When I was 16 I was playing softball and it was just a freak accident.
When I was 14 years old I had an injury due to a fall in hockey. What happened was the pain went away everywhere
accept in my legs.
When I was 12, I was in a motor vehicle accident. Prior to then I was very athletic. I was swimming, doing soccer, doing volleyball.
I acquired a disease called chronic regional pain syndrome. Before I got my CRPS I was doing hockey, taekwondo. Once I
got my CRPS, I slowly declined. Stoped doing sports whatsoever, even just going outside
to take a walk.
Like one of the biggest things I found with my pain was the risk of having more pain.
Obviously I wasn't able to do as much. I was scared to get started and being active because I wasn't sure if I do something wrong then I'd make myself worse.
After I was injured by the softball, I went through a period of trying to figure out what activities
would actually work for me. So one of the things I tried at first with something I used to do which
was playing soccer and I was running and I had to stop halfway through and leave the game because
the pain was just too intense. I had to figure out something new, so one of the things they recommended
was yoga. What's great about yoga is it's something that you can definitely modify the positions for
in order so get a workout, but at the same time not cause an increase of your pain.
When my pain started, it started when I was infected with the swine flu virus. I tried to keep doing all the
things I've been doing before and it was incredibly painful, so I had to stop doing a lot of the things
I love. So when I re-evaluated what I can and can't do, I decided well my legs are bad but the rest of
me seems pretty alright, so I'm gonna work out. I'm going to use my arms. Get cardio by using a
resistance spinning machine like that and there are definitely alternatives to what I can do to
stay physically active, you just have to look hard enough.
I was in a lot of pain and there was not much that I could actually do, so my father came up with the idea to buy a Guitar Hero, which I would
play trying to move my arm just even slightly, just for some sort of entertainment and
physiotherapy combined. That started getting my arm moving. I tried incorporating that into my daily
routines and exercises. Eventually, it turned into more than just a physiotherapy, it turned into a hobby.
Some strategies they use is not to push myself and go day-by-day. I wouldn't think how it was day
before and always think present moment, how I am now. There are good days, there are bad days. Like now I'm
actually attending a fitness class so I'm actually doing weightlifting and all that again. There are
days where I'm doing eight pounders on dumbbells and there's times were doing five pounders,
so just it's a matter of coping with yourself and knowing how to push body and when not to push it.
The CRPS kind of brought me down to a very depressive state and having something to
excel and really brought a purpose back into my life. Even if it was a game or an act of
the actual guitar. If I could play one song I achieved something and that's something
I hadn't done in about two years.
Some of the benefits I have are definitely improved mood. After work out, you know, you just feel good. Feel good about yourself. It really helped me
with social connections because I was able to go to my friends and say 'Hey, do you want
to try Zumba?' It was just a great way to feel almost normal.
So benefits that I've noticed with physical activity is that I feel better within myself physically. When I go to yoga
class there's times when I don't feel well but I still will go to make myself feel better.
So I'm able to do a lot more stuff and, you know, [inaudible]. I go to school more as opposed to when I wasn't doing
physical activities I was feeling really down. I really didn't want to do much physically.
I go to physio and strengthening the muscles around my legs means that they don't need to rely on
the joints as much, so it's less wear and tear. I realize that it's important and its gonna prevent
me from getting worse in the future.
Take care of yourself now and future you will be thankful.