I have a broken rib. And I don’t even have a dramatic, exciting story to go with it, like I wrestled a ferocious lion to the ground to give him a sani trim. Just a slip, a fall, a broken rib. This happened while in the Netherlands, hours before the start of a 2-day cat grooming workshop.
A week prior, in the middle of an all-too-common spell of vertigo, I fell down my hardwood steps and banged up my hip and lower back. All of this came right after 36 straight days of running a minimum of at least 1 mile per day. And thus ended my running streak.
Broken and cracked, I am now, over a month later, getting back to a brisk walk. I can’t run yet as my ribs still need to heal, but I hope to lace up my running shoes soon and get back to logging some miles. I miss the runs. And I’m missing all the lovely late spring/early summer weather – my favorite!
Despite the bumps and breaks, I have not stopped traveling. Since my 36-day streak, I have been to Washington DC, Virginia Beach, Houston, Zurich, several places in Holland, and Illinois. It’s been a productive spring, vertigo and all.
During this time I decided to give acupuncture a try to help resolve the chronic neck and shoulder pain and resulting vertigo. After 7 weeks of seeing the acupuncturist 1x per week, I have learned that while acupuncture feels great and brings a very temporary sedation that dulls the pain, it has not helped long-term. Without the bi-weekly visits to my massage therapist and 2-3 visits per month to my chiropractor (more on this in a following blog), the vertigo came back with a vengeance. I mean a super mean vengeance. Daily dizziness is debilitating and dangerous, undoubtably destructive to daily duties. (Ha! And all with half my brain tied up in circles!)
So back to the massage therapist and chiro I go. These aren’t just any professionals. These two have saved me from a life of perpetual spinning round and round, as if stuck on a teacup ride that won’t ever stop. It took years of sifting through many other chiropractors and massage therapists to find the 2 that made a difference. I am thankful to have found these two. And now, after trying acupuncture for a spell, I am back to what has been the most effective in the past.
And I am gradually getting back to putting some miles on my sneaker treads.
Photos: Prince Sky, a fabulous Maine Coon bred by Liza Gerber and owned/groomed by Helena Schmid, CFMG. Shot on location at Katzenbaden.ch in Fischbach-Göslikon,Switzerland.
