off balance

This will be the last post on this blog.

I was encouraged to start this blog by a psychotherapist who thought that it would be a good way for me to deal with the anxiety and frustration that I have felt in dealing with my multiple medical problems and many misdiagnosis.

I felt uncomfortable posting on this blog. It was indeed a bit therapeutic but it served no one but me. It did not include any helpful advice or earth shaking insights.

These were merely the ramblings of someone who was in pain and who felt screwed over by Western medicine.

It was sad and negative. Two things that are NOT ME.

Now I have reason to believe that the therapist that suggested that I start this blog is supporting Donald Trump for President!!!

This scares me more than needles and snakes. Talk about misdiagnosis!!

Clearly this therapist is not a person from whom I (or anyone for that matter) should be taking advice.

I am done with this doctor and I am done with this rant of negativity.

If by some chance I do recover fully from my condition and Trump is NOT elected president and the world goes on with a pain free active ME in it, then I will return with all sorts of rainbows and sunshine and helpful advice.

Until then..

Living La Vida Flip Flop

I Love Shoes.

At one point in my life I think I had more shoes than clothes.

Which is just one of the many reasons that this whole SI Joint Dysfunction has been so so so awful.

The pelvis is a complicated and important part of our bodies.

It is the center. Literally The Center. The Core.

Almost all movement that we do initiates from our core, the abdominal muscles, the lower back muscles, the tendons and ligaments surrounding the muscles of the pelvis, the attachment of the legs, the protection of the intestines and sex organs.

If you did not have a pelvis it would be nearly impossible to sit down....or stand up. 

Because our Pelvis, our Center, is so important, if something goes wrong around there it throws the whole body into chaos.

You can't balance. You have difficulty standing or walking or holding anything heavy or squatting or twisting. It's like trying to stand in a storm tossed boat ALL THE TIME.

It is awful. And just talking about it makes me sea sick.

So. If the pelvis is wonky, if the ligaments are either too tight or in my case too loose, some other part of the body is going to have to kick in to help stabilize things.

In my case, my feet have gone into over time trying to keep me stable. I've only met one other person who was diagnosed with SI Joint Dysfunction and her ankles got stuck doing the dirty work. It could be your knees, or more likely your lower back or your shoulders. But Something is going to have to start working or you will end up in a puddle on the floor.

So my poor little shoe loving feet are working over-time to keep me standing. But they are merely feet. Skinny little feet with tiny muscles and short tendons and little tiny bones. Not a big wide pelvis with big muscles and super thick bones. My little tootsies just can't handle all that extra work of keeping my entire body stable so they rebelled. My feet have gone on strike. If I try to walk any distance they cramp up. If I try to put them into a pair of shoes they cramp up. If I stand too long they cramp up. The only thing that will stop the foot spasms is to lie on my back, legs propped up on pillows, muscles relaxants in my blood stream.

And the only thing I can possibly put on my insanely painful and crampy feet are soft rubbery flip flops. They cushion the soles of my feet and still let them move around a bit to do their support work.

Let me tell you something. If you like fashion then you know that a mediocre outfit can be elevated to chicdom with the right pair of shoes. Just think of all of the nice things you wear that are made so much better with Beautiful Shoes. And nothing can ruin a really cute outfit like an old pair of flip flops. Seriously. Imagine pairing your favorite ensemble with a pair of rubber flip flops. See what I mean?  Flip flops are the only shoes I can comfortably wear.

I read a lot of fashion blogs and magazines and I honestly cannot even look at the posts that feature shoes. It is just too sad for shoe loving me.

I know that this is a first world problem. I get that. But still.....

I am Livin' La Vida Flip Flop.

And it is indeed LOCA.



Loose Joints

Loose joints. Loose joints. That's what the drug dealers on my street in New York City used to whisper to me as a I made my way to my dance class. Loose joints. Yep. That's me.

The splits, no problem. Wrap my let around my neck. Sure. Why not. I have always been flexible. Some people just are. First row in yoga class. That's my place.

Little did I know that all that flexibility that I enjoyed so much was going to come back to haunt me one day.

I first noticed that something was not right when I was pregnant with my first child.

I had THE WORST sciatica. I couldn't sit longer than 20 minutes.

It disappeared as soon as she was born and reappeared with my second pregnancy. Only to disappear when he arrived. Then this nasty sciatica only bothered me after an especially hard dance class. I could hardly walk home afterward.

What was happening to my super flexible bod? My Sacroiliac joint was sliding around just a little too much, THAT'S what was happening.

If you have a pelvis, you have a sacroiliac or SI Joint. It's a strange little joint. More of a slider than a rotator like most joints. And it is not supposed to move very much.

But mine was moving way more than it was supposed to...because of my very loose ligaments or connective tissue which gave me those super flexible loose joints. The surrounding muscles were going into over-time to try to stabilize this looseness. The busy busy over worked muscles were pinching my sciatic nerve which just happened to be in the way. It was SERIOUSLY painful.

Now whenever I see someone who is very very flexible I think, " Oh my, poor baby. You are going to feel that one day."

Just so you know. Highlighted words in my blog have a link to the explanation, usually Wikipedia.



Here We Go

Hi There. This is my blog where I discuss my journey with Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction. If you don't know what that means then this won't be very interesting for you and I suggest you head over to some other blog where you'll have a whole lot more fun.

But if you or someone you know suffers from SI Joint Dysfunction or Piriformis Syndrome or Pelvic Instability or all three or something that might be one or all of those things then Welcome. As they say, misery loves company.

 

I have been dealing with these conditions and their subsequent side effects for the past five years. I'm not better yet. But I'm working on it.

I wanted to start this blog to help other people in my position (which at this point is quite misaligned...just a little si joint dysfunction humor for you) and hopefully we will all gain some insight and hopefully recover fully. This is a very misunderstood and mostly misdiagnosed condition. It is extremely painful and can be quite life altering.

I will end this first post with a link to the Wikipedia entry for you to take a look at if you haven't already. Click HERE.

So here we go. The story of my journey with SI Joint Dysfunction begins. Fasten your seat belts.