One year later

This time last year, I remember having a giant meltdown, a temper tantrum if you will, in the car outside of physical therapy. Joel sat by me, allowing me the chance to just get it all out and not freak out at the site of my cry fest. I had about given up on trying to regain strength and kicking the limp ... I just wanted to be normal again. I wanted for it not to be so hard to walk like I used to only a month before. I wanted to imagine chasing after the boys and taking the stairs two at a time ... if I wanted to (doesn't really happen). But at the time it seems impossible. Mind you just a few weeks before I was told by one of the best neurosurgeons in the city that he couldn't guarantee I'd regain ANY strength or feeling in my right leg. The extent of damage to the nerve had been so great and it had been pinched for so long (3 days) that it was unlikely that a cane wouldn't become a permanent fixture for me. He was amazed when I reported to him how much feeling I had two days after surgery to decompress the nerve and repair the ruptured disc. He was even more amazed when I returned a month later and was ready to return to work. Still for me I felt I was miles from normal. My next meltdown came when I spotted my BFF Stefani Everson sporting flip-flops. I realized I didn't know when I'd be able to slip into fun structure free shoes and keep them on my feet. I was relegated to live in lace up tennis shoes for an undetermined amount of time. She sat with me as a good friend would and let me cry over flip-flops. Now, in my own defense I had just been given 3 pair of the cutest Yellow Box flippies I'd even owned. So my sadness was truly justified. Not to mention upon realizing this, i know my favorite sexy high heels were out of the question. But a few months later I worked myself away from the limp. The nasty nerve still rears its ugly head from time to time but the pain I felt prior to surgery is a thing of the past.

So one year to the day of being told that walking with a limp would likely become my norm, I put ole' Captain Jack to the test by walking at least a million miles at Disney and Universal. And to celebrate my ability to kick Jack into gear, I strapped on the sexiest 4 inch peep-toe heels I own, complete with rhinestone ankle buckle and walked tall to a fancy shmancy 5-star dinner at Victoria & Albert's with my handsome hubby. Thanks mom!!!!

I am certainly not 100%, I still feel like I got a Cortisone injection in my right leg, from hip to toe. And my ankle muscles are not as strong as they need be as evidenced by the torn tendon and subsequent sprains that keep me out of high heels on a regular basis (at least not without back-up flats in my car). But I am miles from where I was a year ago. And I am so grateful to my family and friends for being the strongest support system a girl could ask for. I was so touched by the words of encouragement, the visits and the dinners. I am one lucky girl :-)