by no means good, lying down or sitting down was tourture...I don't think I slept for around 5 months because of the pain. I was nursing a new baby though so I refused all pain meds and muscle relaxers. I started going to PT and it didn't help. So I started seeing a chiropractor. That didn't help either...he actually sent me away saying he couldn't do anything else for me. So I broke down and went to an orthopedic doc and had an MRI. 2 slipped disks in the lumbar area that were both running into the nerves for my left leg and foot...I pumped lots of milk and then had an epidural steroid injection (you can't nurse a baby for two days after). I had a tiny bit of relief for about 2 weeks. I pumped more milk, had another injection...the doc said most of my problem was that I was really overweight (at this point I was around 250 lbs and I'm only 5'4") and I smoked. The extra weight (which I tend to hang onto right in my midsection) was pulling and causing undue stress on my back and the smoking was slowing down my blood flow to the area to help anything heal. The second injection helped enough that I could sleep again at night and start back up with my PT.
My PT was rough going though. I was having trouble building any type of core strength. One day I was reaching up to get something from one of my overhead cabnets and doing so I leaned into the counter top and felt lots of pain right around my belly button. Went to the doc. They thought possible spigelian hernia and sent me off to the surgeon. At this point I was down a little bit of weight but still smoking...still nursing a baby too (does anyone else see how much I suck here? I was not willing to take pain meds because of the baby but I was willing to keep smoking). The surgeon wanted to fix it right away as this type of hernia can become strangulated quickly. I did my research on the surgery...I found out every drug that they needed to use for anisthesia, pain, etc. and started finding out half lifes and the rate of being passed on to the baby (I wanted to know when I could continue nursing). Turns out, everything was nursing friendly so once I was awake enough to hold the baby, I could nurse again.
Had surgery, it was supposed to be outpatient but they had to admit me because everything turned out to be way worse than they expected once they got in there. The doc stopped counting hernias at 8. He ended up just lining my entire abdomin with the mesh after everything was back in it's place. So I now have mesh from my rib cage down to my groin (this appears to be the reason PT was not helping me with core strength). When I came out of surgery they came and had a talk with me. My lungs were so bad from my smoking that they looked like early stages of emphysema. I never smoked again. My last smoke was on March 8th, my surgery was on March 9th. I was also told that the hernias most likely happened from being overweight and smoking (and the two pregnancys).
I decided in that moment that I needed to change my life. I had to wait 8 weeks though. I was not allowed to do any more than walk for 8 weeks. I needed to let all that mesh bond with my muscles. My 8 weeks were up in May. I started weight watches then. I also heard about a c25k program so I started researching it. I decided I was going to do that. I found out that my mom would be available to come early in the mornings to watch my boys starting in July. So, the beginning of July I started running.
I started running in some old gym shoes I just had here. I thought, I will get some shoes later. I was in such bad shape in July when I started that I could not even complete week one, running for 60 seconds was too much for me. I pushed through and did it anyway.
About 5 weeks later I decided to go to the LRS and get "real" running shoes, my knees and hips hurt after every run and I assumed it was because of my crappy shoes. They spent an hour with me. I was told that I have really high arches and my foot was nice and tight...I didn't need any extra support since my foot was in such good shape (about time for some part of me to be in good shape!). I came home with my new shoes and could not wait for the next morning's run! I laced those bad boys up and hit the street the next morning. I walked for about 5 min to warm up then I started to run. At first everything was just fine. Then about a minute later I noticed my toes felt thick (for a lack of a better way to describe it). Then they started to go numb. Then the numbness started creeping up my feet. I stopped running and re-laced the shoes thinking that they were too tight. I ran some more. They did not get better...I felt like my feet were lead blocks. I stopped and took my new shoes off, they only got about a mile run in them. I ran the rest of my route barefoot, I loved it but I spent so much on those shoes I decided to go back to the store and try again.
2 more pairs of shoes later the LRS told me they didn't have any more shoes to try on me. Every pair made my foot go numb. I tried some wide shoes and some mens. So, I did a full on return of the shoes and have not looked back. I also don't have the sore hips or knees now. It has now gotten to the point where those old shoes I started running in are causing my feet to go numb now. I have still been starting out my runs wearing them though. I take them off sooner and sooner as I build up more BFR miles.
This week I plan on being 100% BF and then my first 5k is on Sept. 19th.
I have come a long way. I started out with a new baby and a bad back. The back is about 95% better now...my leg only goes tingly if I sit funny, but no more pain....Smoking and crazy hernias and fat, quit and fixed and down 53 lbs...I started running with a pace of 17:57 per mile (I could walk much faster than this), my pace is now around 13:20...I could not run for 60 seconds strait and now I can go for 3.5 miles! Oh and for those of you that are curious, I am still nursing that baby 15 months later. I tend to be stubborn and stick with something once I have decided it is worth doing.
If you got this far, thanks for reading!
My name is Cassandra I go by Cassie. I am married and the mom to 2 wonderful little boys (ages 3 and 1).
