Author: Stephanie Cedeno
Story Type: Triumph
Home Gym: CrossFit Ignite
When I tell people that I am in better shape at 30 than I was at 10, 15, and 21, people often look at me in disbelief. I was always the “chubby” kid who was medically excused from recess and never was a part of any sport, not even as a spectator. I was born with scoliosis and ARNOLD-CHIARI MALFORMATION a rare genetic disorder in which parts of the brain are formed abnormally. I had corrective surgery for it at the tender yet very brave age of 13, and although the surgery allowed for the prevention of further nerve damage, some of the damage was already done, and it left me with Chronic Pain that made my teens and 20s pretty unbearable and downright miserable.
Throughout my 20s I lived as a Zombie and took high doses of pain killers. I would take up to 3600 mg of a nerve pain medication meant for diabetics and to control seizures in epileptics that could easily knock down a HORSE! My primary care physician told me once that she was surprised I wasn’t slithering across the floor like a slug. The medication slowed my system down to the point where I would fall asleep faster than any narcoleptic (many times at the wheel, yikes!) and my metabolism was not just slow, it was at a complete halt, causing me to hit an all time record weight gain that made my back pain ten times worse and my mental state of mind in perpetual negativity.
The pain medication was causing me more problems than the chronic pain itself, and it wasn’t like the pain was getting any better, in fact it was worse. My body would quickly get immune to the prescribed dose and often it would have to be readjusted higher so that I could feel some relief.
The low self-esteem, the habitual negative thoughts, and always feeling physically uncomfortable often made me feel near suicidal, because there is no way you can be on all that medication, feel that daily tortuous pain, and it not affect your thoughts and mental health in some way, shape, or form.
I had no strength in my shoulders and arms. I couldn’t hold a 20 lb. baby without feeling pain and discomfort radiating down my nerve damaged left arm and wanting to pass the child to someone else immediately so that my arm wouldn’t collapse. I would often wonder what quality of life I would have and had resolved within myself that this was the life I was destined to live, one of pain and discomfort, one of misery and discontent. I labeled myself this medical incompetent person who would never find relief.
As I approached my 29th birthday I begin to think about the life I was living. I wanted to be healthy and feel alive. The pain medication had stripped me of any sort of life and I walked around numb and almost cathartic, as my body continued to suffer pain. Something within me began to awaken, or at least was trying to, but I wasn’t quite ready yet because I was being numbed by the medication.
I decided to wean myself off all the medication. It was not easy and the withdrawal symptoms, although I was told would not occur, were tough to handle. I was going through a detox, although the neurologist would never admit to it. Little by little I began to awaken, to see life for what it really was, a wonderful and exciting privilege to be taken advantage of and to be LIVED! I began to see some weight begin to drop off, but it was a difficult and arduous journey, that is until I began CrossFit.
Before I began CrossFit I had dropped around 50 lbs. by reducing my carb intake and eating healthier, but my muscles were still weak and I was very unfit. When I was introduced to CrossFit Ignite in Westwood, New Jersey through my sister, I was immediately hooked, especially when I had met coaches Steve and Tina, who welcomed me with open arms and a kettlebell! It stopped being about weight loss for me and became a total life changing experience from that point on.
I began to immerse myself into this whole new world, this new culture, this CrossFit. I was meeting amazing individuals from all walks of life who had one common goal, to live their healthiest and best life. These weren’t just your average joes, these were people with a fire and passion for living that was infectious and I quickly was drawn to them. I wanted to be one of these CrossFitters until I realized I already was.
I began CrossFit in April 2010, and already I have seen a tremendous change in my body. I have not only dropped an extra 20 lbs., but I have muscle definition where there once was fat. Remember I said I couldn’t lift a 20 lb. baby? Well now I can Turkish-Get-Up 35 lbs. on each side. Remember that “Chronic Pain”? Well the only pain I experience now is from the Kettlebell bruises or Deadlift scratches on my shins. No more Chronic Pain!!!!!!
I promise you that this is proof that if you take the time to honor your body that it will honor you in return. I do not even suffer from discomfort as I once plagued with. Although certain exercises are challenging for me, because I had never used certain muscles, they are far from impossible! My 6 month goals is to perform a kip and to hold a hand stand, and this I will do because I have seen myself accomplish things through CrossFit that I never thought possible once.
Now, I believe that there are no limits to what our bodies can do. I was given limitations as a child, teen, and young adult because of a medical condition and I labeled myself just that and lived as just that, as someone with pain, physical and mental. Now, the only label I am proud to share with the world is “CROSSFITTER”.
