Mommy Moment: Pain Free After 20 Years!
Getting out in nature. Fresh air. Vitamin d. And the last time I did a episode while I was walking. It was talking to I'm getting to the park there.
Nikki:The warm up is happening. My heart rate is going up because I'm on the incline. But the last time I did an episode while I was taking a walk, it was so excruciating from if you listen to the last episode, why is my throat so funny? What is going on? You haven't listened to that one, definitely go back and listen to it because it'll give you some context for this conversation.
Nikki:So for that to have been just I don't even know how I walked through that pain, how I did an episode through that pain. It was burning, stabbing, piercing my lower back. On top of that, it felt like there was a fire burning in my hips because the pain from the stenosis and the arthritis and the two herniated discs was radiating down into my hips, into the front of my legs. And I know with, I have a friend who has sciatica really bad and she talks about how the pain radiates down the back of her legs. And years and years ago, I felt I had a moment where I felt that pain in the back of my legs and it stopped me in my tracks.
Nikki:I couldn't even move. I was walking and it happened and it literally stopped me in my tracks. Like, I couldn't even move. And so to be walking right now feeling none of that. Zero of that.
Nikki:None of that. And when I say none, I mean none. And I've spent over half of my life dealing with this chronic unexplained pain. And on a good day somebody was to ask what's your pain level on the scale of one to 10 on a good day? It was a three.
Nikki:That was the norm. Operating on a pain level of three on a daily basis. That was a lot. That was a lot. And when it got bad, it got really, really really bad.
Nikki:Like, on a scale of one to 10, it was 100. It was the it's like everything was happening at the same time. You wasn't like having the the burning one day and then the sharp stabbing pain the next or not having or having the fire in your hips another day. It was all happening at the same time. I had to walk halfway bent over probably at let me see.
Nikki:If we walk upright, that's one eighty. If we bend over halfway, that's 90. So I was at about a 45 degree angle. So my chest was I was looking down at the floor a lot. My chest was almost parallel to the floor because it felt better to walk that way.
Nikki:Anytime I tried to stand upright, there was just ridiculous pain. And so I talked about that in the last episode, and ever since then, I have made some modifications to my diet, to my routine, and I did something that I said I would never do is I took some pain meds. And if you've been listening to the Working Moments podcast for a minute, know that I don't do manufactured medicine. I don't do pharmaceuticals. I prefer holistic natural remedies.
Nikki:So years ago, when my doctor prescribed naproxen, I didn't take it. I felt like this is a temporary solution to a real problem. It's gonna Band Aid the pain for a few hours, and then it'll be right back. And in the course of that happening, it's gonna bring side effects with it, and I don't wanna deal with that. So I never did.
Nikki:So I resorted to massages, acupuncture, walking on flat surfaces. I was just on an incline, but walking on flat surfaces and yoga, pilates, anti inflammatory foods, things that minimize the inflammation. And I would do that off and on. You know, there's there's a struggle between there's this love hate relationship between me and food because I love to eat food, but I hate where it lands on my mind. So when I went through that stent, it was about ten days of ridiculous, ridiculous, excruciating pain.
Nikki:I can't even explain it. I had trouble concentrating and couldn't think about anything else. The pain was so bad. And for the mamas that have given birth and you felt contractions and going through the labor process, this is a pain that was worse than childbirth. I would rather have a baby, like, push out with no door, crowning it off than deal with the pain that I dealt with in my lower back.
Nikki:And I'm in but I'm also reminded that, you know hello. Also reminded that, you know, God be God. He be God. He be doing his thing. And he works miracles.
Nikki:It felt good for a second. Catch a little breeze because the sun will be right back. But I did my quote unquote treatment for about five days, four or five days, and I was in so much pain when I went to the doctor for a different reason because I was recovering from a car accident. I was at the doctor for a follow-up appointment for that, And I told her, like, my my neck is, like, ridiculous. I don't know if it's from the accident or what's going on, but I was in there.
Nikki:You know how you're enabling things kick in and you're waiting for the anesthesiologist. That's how I was like, you know, nobody hear about the car accident, but there's the other things that might have been exacerbated by it. There's the existing things that may have been exacerbated. Because I told her, like, I've never for as long as I've dealt with this chronic pain, I've never felt it to that extreme. And I was like I was like, can you this really hurts.
