Day 4

I had a doctor tell me that because I had mild DJD in my spine that I should never do impact exercise again. And that type of exercise is my favorite to do (I am a gymnast). He said, "You will have to stop sometime, so you might as well stop now before you make it worse." I did stop for a little while, and my pain lessened, but never went away. The comment stuck in my mind because every time I did my favorite activity I felt guilty like I was making myself worse and making a stupid decision, even though my pain didn't always happen when I did gymnastics, and it would happen when I was doing other things. Still, I thought that I was possibly hurting myself and that is stupid and short sighted and immature.

 

Hi. I'm not a doctor or physical therapist, but suggest you read Steve Ozanich's book The Great Pain Deception. He wrote that he loved to play golf but it gave him a lot of pain. He kept playing despite the pain and it went away, but at the same time he worked on his TMS repressed emotions. The combination made him pain-free. The same may well be true for your gymnastics. Keep exercising. Just don't over-do it. Thinking it will hurt can make it hurt.

 

The most disheartening thing a doctor told me about my symptoms was that there was nothing wrong or that I should not be experiencing pain when I felt the pain. The way I have kept that in my mind is that the doctors don't care about me and have no compassion. After reading what others wrote above, I am now recalling when a doctor said into a tape recorder that I may need surgery in my 40s because my vertebra were turning. The way I have kept that in my mind is I still have that fear that the doctor may have been right. I will be needing surgery. I am approaching 40 and here it comes and that means TMS is just not true.

 

Yes, that's what I'm doing. I am doing better now, which is a couple weeks after my post. I am also realizing that being upset about the pain can actually be worse than the pain itself anyway. I am really enjoying the SEP program (on day 15 now).

 

I have found a mixed bag with doctor's comments. I think a lot of them like to lump us into a category of predictable outcomes, which makes sense from where they are coming from, but each person has their own situation and I believe a lot of that we can affect with our choices, mental and physical. I try to let it roll off when a doctor says something depressing especially when it's a prediction not a fact. Best wishes to you!