My family has raced standard bred horses for 55 years, so raising horses and farm life is truly in my blood. I have worked the field since I was a child and all I knew was to be on the move and working.
In my adult years, I was an active mother of three kids and nothing held us back as a family. We were on the go 24-7 and we loved it. I was the type of mom who played with my kids and did sports with them and taught them about the horses. In addition I have driven school buses for 22 years.
My back injury changed my life and changed who I was.
In 1991, I injured my back a horse show in Chicago when I tried to help one of our horses stand up after it went down in the stall. I was told that I had “sprained my back” and I didn’t even know what they meant.
I simply went back to doing whatever I could and lived in constant fear of my pain and fear of my back. In 1995, I slipped on the ice at the bus barn where I worked and I was in even more pain. A few years later, my pain became so severe I wondered if I could even drive the bus any more.
When I wasn’t working, I was on pain pills and resting, and getting more and more disabled by my back pain. I could not find usable information anywhere about how to deal with my back pain. I couldn’t find anything that would teach me how to start really living my life again – and I was struggling with depression. At my worst, I was basically living on the couch and unable to do housework or yard work. I was completely lost and out of my element for the first time in my life. I had hit the end of the line.
I was finally referred to the UI Spine Center, and I was ready for some answers. In the program they had me doing an aerobic tape at 8 a.m. and I thought, “What did I get myself into!”
I thought that I was going to die. The first week was really tough but I learned that even though getting back into shape hurts, I would not harm myself doing the exercises I learned in the program. I was getting stronger and I understood how to do the exercises correctly.
I have to admit that initially I resisted the psychology portion of the program, but by the second week I truly saw the value of what I was being taught for my pain management. I still do my deep breathing, imagery, and coping skills to manage my pain.
Since completing the Spine Rehabilitation Program, my fear about my pain is gone. I feel empowered to live my life again. My pain comes and goes – but now I have the knowledge and tools to manage the pain, and I stay in control of my life.
I walk about two miles a day and have made changes in my diet as well. I play with my grandchildren, drive the school bus and work our horse barn. I am alive again!
I don’t let pain control me – I control my pain. I believe that the UI Spine Center is the best-kept secret in the Midwest, and I am here to tell that secret to all who will listen. I really loved going through the program and I bonded with my group. If you commit to this program you are committing to changing the rest of your life for the better. It is truly a lifestyle change.
|