Nikki:Like, can you give me whatever you got at the office because I need some relief. Like, I was down the line here. I was almost at work for, like, about to holler for anesthesia holidays. And I had to take a shot in my ass and is it called? Tore Todorov, something like that.
Nikki:But, of course, I did my research about it. Supposed to be a really effective pain reliever, and it was also the go to for football players when they hurt. And it's a big game, and the team needs them. Then I was reading that a lot of them said they would just take a shot. Is it tore Toretto?
Nikki:Whatever is fine. And they would get back at the game. So when I was walking into the doctor's office, every step, I was counting because I was like, how far am I from being able to sit down and twist and stretch my back? Find some relief. And it was it was horrible.
Nikki:It was horrible. Those ten days, I don't know that I've ever had thoughts and feelings like that. I remember trying to get up. I had laid on the floor. It was on my stomach trying to stretch, like, move and stretch my back, do my normal poses.
Nikki:And when I tried to get up, I get up because the pain had basically taken over. It was like a giant was standing on my back. Like, nope. You're not getting up. And so I would have to brace myself, take deep breaths, and push through ridiculous pain just to get up before and having those thoughts of what is going on.
Nikki:Is this the most that's getting worse? Is that what this is talking about? What does this mean? Why did it all of a sudden just flare up the ridiculousness? Couldn't make sense of it, but when I switched some things up in my routine.
Nikki:I'll tell y'all what I did. I don't know if it was one of those things, a combination of those things, but when I say my pain has gone from a 100 to zero, that is no lag. So if you're dealing with pain, chronic pain, arthritis, stenosis, lower back, upper back, knees, hips, whatever you need. I'll tell you what I did. If it helps you, great.
Nikki:I am not a doctor. I am a CPA. So do not do not know what I'm saying. It's not a good advice. But so after I left the doctor, I had to tore tore shot.
Nikki:And I was like when I was I was actually reading about it while I was in the office. So she's like, I'm gonna have somebody come. And, hey. She said, I'm gonna have somebody, I'm gonna have the nurse come in with a shot. And so there was a little bit of time.
Nikki:And so I was on my phone reading about it. And I was like, if they give this to football players, you know, Andrew so that they can go back in the field, this must be, like, some really strong stuff. Right? And I was trying to figure out what that would look like compared to country. Is it, like, working?
Nikki:Is it a couple levels down? What is it? Because at this point, I was hoping for something. I didn't care about anything else. I get the shot.
Nikki:She's like, it's a shot. So I'm taking the pill, be inject you. It'll take effect pretty quick is what I was told. So few minutes goes by. I'm leaving, walking back to my car.
Nikki:And I feel like, okay. I feel some mildness. I can feel where the pain that was, like, radiating down to my back that was causing the fire in my hips. I can feel that that fire was cooling off. It wasn't gone.
Nikki:It was cooling off. And I felt a hair of relief in my life. But it still was not to a level where I was like, oh, yeah. I feel good. Things are great.
Nikki:I never got that far. So she said she she's like, I'm also gonna write you for the naproxen. Well, first, she said she said, how I get them going with the naproxen? And so I kinda had my little my little response. Like, well, you know, I kinda didn't take them.
Nikki:Because, again, I'm not really the person that's into popping pills and prescriptions and manufactured medicines. So I was like, I didn't take them, but if you write me a prescription, I promise, I promise I will take them. I don't have a choice at this point. I have to take them because I can't take this pain. So first day I got the shot.
Nikki:Later that day, I failed my prescription. I took a naproxen with some food, five hundred milligrams, and I was like, of course, back on the Internet, let me see how long it takes for this to work, for this to kick in. And, also, let me see let me see what what type of painkiller this is or what, like, what the level is if you look at, like, an idea of, I want to, where is it in that scale? So I still couldn't really figure it out. Mean, a lot of conversation or not heard, but I saw a lot of conversations talking about it was known to be a very effective pain.
Nikki:And that, occasionally, it could create stomach problems, stuff like that. So that I had known already, and it was one of the reasons why I never really cared to take it. I didn't wanna try to fix one problem and create another. So took an naproxen with some food. They said it would take about an hour for it to work.
Nikki:So, of course, here I am, forty five, fifty, sixty minutes. Like, am I feeling any better? Let's see. Nope. No.
