The Little Things
August 4, 2014

Good morning! I have a fun surprise for you all today: I’m starting my “Living With POTS” series. My hope is that, not only can more people with POTS connect together, but those of you without POTS or a chronic illness might get a deeper look into what it’s like to live with an illness on a daily basis!

Living With POTS

Today’s guest post is by Andrea! I’ve been blogging about POTS for awhile now, and one of the fun things that has resulted from that is connecting with others who have POTS as well. I connected with Andrea a few weeks ago, and asked if she might want to share her POTS story with all of you! Take it away Andrea!

***********************************************************************************************

Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with POTS and for quite some time, I thought I would never be able to run again. My life once filled with countless physical activities and no restrictions stopped, suddenly. As time went on, POTS made running seem like something that I could only dream of as I began to feel like I was living in a nightmare. My walking started to become impaired as I learned how to deal with my newfound illness and the thought of exercise grew farther from me. I had become so weak that I had to start walking with a cane. At 15, you’re “supposed” to feel young, wild, and free but I felt like a complete outcast as a prisoner within my own body.

APImage2

One day, a family friend introduced me to the most extraordinary place on earth called The Root Farm, and my life changed. I began equestrian therapy after I met a horse named Stella who helped strengthen my muscles and balance through the motions in her body. Just like magic, I began to feel strong again. I decided that my illness had taken enough from me, and I wanted my life back. One day, I decided to run to my neighbor’s mailbox and back (a grand total of 250 feet.) The next day, I ran past another mailbox, and the next another, and another until finally I trained myself to begin running again.

I began to feel strong and empowered. Those feelings made me cherish my health more than ever. I now run 3-4 times a week and do Pilates 3 times per week because I learned that if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. I challenged myself to enroll in a 5k and set a goal to take back my health. I started a Crowdrise account that helped me raise money for The Root Farm while I trained for my first 5k and when I crossed the finish line, I was no longer a “sick” girl, I was a runner.

Having the ability to strengthen our bodies is one of the greatest gifts we will ever have. Although it may be uncomfortable, painful, time consuming, and difficult, the results are definitely worth the struggle. It shouldn’t take an illness to make your health a priority. We don’t need excuses to be anything but good to ourselves. Most great things start from small actions, like running to just one more mailbox. I recently completed the Worlds’ largest road race, The Boilermaker 15K because I kept running to more mailboxes.

APImage3

Today, I run for my health. I run for the peace that a run brings after a long day. I run to feel strong and empowered. I run so I can preserve as much of my health as I can. I run because I want to be in control of my body. And more than anything, I run because I want to enjoy my life.

Will you run with me? Without excuses? Without limits? Because we can all use a little help sometimes. And I need you to run with me.

Good luck my friends. Find your reason and run with it.

To find The Root Farm, visit: http://www.rootfarm.org or https://www.facebook.com/rootfarm

For Andrea’s Crowdrise: https://www.crowdrise.com/andreapiazza

To share Andrea’s nature runs, visit: http://instagram.com/andream024

*********************************************************************************************

Thanks Andrea for telling your story! Working out with POTS is definitely a really difficult and frustrating process, and I love hearing stories of people who can deal with their illness and push themselves to a healthier place in the process! For more information on POTS, click here. 

←

Comments are closed.