Thank you praying for my test on Friday. It was easy. The results were normal. I don’t want anything to be wrong with me per se, but “normal” test results do not help diagnose the many things that are already not functioning properly – even taking into account my 🧠 injury baseline. Please pray for me and my docs as I seek additional testing. #avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #lifeismysport #learninghowtolive #shreddedgrace
I’m just sayin’ – if Trainer David had explained Bioavailability to me I would not have fought him on Day 1. … JK. We all know I would have, anyway. It’s more fun for all of us. 💯 This is Jess, my dietician. She is married to Trainer David. I met him in 2013, and our first fight was about the amino acid profile of Hemp Hearts. 😑 I’m STILL mad about that. 😑. I was vegan at the time, and I LOVED BEING VEGAN. But when I met David he explained that his plans for my physical fitness would likely require me to eat animal products. Eventually I conceded bc I was unable to consume the quantity/quality of food necessary on a plant based diet bc I have a lot of food issues. When I actually STOPPED eating most real food due to stress in 2014, David called me out bc my declining performance in the gym was incontrovertible evidence, and he made me go see Jessica. I think this is her “Professor” voice 🤣💗. I love the info she’s sharing – it’s easy for me to take in. Seriously, this just makes sense to me, bc the concept of bioavailability is scientific fact. It was a big decision to consume animal products again. I started with a little dairy, then seafood, then meat, but only if Ernie grilled it 🤣. But it allowed me to prioritize building strength to face life in the context of how my body works. Expert guidance and knowledge of how my body could take in and use fuel was key. For trustworthy nutritional info, go to @jess.murgueytio.rd And to push and shove with Sister Maria – @letstrainrockville -Tell him
Bossy Smurf says, hi. Trainer Max is also there, and is also fantastic, fyi.
Sorry I bled on your machine, Dr. Cheryl 💗.
See the boo boo on my elbow? Andre caught me bleeding on the @alterginc. My left shoulder was subbluxxed post AVM and has remained vulnerable to dragging even though I wear the chassis low. I tried to fix it and did not know it was bleeding until after the fact. Don’t worry. Andre patched it up and the the AlterG is nicely sanitized. Earlier, @sdpphotostudio let me do fun things! 🙌 And Dr. Cheryl @powherchiro did the Vulcan Death Grip!! I’m having many issues. 🙏 please pray for HELPFUL Testing Friday. That leads to resolution 🙏. NOTE: I’m having Facebook difficulty. I can’t comment back to you, but I see you, and I appreciate your prayers so much 💗 #avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #lifeismysport #learninghowtolive #shreddedgrace
Skin Biopsy Results: abnormal nerve things going on in L ankle. This is a surprise to no one. The L ankle has always been very vulnerable. This test was for #Dysautonomia related small fiber neuropathy. You guys very kindly prayed for my pain mgmt bc I had a hard time recovering from the procedure in July. 💗🙏💗 thank you. And thank you to my wonderful friends who took me to Hopkins and took such great care of me. Please continue to pray for my pain mgmt. I’ve had some super rough nights. Thank you xoxo #avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #lifeismysport #learninghowtolive #shreddedgrace
I finally have GOOD news to share!! I gained Skeletal Muscle
Mass in the last year even though I have felt increasingly awful. SERIOUSLY. This is my biggest muscle gain ever – 134% of my biggest YOY gain at the height of running/training 5x/week. This past year I saw Dr. Cheryl @powherchiro and Andre @sdpphotostudio 1x/week and just tried to move. I often had to stop bc Of breathing or balance, and we’ve been really careful. So I was SHOCKED when my doc Showed me the numbers. And i confirmed that fancy scale does not lie. I started losing muscle in mid 2018 – my gait broke down, David kicked me out of his gym, I did not tell D I was still seeing Randy (SOMEONE had to look after me!) and Randy LITERALLY badgered me into going back to PT. I finally agreed once I became unable to stand for the duration of my extensive personal grooming routine. 😑. DLee @drdavidleedpt @fyzicalgermantown reworked my gait (thank you 🔥), and I ran my first mile in the @alterginc, but I had to stop bc I started losing hearing and got Sea Legs. Sniff Sniff. Now I see Dr. Cheryl and Andre weekly, but I grieved as I watched my quality of life decline, and still tried (often unsuccessfully) to run and move. Such a large gain in this context is a gift from God. I was prepared to receive news that I had LOST muscle this year. But God made it so I had my biggest gain yet. The important thing is that even in the midst of physical decline He has been communicating truth, strength and hope to me and above all: His care FOR me. 💗💗💗 “He restoreth my soul,” in the presence of physical weakness (Ps 23.3) – it’s just that He also decided to surprise me with +muscle mass in a way that makes zero sense to me except that He brought my consistent attempts to fruition. This has fired up my chi enough to embark on the further medical investigations on my to do list through November. It’s a long list and includes more #Dysautonomia testing, and a special swallow study. I started a #mechanicalsoft diet a few months ago.
#avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #learninghowtolive #lifeismysport #shreddedgrace
See that crumpled up piece of paper? Those are the post-procedure instructions I was supposed to be paying attention to, but I just stuffed them into my purse and found them several days later. My bad. I went to Hopkins for a #Dysautonomia test – a skin biopsy for neuropathy. I have all the symptoms of Dysautonomia, but I started instinctively doing all the lifestyle management stuff last year, so the testing is for info only and will not impact treatment. But my symptoms could also be brain injury or something else, which is why I have to do formal testing (I’m still scheduling). THANK YOU to my friends who took excellent care of me bc I was super skittish and they made everything easy and fun 💗. My Nurse Practitioner could not have been nicer or more helpful. I disclosed that I’m 1/2+ #deaf and #HoH and have #PTSD etc, and how she could help me. She immediately raised her voice, maintained excellent eye contact, kept on explaining what was going to happen, and reassured me I could say, STOP, at any time. 🙌🤟🥺. It was hard in a flashback sort of way, bc I had to lie on my side on a table and that’s a problematic memory for me. 😑 fyi, all my appendages and the L side of my face have been tingly/numb since my AVM. I thought lotion would solve the strange sensation. My skincare and bathing routines had been cast aside for MONTHS. Clearly, I thought, getting back on track with applying lotion on my arms and legs would solve this problem. 😑 I was disappointed to find out I was mistaken. But it was a low priority symptom and my lotion smelled nice, so I just moved on. Right now I’ve got 3 tiny holes in my leg. They’d be nothing to an able bodied person, but I’m having a really hard time. The one near the hip gets especially sore as the day wears on and triggers other pain. This morning they were all bothering me, plus my breathing was very uncomfortable. So I took meds, propped up, and am sleeping more. Please pray I will bounce back asap. Although I haven’t been feeling very bouncy for a couple years. These yellow orchids from my Aunt and Uncle, however, are helping 💗🙏💗.
Before I was diagnosed with #ptsd in Jan 2015, I had no idea what was happening to me. All I could do was train. The gym and the clinic became safe places for me and when i started having flashbacks, my MHP made me inform David and Randy and put safety measures in place. One really awful thing about any kind of Trauma is that it isolates you. It wants you to believe that you are ALONE in your fear, doubt, and moments of terror. THANK YOU to my friend “The Marine” who was the first person to come along side me, show me the ropes, and gave me the courage to seek healing. || Last Summer I started having Events I thought were seizures, but long video EEG (the diagnostic gold standard) proved they are NOT seizures. Actually, these events started brewing in 2018, and became full blown in 2021. They never stopped, I just stopped talking about them bc I was ignoring them after learning they were not seizures. 2 recent Events made them impossible to ignore and were the first ones that were clearly PTSD related. I’m not saying there’s a 100% correlation here, I’m saying it is extremely distressing to concede even a partial relationship. This situation is being worked. Thank you to the professionals who look out for me, help me plan for my safety, and accept and help me when these Events come up during treatment. #avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #lifeismysport #learninghowtolive #shreddedgrace #ptsdawareness
Telehealth 12.30pm|
Me: hi, doc. This is an HONEST QUESTION. I’m NOT trying to be funny. Did I tell you I have lung damage? |.
Answer: No. Boooo. And the doc at my 4pm telehealth also said I had not told him this. 😑. So now I’m taking inventory:
People I forgot to tell:
❌ Psychiatrist
❌ Endocrinologist
I told:
✅ Matt Hankey (he was non-committal, but I’m counting this as a Yes, I told him) @hopeforhankey
Not Sure:
❔Neurologist
❔ENT
I know, I know. I SHOULD BE SURE as to whether or not I told my Neuro and ENT, but I’m not bc I’ve been very busy being in denial. The only doc im sure about is my PCP bc she’s the one who told ME. They discovered this on a CT scan in Nov 2020. it’s like one of those speeding ticket pics that you get in the mail and you’re like, of COURSE I wasn’t speeding. But it’s totally YOUR car, YOUR license plate, YOUR profile in the pic and then you have to admit that it was you. Anyway, they said it was “minimal” so I was like it’s no biggie. But when I started feeling discomfort i spent the next 19 months DEMANDING that someone find SOMETHING they could fix. I blame David and Randy for this 😑💯😑. Bc they trained me for years assuming 100% capacity and I did really well, so I was unwilling to accept that there was any reason for me NOT to do well. But I’ve been so uncomfortable lately that I’m finally accepting it. The theory is that this was caused by the vent in 2011. It’s permanent. There is no talk of rehabbing this or reinflating anything. So I’m just doing the best I can with what I have. I still run weekly with @powherchiro Dr. Cheryl, and I think@it’s critical to keep trying #. But most often my “best” is simply lying in bed asking the Comforter to help me. 💗 Psalm 94.19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul. #avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #lifeismysport #learninghowtolive #shreddedgrace
This was last Fri at my Neuro ophthalmologist. I was like, sooo…..those pictures are of comparable scale? Like, you didn’t zoom in on one? 🤣🤣🤣🤣😑😑😑😑 nope. Those are my optic nerves. That’s the first time I saw a pic. I believe them now 😑 Boooo. But so far, so good. Goal = get pressure on the L lower and stable. Time will tell. It looks good right now, but you can’t say anything definitive – however, my response to treatment is directionally correct thus far. Next follow up in 6 mo! Glad for a good check up 💗 #avmsurvivor #strokesurvivor #lifeismysport #learninghowtolive #shreddedgrace #opticnerve
Dear Ones,
Learning How... 