Have you ever gone through life only going through the daily motions and not worry about your health, because you eat well and clean, you don’t smoke, you exercise regualry and are very active, and you don’t drink alcohol only socially? Well, that was me, I was healthy based on what the doctors would say, rarely was ill except for the common cold and only went to see the doctors for my yearly physicals.

The day my life changed the injury that changed my life. My mornings usually begin with me jumping out of bed to get the kids ready for school. That particular morning I remember waking up and feeling a sharp pain in my back when I went to move all I can remember thinking is that I could barely feel my legs. Not only did I get instant anxiety but I began to panic. I tried to remedy the situation, I know that I can not be the only person to self diagnose themselves. I thought this is something that a hot shower can fix. I tried to drag myself to the bathroom to jump in the shower and soothe my muscles. The next thing that I remember is waking up to my step-daughter standing on top of me yelling at me. Looking around wondering why am I in the shower with my clothes on and why is the water still running.

The next few hours were a blur when finally woke up all I can remember is trying to move but not having any feeling of my legs. My stepdaughter called 911 the paramedics, and police escorted me to the nearest hospital. Let’s just say that it was a puzzle piece for them trying to get me out of my glass shower. When I arrived at the hospital I spent hours going through evaluations, with several physicians trying to find the clues to find a remedy. I literally was in the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I have had three kids and at that point, I would have 10 more kids than go through the pain that I was in. The physicians tried several kinds of pain medicines, muscles relaxers and nothing was working. All I can remember is staring at the ceiling for hours and dying of aging pain praying that I would be taken out of my misery.

After being admitted and spending three days going through additional tests, the physicians came to the conclusion that when I fainted, I must have caused trauma landing on my back causing two bulging disks in my lower back and a pinched nerve. Because of my injury to my back and the pinched nerve, I also had a dropped foot causing no feeling to my left leg. They couldn’t come up with an answer on why I passed out, why I woke up with extreme pain, it was just speculations and theories. Maybe I got up from my bed too quickly, maybe I insured my back and didn’t notice. A lot of maybe’s but no answers. I began to feel my right leg but I still could not feel my left leg. At the hospital, I began physical therapy, was given a foot boot and was told I had two options I can have surgery on my back or I can try to relieve the pain and pressure on my leg with an epidural shot and try physical therapy.

I took the epidural route and chose to go home and slowly recover. The hospital scheduled me a home nurse which is a whole other story, physical therapy which is a nightmare, and sent me off with no remedy to my health issue but a let’s try this plan.

Until that point in my life, I never thought that I needed to worry about my health. I thought that I was following the healthy checklist, and was clearly wrong.

After a week in the hospital, I clearly realized that my life theory was wrong and I was not mentally, financially, and physically prepared for the life-altering moments that were too come.