by Corey Whelan
You guys may remember the blog post I wrote, recapping my experiences at a Congressional briefing on toxins and reproductive health. To tell you the truth, I, um, left out a minor detail about that day. It was gorgeous weather wise, first real feeling of Spring I had experienced this year and i wanted to walk around the Capital. After all, the cherry blossoms were in bloom, I had no choice, the air smelled so good! I wasn't dissuaded by my five inch heels, even though I had been having some nagging pain in my right knee for quite some time. About two blocks away from Union Station on my way home something in the back of said knee gave way and long story short, last week had to be surgically repaired.
I watched much of the Royal Wedding that day from the recovery room. The non profit teaching hospital I chose for the occasion was smack in the middle of China Town. I now know the Chinese word for either Queen, or yellow, not sure which. Had an amazing experience with wonderful docs and nurses, and really cool patients who managed to form a community, without language, for a couple hours. My comic relief? The guy to the bed next to me let out of prison for his surgery, lying there with leg irons and handcuffs. Only in New York! Anyway, that was nine days ago, and I'm now up and about, "running" errands and sashaying (yeah, right) through the streets of Brooklyn with a cane that I have in my hand more for emotional support than for physical stability.
Now, I'm physically active by nature and a lover of movement. Running, dancing, recently Zumba, all of it. Coupled with a commitment to eat intelligently, this ideology has served me really well. And I still stand by it, despite my current boo boo. All things being equal, I would rather need to repair a knee than a clogged artery, and recognize that this is only a temporary situation.
You guys know that, along with the rest of my colleagues at The AFA, we believe in bringing health conscious messages to the fore because we know that health and fitness support fertility and the birth of healthy babies. We care enough about all of you to tell you the truth about this stuff. So I waffled about sharing my current situation, because I didn't want to frighten anyone off of an exercise plan that they may be starting. But I had to share this story with you for a few reasons.
While i was in the now famous recovery room, two nurses came to talk to me privately. Each of them had a friend grappling with infertility. One friend was in her forties and looking at egg donor options. The other was a young woman with endometriosis. Even post surgery, I was able to give to these women, who were giving to me, and I swear that felt so good it aided my recovery that day. Coupled with the fact that my doctor said my over all fitness level, due to my healthy lifestyle, is comparable to a 36 year old (I'm fifty five), I know that I am on the right track. Stuff happens, and if I look back and tell myself the truth, I know that I probably should have been changing sneakers more often, and stretching more, but working out is a good thing and nothing about my current situation has changed my mind about that.
So hang in there with me folks. I am going to be chronicling my recuperation on this blog page, similar to what Stephanie Himel-Nelson did over at the Attain blog page, so that you can keep up with me. I would love to hear about your own exercise programs during this time, your ups and downs, so please post often on the blog page.
Oh, and by the way. I will be running my beloved race, the Tunnel to Towers 9/11 Firefighter's Memorial Race on September 25th for the fourth year in a row. I invite everyone to join me every year, but especially this year. I have 343 very good reasons to make this request of you, plus one more. You. Your health, your fitness, your wellness, your future.
Here's to the future. May it bring health, happiness, fitness and peace for all of us.
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