This week I am floating on cloud 9. It is a week when I am feeling strong, determined and invincible. A week when I am feeling like I am right out of an old Helen Reddy song “I am Woman” (here is one of my favorite verses)
“Oh yes, I am wise
But it’s wisdom born of pain
Yes, I’ve paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong
(Strong)
I am invincible
(Invincible)
I am woman”
I think throughout the many challenges that I have faced in life that the 
song has always been a bit of a mantra for me. It is a song about being strong, tolerating the garbage and being wiser because of it. It is definitely about not giving up.
Back in May of 2011 I began a chapter of my life that just didn’t seem to want to end. That was the last time I rolled my ankle and though that alone seems like no big deal, it was actually huge. That final roll resulted in a shredded ligament, torn tendon and it opened a huge can of worms.
From that first moment and over the next 4 1/2 years I learned about being strong, fighting for what I need and advocating for me. I remember going to that first doctor who took one look at my ankle, assured me it was just my lupus aggravating the joint and told me to
accept that I will never be able to walk normally again. She sent me home with my foot immobilized and told me to keep it elevated- forever. I was incredibly discouraged and frustrated and so 6 months later I went for a 2nd opinion. This was with a doctor in the same office who took one look at the foot and said the same thing. I have to just adjust to the fact that I will always limp and never have full movement of my foot again. He immobilized it again, told me to walk as little as possible and always have it elevated as often as possible- forever. I complained and he in time sent me to PT to try and
teach me how to walk without causing more pain. I was discouraged, angry, sad and frustrated but I followed the directions. It was at one of the PT sessions when I was asked to go to the corner of the room and one of the therapists whispered to me that there was something seriously wrong with my foot and that I should ask for another opinion at a different hospital. By this time I had nothing to lose and demanded that 3rd opinion.
Imagine how happy I was when that 3rd doc took the time to look at the mri, look at my foot, ask me questions and then tell me that it was NOT lupus and no, I am not expected to live my life without walking. Over the next 4 1/2 years there were 5 foot surgeries, 3 on the right and 2 on the
left. There was so much time in casts, crutches, scooters, boots and braces and of course there was much pain, many tears, hours of PT and an awful lot of frustration. At one point I was feeling so down that I had to find humor and so I created a Facebook album that I titled “One Summer in the life of a foot” which chronicled my foot at the beach, the mall, a football game and more. Sometimes it is laugh or cry and I needed to laugh.
As things started to heal we found more challenges and my doctor came to understand that the term “a small percentage of people” really referred to me when it came to complications. But at last, just about 4 months ago I finally began to be able to walk without pain. It has been a long haul but suddenly I can move and moving I am!!
Back in December I was encouraged to start hiking, I had to laugh cause that was never going to happen! I completed my 1st hike in January and
I felt like such a rock star! In the past couple of months there have been many more hikes, longer and higher ones. Lots of incredibly long walks and my new found love of Spin class. I can pedal again because I can finally put pressure on my feet!!!
That takes me back to this week. This week I completed something that I never believed I could do before the foot garbage and certainly something I never imagined once the drama all began. This week I participated in my very first ever 10K. I had never done a
5K before but why start at the beginning when you can just JUMP right into it and yes, I can jump without pain. The 10K was amazing, it was filled with women encouraging each other, with an awful lot of pink and for me it was this moment of me reminding me that I am strong, I am invincible.
One of the best parts of the entire event was that I had with me some of my closest friends. They encouraged me, cheered me on, made me laugh and taught me the ropes including that you always pose for the race photographers. It was in that last bit of the race when I could feel myself getting a bit teary. It was when those friends decided we were going to run the last bit and they all shared that they wanted to
cross the finish line of my first race with me. I didn’t even look at my time because honestly I was already a winner. I had completed the 10k, I didn’t give up or settle for a life of sitting with my foot up and I had developed the most amazing friends.