Okay, so for years I was a walker. I mean, for years. As a teenager, I loved to go for a walk. I had a dog that liked to walk, and I took him for walks regularly. As a teenager and a young adult, I went for a walk almost every evening, in my town. There were lots of directions and paths for walks.
I remember as a teen, arguing with my mother because my dog would cry and cry because he wanted to go for a walk, even late at night in cold weather. But, eventually, she believed me, and a 10 minute walk around the block settled the dog so he would sleep at night. And, it was good for me, too.
Some of my walks took my by my grandmother's house, so on my way home, I would stop in to visit.
When I was in junior high, and high school, my sister and friends would walk the few miles to my uncle's country home, to the state highway just to collect trash, to hike various trails. I hiked many trails in the area of my home town. I just loved to walk. And, I still do.
On December 31, 2004, I joined a group of several women who made a 10 mile hike at Caprock Canyon State Park.
I live in a neighborhood that is not especially conducive to walking: there are sidewalks going east and west but not north and south. But I used to walk in the neighborhood anyway. I live near a park, and the walk around the park is great. There is a playa lake in the park, so it is also good for bird watching.
However, the good thing about the neighborhood is the accessibility to services within walking distance. I could take my car in for service, and although they would offer to drive me home and pick me up, I could take the walk. And, when my dog was alive,we walked it together. I could walk to the post office, the office supply store, the supermarket if I needed minor things, the hardware store if I did not need heavy things, the discount store. And, I did all of those walks, and more.
I loved to walk, so I might go to a city park to make the walk for whatever reason: birdwatching, flower looking, visiting with a friend, general exercise. I used to go the Lubbock Lake Landmark to walk. I just loved to walk.
Well, when I started having pain that was eventually diagnosed as siatica, I stopped walking. I was very stubborn, and did not seek treatment for the pain for about 3-5 years. So, I limited my walking, and also limited my house work, yard work, and other activities.
House work and yard work would aggrevate my pain. I work in a large complex. So, I would plan my walks to minimize the number of walks I needed to make. Walking from my office to my car would aggrevate my pain.
Celebrex helped: but after I started medication, I over did my activity, and it did not allow me more activity, just the same activity with minimal pain. Physical therapy helped: I felt stronger, more stable, had increased range of motion, but still had pain.
I finally went to pain management, and was eventually given cortisone shots. It took from Wednesday until Saturday before I felt relief, but I did feel relief. I still feel a heaviness in my hip area, sometimes, when I am engaged in activities that used to cause pain. My foot tingles, and I have a "foot drop." But, I am feeling a whole lot better.
The medical provider agreed that the foot strengthening exercises might help my foot drop. They thought that walking would be good, as tolerated for cardio-vascular exercise.
So, today, I went for a walk. I used to walk from my house, around the neighborhood park and tennis complex regularly. It is more than a mile walk. Today, I just went around part of the park. I took two rest stops. The first a preventative, the second, to recover my wind. When I arrived back home, my hip was tingling, so I sat and rested.
I hope to go for another such walk tomorrow.
I am so excited about being able to walk again. Yeah!
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