This week I got some stuff done! YAY!!
My anxiety and depression (they are a double act) sometimes lead me to put things off. Days pass then weeks, I put things off, and avoid tasks. I get overwhelmed and it all snowballs while I fall into a downward spiral. The slump took hold recently and I found myself dwelling on things: depressed about my future, depressed about my present, I lost a few weeks sitting on the couch feeling glum and anxious.
The realisation hit me that dwelling on things was making me feel worse. So I got onto some tasks that I’d been putting off, made some phone calls and booked some appointments.
This week I had 2 appointments; The podiatrist for foot care and the exercise physiologist for an initial assessment.
I see a podiatrist once a month for routine foot care. Foot care is massively important for people with CMT. Reduced pain sensation can lead to unnoticed injuries that become infected. Nerve damage causes dry, cracked skin because your nerves aren’t able to carry moisture to those areas. If untreated, the cracks become excruciatingly painful as they make their way into the soft live skin underneath.
Another common CMT foot issue is callouses. These nasty things form on pressure points on the top and soles of the feet. Bony parts of the feet receive more impact than they’re designed to handle due to the twisting and pulling of weakened and compensating muscles. So, the skin around the area thickens. If they get bad, It feels like walking on a pebble. A sharp, pointy, evil, pebble.
Seeing the podiatrist regularly, stops the cracks and callouses from developing. The podiatrist cuts the dry skin off with a scalpel and smoothes out the hard areas with an electric file. An implement kind of like an electric sander but for feet. He cuts my toenails and finishes it off with a nice little moisturise. It’s like getting a little pedicure. My feet feel amazing afterwards.
I’m going to do a post about foot care and the importance in making a habit of it in the coming weeks.
I had my first session with an exercise physiologist from Exercise Healthcare Australia (https://www.exercisehealthcare.com.au/) on Friday. For those that don’t know, exercise physiologists are kind of like a cross between a physiotherapist and a personal trainer. They combine expert knowledge of the human body with expertise in the role of health and wellbeing to develop individually tailored exercise programs. Where a physiotherapist performs hands-on, passive treatments, exercise physiologists design specific clinical rehabilitation programs to increase fitness and delay the onset of chronic conditions.
The first session was the usual assessment type of thing. The exercise physiologist measured my grip strength, had me stand up from sitting for a set period (stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down…), I think it was about 30 seconds. I had to do some side bends, twist my shoulders to the left, twist to the right and touch my toes (which I can do quite easily – CMT involves hyper mobility). The kind of thing I’ve done at allied health appointments for the last 40 years or so.
All of this is to gain a baseline of where I’m at right now so we can monitor my progress.
We also discussed my goals and my ideal weight. I am currently 40kgs above where I’d like to be. I stacked on some Covid-kilos over the last 18 months. My goals are to be fit and healthy or as close to that as I can get. I want to feel energetic and vibrant, and I know I can get there. The exercise physiologist will now develop an exercise regime for me which we will start next week. Although, the lockdown starting this afternoon in Brisbane may put that on hold.
This has been made possible by the NDIS. I’ve known for a long time that I needed to be accessing interventions to help me maintain mobility and slow down the disease degeneration. But I didn’t know what I needed to do, who I needed to see, and I didn’t have the money to do it. The NDIS has opened that all up for me.
I’m really excited to be starting on this journey because, although I have a disease that is characterized by weak and atrophying muscles, I know that I am capable of physical activity far above what I currently do and that I have the potential to be quite strong in some areas. I’ve never been an “active” person because I’ve often focused on what I can’t do. Now I’m focusing on the possibilities of what I can do. I’m posting it here as a record of my journey and a way to stay accountable.
Till next time…
Peppa's Place 