I wanted to share with you my 1 year health journey since May 2024 when suddenly out of the blue and totally unexpected as I had not injured myself, my left leg had severe swelling, pain & discomfort and would buckle under me if I tried walking more than 5 feet.
My counselling practice here in Colchester, Essex had to be managed in terms of working with my clients within my own capacity to be totally present with them, due to dealing with my physical issues I had to be aware that I had to take some time out when required.
It took about 1 month to heal which entailed using my arms & right leg to lift myself off my bed, sofa & kitchen barstool and hence all pressure & strength was going through my right side of my body.
Driving was a necessity which was absolute agony, even getting in & out of the car took up to 5 mins each attempt and the actual driving part was no fun at all. There’s no one else to take my family to Doctors, Hospital, Opticians plus there’s food shopping to be done so it was a case of having to deal with the pain.
My pelvis had developed tilt, both hamstrings, thighs, glutes, calf muscles, lower back had all become very tight & weak. My right side was in an extremely state of affairs, I’d lay on my bed at night and see my leg pulsating all the way up & down in tears with the strange discomfort stopping me sleep until it either stopped, or I could no longer stay away through exhaustion.
Also there was the horrible bloated gut I had that looked like I was going to explode, puffy face & eyes, constantly congested sinuses with difficulty breathing & clearing mucus which was embarrassing as well as uncomfortable, frustrating & fatiguing. And let’s not forget the general fatigue and mood swings when my hormones were out of balance.
Walking my dog Sandie had to be considered as if she was off-lead and another dog caused her a problem I couldn’t move quickly to protect her.
It’s been a long & arduous experience of working with specialists on the following:
– Gut Health (diet, testing, supplements)
– Acupuncture
– Strengthening & mobility of both legs
– Chiropractic Physio
– Osteopathy
– Mindset Coaching
– EFT (Emotional Freedom Therapy) & Tapping
– Standing Meditation (Zhan Zuang)
– Sitting Meditation (Nei Gong)
– Red Light Therapy
The acupuncture released some ‘bad blood’ according to the therapist from my leg & back, it literally made me feel like vomiting and feinting so I had to stop the session early. My leg mobility improved for about 1 day, then went back to previously being extremely tight & weak as it all became ‘looser’ but the strength was very low in terms of lacking stability & balance.
The gut health program was a huge factor for me, back when this all began I struggled to even speak it was that bad with ‘brain fog’ and being incoherent at times was a strange experience.
I had numerous Zoom video sessions for guidance on how to increase the strength & mobility and also assessment of the pelvic tilt situation.
These sessions were very hard work, they entailed pain, frustration and sheer determination & bloody mindedness from me to make steady improvements.
There was no way it was going to beat me, having previous injury of the Pudendal nerve about 15 years ago which I couldn’t sit down without being in horrific pain and recovering from that experience I drew upon how I got through those times.
Back then I was cured by a Bowen therapist, this time that didn’t work so well for me and had minimal positive change.
Anyway this is not a sob story, nor is it a plea for support as I’ve been fortunate to have been supported by some amazing professionals throughout this journey.
I went to Osteotherapy this morning and was given the challenge of doing some Deadlifts (I haven’t done those since when I trained with weights about 5 years ago). My body responded well and the overall balance has improved steadily, believe it or not most of these issues have stemmed from emotional, gut, environment & past traumas being expressed through my physical body.
All of this has been a wake up call for me, and don’t get me wrong I still have moments when I wander a little of the path of doing what I need to for my body. The main focus for me is to maintain, and improve what I do for my whole being, from gut health to the external physical.
Being a counsellor and having the focus on getting myself in the best physical & mental condition to support & serve others is paramount, life is rarely perfect when it comes to our health and knowing when to take a break is alway important for us.
Thanks to the following people for their support & expertise:
Gina Cooper at ‘Purbeck Rehab Gut Health’ & ‘Purbeck Rehab’
Jamie Acres at ‘Clacton Osteopathy and Physiotherapy’
https://clacton-osteopathy-and-physiotherapy.co.uk/
Terry at ‘Free Your Body Therapy’
Gareth Riddy at ‘Release Yourself’
