Swimming Against The Current

  It took me 22 years to get diagnosed with dystonia. 22 years of unexplained pain, several unnecessary surgeries and a whole lot of unknowns. The first time I heard the word “dystonia” I had no idea what it meant and spent days researching it to understand it better.    I wished I had known more about it at the time but it took years to fully understand what was happening to my body. It seemed like it progressed fairly quickly. It started in my shoulders I guess but we didn’t know what it was until my hand curled in. It then moved to my foot and neck and then to my right side.    After going through DBS, medications and Botox injections I started to improve. As I got better, all I wanted to do was help other people understand it.  Since 2012, I have had 4 dystonia walks to spread awareness and raise money for the DMRF. I have had great support and have met many people. Last year, we had to cancel the walk because of the pandemic and it looks like we will have to cancel again this year

  My dystonia was getting bad again, I was overweight and unhappy with how I looked. I spent most days feeling sorry for myself and just thinking of every excuse I could to not change. I didn’t have the time to workout or the money to buy healthier foods. I didn’t have the energy to cook good meals and I was in too much pain to get up and do something. I never took the time to think about my own body or my own health and I never thought to change my whole lifestyle. On New Year’s Eve, I saw a picture of myself that my mom took and was so unhappy with the way I looked that it brought me to tears. That week I started working out every day with videos on YouTube. The week after I joined weight watchers. The week after that we bought a treadmill and I started walking every day. I changed the way I drink my coffee, I stopped drinking soda, and I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I got up and moved and this morning I was down 12lbs since January 6th. I am so happy to say I’m losing weight bu