Nikki:No. So I also read that the approximate needs time to like, it needs time to, like, build up and accumulate in your system. So I was like, this is my first one. I'm not expecting it to fix everything today, but let me give it a couple days, see how it goes and how I feel, and that'll determine if I keep doing this or if I go back to the doctor and say, look. I don't wanna do this no more because it's not working.
Nikki:So second day took on an MRI. Not much of a change from the day before. It was barely the pain was barely milder, but it was still very much there. Right? So I took one, had some turmeric tea, and I made myself a container of anti inflammatory treatments.
Nikki:And that was the first thing I ate most mornings. It was chocolate that was or cacao that was, like, 85% cacao, walnuts, almonds, tart churries, maybe something maybe one more thing. That might have been it. Walnuts, which are super potent anti inflammatory. The cacao, same thing.
Nikki:Almonds for the magnesium and for belly fat purposes. It was good in candles. I need to have cherries. I need to super cold anti inflammatory. So had a handful of that.
Nikki:Most martinis. I also had the this kept pure tart cherry juice and a cup of that cup of cup of two of that every day. I would work. It which was you know, how painful it was, I felt like I need to move these joints. If they're inflamed, it means that they're swollen, that there's not enough room, that things are pressing up against other things.
Nikki:And I can walk loosen that shape as much as I can. I'm gonna do that. Also, took hot, salt, and cold baths most days. So this is hottest water I could bear in my tub with Epsom salt and myriad of essential oils. So black pepper oil.
Nikki:What else is in there? Fir oil. Fir as in FIR oil. It might have been some cedar in there. And there was another one that I can't think of the name of right now.
Nikki:And when I was I would diffuse my Rosemary and Eucalyptus. I just love the way that those two oils smell together. And sometimes I put them in my water. Sometimes I put them in the water. I would be in there for forty five minutes to an hour.
Nikki:And when I got out, I was stretched. I was also stretching in the morning, which is how I was getting stuff on the floor. I was stretching two or three times a day. Just stretching my arms, stretching my leg, moving my back, trying to warm it up. The cat poles and holistic things that I felt like I needed to do.
Nikki:What else? What was I eating? I don't know that I changed too much of my diet. I was having way more no. I did.
Nikki:I did. I was having more raw food. So I would juice a whole watermelon, for example. And you eat a watermelon, it's good. It's sweet.
Nikki:When you juice a watermelon or you blend a watermelon, rind included, it is very sweet. It's almost like some sugary kool aid. It is good for you. It's hydrating. I love it.
Nikki:I'm a go jumping too. It's so cute. Really pretty pretty area. I need the bucket inside. I was having more wild food, And most of those days, it just wasn't work.
Nikki:I couldn't really think about anything else with the. I wasn't doing too much of my business. I was consumed with the pain. Not that I wanted to be, but that that pain was something else. Again, I'm going back to when I was in labor with my with both of my people.
Nikki:Well, really, well, sorry, with my daughter, but when I was in labor. And I wanted it to go away, and the anesthesiologist wasn't coming fast enough, and I couldn't concentrate. I had to take off work. I I literally could not get anything done. I was not paying attention to meetings.
Nikki:I wasn't getting shit done. I wasn't even going to physical therapy, which I was going to from a car accident. I couldn't do anything. I literally felt paralyzed by this pain. Fast forward to that evening, take another naproxen, So it was take one twice a day, blah blah blah, if I make you drowsy, take it towards nighttime, things like that.
Nikki:So I was doing that. I was still taking my multivitamins, my iron, taking my magnesium when I go to sleep, things like that. So I made changes. I made modifications, but they were not drastic. And what I just described, I did for about five days.
Nikki:I got around to about day three of this routine with this naproxen twice a day. And I started to feel better. Not good. I started to feel better. I wasn't as bent over when I was walking.
Nikki:Things were getting better. And one thing I do wanna say throughout this almost week, these four or five days of when I was going through this pain, when I was having these thoughts and feelings, like, is this? Why is this happening? I was also telling myself, this hurts right now. But it's gonna be okay.
Nikki:It's gonna get better. This pain will go away. This pain will get back to my normal pain levels is what I initially told myself. Like, it'll get back to normal. But then I was like, I didn't even like normal.
Nikki:I didn't wanna be on a a pain level of three every day. So I changed the words that I put into the universe and I started saying, this pain is going to go away. It's gonna go away. I don't know when, but it's gonna go away. And day three, was feeling better.
