The importance of a support network.

This isn't a post about exercise, but about support.

The last few days I have been in excruciating pain.  And that's saying a lot since I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance.

Pain to the point of keeping me up at night and not being able to do regular daily activities.

For those that deal with chronic, daily pain, I can not even imagine. 

So here's what happened.  

I did a strength training workout late last week, with these nice, fairly heavy 15 lb weights.  We're talking, overhead presses, you name it.  

It was tough, but nothing I hadn't done before or knew that I couldn't handle.

Until Sunday came around.

Either the combination of how I slept, my cleaning frenzy or god knows what, but my arm became almost numb, achy and extremely painful and unusable.

Now being educated as I am, I knew it was likely my previous workout had landed me in "pinched nerve" territory and I needed to stretch asap, get some heat on it and rest it the remainder of the day.

But then night came and none of my tricks had worked, and who wants to guess where my head went?

Thats right.

"Oh my god I'm having some kind of cardiovascular event!"

"What if I have to call 911, who will come be with me kids?"

"What will happen if I end up in the hospital?"

And so on and so forth, as only the 2 am, lack of sleep brain can.

Morning came, I was still in pain, my mind was still going to worst case scenarios and my first calls of the day were to my husband, my mom and my chiropractor.

No it wasn't 911, it was to my support network.  My husband to let him know what was going on, for advice on what to do next and just general emotional support.

My mom because she is also my emotional support, but also my back up when I need someone to take care of my kids.

And my chiropractor.  Why are they part of my support network?  Because I knew, despite my overthinking brain, that what I really needed was physical support, not an ECG.   (If you didn't know that arm pain can be a sign of early cardiovascular events in women, this is your PSA.)

Today, things are already feeling so much better!  I am thankful for my own knowledge of how the body functions and what can go wrong, as well as the support network I was able to lean into to get back on track.

If you are struggling with any aspect of your health and feel as though a better support network is in order, then please reach out, there are different options for finding that support.

Booking a 15 minute meet and greet with me over at vibrantclinic.janeapp.com is a great place to start or clicking on the link below to find out about the upcoming women's community health program - The Braided Table - where the focus is on knowledge and support!

Don't suffer alone, you don't have to. 

Chat soon!
​Richelle

The Braided Table