Starting with the birth of my youngest I started having health issues. The first was about 2 days after he was born my back gave out. I could not do anything. Standing up was the best pain wise but by no means good, lying down or sitting down was tourture...I don't think I slept for around 5 months because of the pain. I was nursing a new baby though so I refused all pain meds and muscle relaxers. I started going to PT and it didn't help. So I started seeing a chiropractor. That didn't help either...he actually sent me away saying he couldn't do anything else for me. So I broke down and went to an orthopedic doc and had an MRI. 2 slipped disks in the lumbar area that were both running into the nerves for my left leg and foot...I pumped lots of milk and then had an epidural steroid injection (you can't nurse a baby for two days after). I had a tiny bit of relief for about 2 weeks. I pumped more milk, had another injection...the doc said most of my problem was that I was really overweight (at this point I was around 250 lbs and I'm only 5'4") and I smoked. The extra weight (which I tend to hang onto right in my midsection) was pulling and causing undue stress on my back and the smoking was slowing down my blood flow to the area to help anything heal. The second injection helped enough that I could sleep again at night and start back up with my PT.
My PT was rough going though. I was having trouble building any type of core strength. One day I was reaching up to get something from one of my overhead cabnets and doing so I leaned into the counter top and felt lots of pain right around my belly button. Went to the doc. They thought possible spigelian hernia and sent me off to the surgeon. At this point I was down a little bit of weight but still smoking...still nursing a baby too (does anyone else see how much I suck here? I was not willing to take pain meds because of the baby but I was willing to keep smoking). The surgeon wanted to fix it right away as this type of hernia can become strangulated quickly. I did my research on the surgery...I found out every drug that they needed to use for anisthesia, pain, etc. and started finding out half lifes and the rate of being passed on to the baby (I wanted to know when I could continue nursing). Turns out, everything was nursing friendly so once I was awake enough to hold the baby, I could nurse again.
Had surgery, it was supposed to be outpatient but they had to admit me because everything turned out to be way worse than they expected once they got in there. The doc stopped counting hernias at 8. He ended up just lining my entire abdomin with the mesh after everything was back in it's place. So I now have mesh from my rib cage down to my groin (this appears to be the reason PT was not helping me with core strength). When I came out of surgery they came and had a talk with me. My lungs were so bad from my smoking that they looked like early stages of emphysema. I never smoked again. My last smoke was on March 8th, my surgery was on March 9th. I was also told that the hernias most likely happened from being overweight and smoking (and the two pregnancys).
I decided in that moment that I needed to change my life. I had to wait 8 weeks though. I was not allowed to do any more than walk for 8 weeks. I needed to let all that mesh bond with my muscles. My 8 weeks were up in May. I started weight watches then. I also heard about a c25k program so I started researching it. I decided I was going to do that. I found out that my mom would be available to come early in the mornings to watch my boys starting in July. So, the beginning of July I started running.
I started running in some old gym shoes I just had here. I thought, I will get some shoes later. I was in such bad shape in July when I started that I could not even complete week one, running for 60 seconds was too much for me. I pushed through and did it anyway.
About 5 weeks later I decided to go to the LRS and get "real" running shoes, my knees and hips hurt after every run and I assumed it was because of my crappy shoes. They spent an hour with me. I was told that I have really high arches and my foot was nice and tight...I didn't need any extra support since my foot was in such good shape (about time for some part of me to be in good shape!). I came home with my new shoes and could not wait for the next morning's run! I laced those bad boys up and hit the street the next morning. I walked for about 5 min to warm up then I started to run. At first everything was just fine. Then about a minute later I noticed my toes felt thick (for a lack of a better way to describe it). Then they started to go numb. Then the numbness started creeping up my feet. I stopped running and re-laced the shoes thinking that they were too tight. I ran some more. They did not get better...I felt like my feet were lead blocks. I stopped and took my new shoes off, they only got about a mile run in them. I ran the rest of my route barefoot, I loved it but I spent so much on those shoes I decided to go back to the store and try again.
2 more pairs of shoes later the LRS told me they didn't have any more shoes to try on me. Every pair made my foot go numb. I tried some wide shoes and some mens. So, I did a full on return of the shoes and have not looked back. I also don't have the sore hips or knees now. It has now gotten to the point where those old shoes I started running in are causing my feet to go numb now. I have still been starting out my runs wearing them though. I take them off sooner and sooner as I build up more BFR miles.
This week I plan on being 100% BF and then my first 5k is on Sept. 19th.
I have come a long way. I started out with a new baby and a bad back. The back is about 95% better now...my leg only goes tingly if I sit funny, but no more pain....Smoking and crazy hernias and fat, quit and fixed and down 53 lbs...I started running with a pace of 17:57 per mile (I could walk much faster than this), my pace is now around 13:20...I could not run for 60 seconds strait and now I can go for 3.5 miles! Oh and for those of you that are curious, I am still nursing that baby 15 months later. I tend to be stubborn and stick with something once I have decided it is worth doing.
If you got this far, thanks for reading!