Nikki:Day four was like, okay. I'm back to a three. I can do I can function again. Right? I can function again.
Nikki:So I've gotten to, I usually keep my episodes to thirty minutes of rest because I realized we're busy and we got a lot going on, but I just got to the halfway point of my workout. So I'm pausing for a second to do some butt kicks and stretch my legs and cross my arms, take in the nature of the beautiful trees. I wish they would stop cutting their trees down. But I have to finish this story because I feel like I am a freaking walking medical miracle. Let me get back.
Nikki:This time I'm a do I wanna walk in the grass? I'm a walk in the grass. Do I wanna walk in the grass? No. No.
Nikki:I kinda do, but then I kinda don't. But, yeah, I'm not gonna go walk in the grass because that's what my gut wanted to do. You know? That that gut feeling is undefeated. If they tell you to do something, if they tell you to move, you gotta move.
Nikki:So I'm here walking in the grass. Little uneven terrain just to give me something different. But day four, starting to feel better. I can tell that what I've been doing was working. And like I said earlier, I don't know if it was, you know, Proxima.
Nikki:I don't know if it was the other modifications, the natural modifications I made, or I'm gonna say it was a combination of those things. I didn't wanna walk over here because they hadn't cut this freaking grass, and I don't want this stuff hitting my legs. But okay. I'm a go over here and walk in the grass that was actually cut. So I'm feeling good day four.
Nikki:You know what? Yes. I took these meds and said I was gonna do. I prioritized myself to make these modifications, even if that meant taking some time off work and not cooking because I can't and missing out on events and things that I have on my calendar, I have to take care of me. I've dealt with this pain for more than half my life, and I got to get to a point where I figure out what the plan is gonna be because surgery is not an option.
Nikki:There has to be I know that there's another way. Not getting my back cut open. So get some metal rods that I'm a have for the rest of my life. Ain't no telling what that's gonna do. How my body gonna receive these foreign objects.
Nikki:I I was not surgery was never a question. So I still keep doing what I'm doing. And here comes day five. Now most mornings dealing with my pain when I wake up, I take deep breaths when I'm still in the bed. I stretch a little bit and then I get up and I have to do additional stretching in the morning because my back feels so stiff.
Nikki:And I'm stretching and trying to, you know, relieve the stiffness in my back most days. On day five, I didn't have to do that extra stretching. Just be stretching my extending my arms out and squeezing my back muscles together. I like to do multiple things when I walk, not just walk to maximize my workout. Know, I'm walking up an incline right now.
Nikki:So, making this a good time to do some lunges. Work them hips. And them weak ass hips like my trainer would say. It's all day five. I woke up and I felt weird.
Nikki:And what felt weird is that I didn't feel that pain that I was so used to feeling. I didn't feel the stiffness. As a matter of fact, I didn't feel anything. It felt like somebody gave me an epidural while I was asleep, but I was still able to walk. You had an epidural that only takes away the pain.
Nikki:So I woke up feeling really weird because I was trying to process the fact that this pain, ridiculous pain. I have no other way to describe it. But this ridiculous pain that I have felt for more than half my life is gone. Completely gone. I was in awe the whole day and I was checking the whole day.
Nikki:Am I hurting? I'm not hurting. I'm not stiff. I can't believe this. This is a freaking miracle.
Nikki:So day four, I took a naproxen in the morning. When I started feeling better throughout the day, I had stopped taking the meds. So I had not taken a naproxen the night of day four or on day five. Because the next thing in my mind is that this happened just because I took the pills. Does it mean does this mean if I stop If I stop taking these pills, are these Is the pain gonna Is the pain just gonna come right back?
Nikki:I was like, I don't know what's going on here, but thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I am going to celebrate the fact that I'm I'm gonna continue to make my churro mates. It was actually really good.
Nikki:It was good for you, and it's just something I've been grabbing and bringing with some green juice. But I was paying close attention the next couple of days because I'm curious. Maybe now when they props in, has built up in my body and it has taken the pain away. And as time goes on and it wears off, what's it called? The is it shop not the shop.
Nikki:I forget. It has to be something like that. Don't know how long it stays. So I was like, let's see what happens over the next couple days. I read that after, like, a few days, and they cracked some words off.
