Tiara's Tuesday Talk – We're Walkers!

Tiara’s Tuesday Talk – by Sara Sheibley
 

 

Lots of things are great as a half… That half a sandwich and a cup of soup deal, half of an oreo cookie, a half dollar… Now here we are at the half way point. Since we have a ten(ish) year goal we can’t completely say we are halfway there but we can say that we are halfway gone. 5 weeks under our belt and lots and lots of steps to show for it. LOTS!

No no no… Not these steps,

or even these, .

I’m talking about the kind we do with our feet. Although, running up and down stairs is a good way to get steps!

 

More like this kind… and we always count

this kind…

So now that we done week 5, what are some things we have learned? Tie our shoelaces tight, use lots of Epsom salts in our foot soaks and stretching can save our calves. We’ve also figured out how to work that stupid pedometer that we threw across the table when we first got it right?? Anything else? That over doing it sucks and puts us back to square one, that foot rubs are glorious after a couple miles and naps are a joy on a Sunday afternoon when you’ve spent all week walking!

 Of course most of those things mentioned were for us chronically ill people. Although I don’t know too many people that turn down a Sunday nap, except 1 & ½ to 4 year olds.

I, however, would give my left arm to nap daily.

Back to talking about walking (not napping)… I’m sure we have all learned our own bodies a bit better too. Slow down usually comes in the form of a cramp. You need to sit probably starts as a foot ache or a sore knee. You listen a whole lot better to your body too, I’m sure (Not…). Well, at least we know what it’s saying when we are limping around for 2 days because we didn’t stop when that little twinge started in our foot.
Honestly, for me this last week has been hard. Due to having 3 out of 4 seasons all in one week, actually all in one weekend this past weekend, I’m pretty under the weather. My feet ache, my back is stiff, I have a headache, my knees are swollen… But I’m still walking. Maybe not quite as much right now but I’m moving.
Of course I did sleep almost 12 hours on Friday night. Me, the timeless insomniac slept so long I woke up feeling like I had bed sores! We’re tired, we ache, we want a nap, scratch that, we NEED a nap but sometimes we just

It’s what we do. We’re fighters. We’re winners. We’re walkers…
 
Sara Sheibley is a wife and mother of four.  Through out most of her life she has dealt with chronic illness. Born with small fiber axonal polyneuropathy, she had aches and pains early on but wasn’t diagnosed with AS until 2008. Since then she has had to champion her own cause after she developed hemalytic anemia from treatments. Although she suffers with more than just AS, she feels that this is her primary illness and wants to be active in helping the cause. Sara & her Tiara’s Tuesday Talk will discuss a myriad of topics from assistive devices to walking help when you have other illnesses to consider.