Nikki:So most people end up continuing to take it because the pain comes back. And for me, it's been looking at my calendar, it's been about three weeks since all of this happened. And I haven't taken any naproxen since the morning of day two. And it's it still feels crazy to show that I feel more pain. Whatever was there, whatever was causing pain, it's like it's gone.
Nikki:It is gone. So I'm looking at that, like, I did not have. Because I'm not because god be doing his thing. So I know how. But it feels good to say that.
Nikki:It feels good to be walking on a flat surface, downhill, up the hill, and not once have I had to stop. Bend, stretch. Not once if I had to stop out of my neighborhood or inmate golf carts, probably on the way to the pool. Because I know I'm about to be on my way to the pool when I get home. But I don't have to bend.
Nikki:I don't have to stretch. I don't have to say, ah, this hurts. I don't have to say, ah, my right side is so stiff. Oh, my hips are burning. My hips are tight.
Nikki:So everything that I started doing when I started taking the naproxen, I'm still doing. I need to re up on my trail mix because I ran out of basically everything. So I know I need to double up what I buy next time so I can make a big batch to last. I walked in my office a couple times and saw my husband taking a work break and he's sitting up there throwing back my trail mix by the hand full of his mouth. So I want to make sure I keep that on deck.
Nikki:I'm definitely going to get some more of the cherries really of everything that I had. Keep on taking my Essence Out baths, which I've done for years. I've done for years. I love the way it makes me feel and getting the extra boost of magnesium from the salt. But the only thing that has changed is taking a new person.
Nikki:And even though I haven't taken the naproxen, the pain has not come back. I said it wasn't. I was keeping an eye on things to see if naproxen was the reason why the pain went away. But when I realized I hadn't taken it in three weeks and I still feel better than I felt in over twenty fucking years. That's God doing his thing.
Nikki:And I receive it. So I had to share that. Y'all just don't know. For those of you who deal with pain and you're taking meds or you've never had you've never gone through something medically, it can be a lot, man. It takes a toll.
Nikki:It really, really takes a toll. And I really feel like a medical miracle when I think about all the people who suffer from sprangal stenosis and low back pain and rinse that they go through for relief because it it is a pain like no other. And to know that I don't feel like I'm walking right now. And if I just, thanks to meditation, developing awareness for what's happening in my body, what my hands feel. I don't know what this feeling is in my hands.
Nikki:I feel tight. My feet are warm. And what shoes are these? What are these shoes called? Shots?
Nikki:I don't know what they called. But do they have a port sign that says go away? I'm gonna get closer so I can see. But I feel great. My thumb still got the thumb.
Nikki:Oh, yeah. It says go away. Go on. Get. That is funny.
Nikki:But then I look at the quirks that I'm on the house across the street, and it says, welcome. So that's funny. But I'm an odd. It can be a medical miracle, but this is an example. This this house is so pretty.
Nikki:So pretty. The trees. You can call it a medical miracle. I'm a call it God doing his thing. And I'm grateful.
Nikki:And I'm thankful. I don't know what else to say. You're going through something, don't give up. Speak life and speak positivity. Whatever it is that you want to happen, put life into those words.
Nikki:Put it in the universe. Say it out loud. Repeat it every day. Because I know that they have a lot to do with me being pain free after twenty plus years. No surgery.
Nikki:Four and a half days of meds. Plus years of holistic wellness. And I also told myself that this is also about doing small things for big change. Just like when they perhaps had some buildup, I feel like the things that I did over the years, prioritizing anti inflammatory foods. Burgers, milkshakes, and cookies, and ice cream cones are not anti inflammatory.
Nikki:I still ate them. But I still ate, in addition to that, my rainbow shard, I juiced my greens. I took my spiral in the I walked, I stretched, at detox. So there's definitely, like, a a true little things add up to big chains. So that's it.
Nikki:I'm a be done right there. I'm grateful. I'm thankful. I am pain free after twenty freaking years. Twenty plus years.
Nikki:Let me let's see. Twenty three years to be exact. So I'm grateful. I'm on the last leg of my walk. I am pouring sweat.
Nikki:Sun is out. Here comes the breeze. Jump in the shower and go to the freaking pool. Thank y'all for rocking with me on this special episode of the working moms podcast. Tune in for another episode or catch some of our previous episodes talking about everything, money, relationships, these kids, these jobs, taking care of yourselves, and just being the dumbass known that you are for the purpose of anybody else's life.
Nikki:Y'all be good. I'll talk to y'all next.
