I wait for the Lord, I expectantly wait, and in His word do I
hope.
Psalm 130:5 AMP

I have been participating in a 60 day challenge for T-Tapp. In these 60 days, a person agrees to only do T-Tapp, walking, and swimming.
They can also choose to do better eating, also supported by T-Tapp.
At the beginning and the end, you submit photos, and measurements, and an essay.

I shared part one. Here is my essay, part two.

Unfortunately, I still couldn’t. I was struggling under constant chronic pain exacerbated by multiple surgeries back to back with fibromyalgia. I couldn’t walk my dog the 1/4 mile minimum it would take to let him go to the bathroom. I could no longer swim because I might not be able to get up out of the pool. My ankles were not solid enough to even try a stationary bike, much less one that required balance. If I tapped, the vibration sent horrible nerve waves of pain up my leg, and would shut me down for several days. If I couldn’t butterfly or hoedown, what could I do? For that matter, physical therapy would shut me down for several days. Everyone was trying to get my mind off of ‘training’ and on to ‘healing.’ My physical therapist was begging me to forget about a triathlon, forget about 5ks, and just focus on healing. Trisch was trying to encourage me to let my body heal from all the barrage of drugs and abuse having occurred in just 24 short months. By week two, with failed pain treatments, I was ready to give up.

In order to not give up midway into the 60 days, I joined Kirsten Tucker’s 6 week T-Tapp Tight Club(tm) almost before I even signed up for the 60 day challenge. Kirsten has known me for over a year now, and I trust her to not push me too hard, to push me where I need it, and to help me keep my head in the right direction. Her eight Tight Club(tm) Rules challenged me. When we started on May 1, the only rule I had in place was “Rule #5 – Supportive Athletic Shoes are Required.”

Based on what I thought I could do, she created a workout plan for me, and I became discouraged by how much slower and lower level it was than the one she’d created just one year previous. “Rule #6 – No self-recrimination; be kind to yourself.”
When I suffered from the repercussions of pain blocking injections three different times, both Trisch and Kirsten rallied behind me, saying that this was just a stepping stone. “Rule #4 – One step at a time. Think tortoise not hare.”

Each week, as Trisch would post insights into the various moves, I would also Skype with Kirsten to discuss what was going on. I asked questions of both of them(Rule #7), sometimes repeatedly. When something was too tiring, or hurt too much, they would not let me wallow. Rule #8 is “If you fall off the wagon, get back on and don’t look back.” It could be “Don’t wallow.”

The one thing that came up again and again is my concern that I was not doing the work (Rule # 3). I have a voice inside my head that says if I don’t get it done right the first time, it’s because I didn’t try hard enough. That seriously impacted Rule #8 and Rule #6. I had to learn to believe. I had to learn to hope that I COULD get back up, and not look back. I had to learn to believe that if I could only take one step today without compromising my energies for tomorrow, then that WAS me doing the work, and doing it well! I had to learn to see that if I took a step in the right direction, I was taking a step…and Rule #4 was “One Step at a Time!”
I have done sitting hoedowns when possible. I try to do Awesome Legs every night, and OIP several times a day. I have walked with my tail tucked and my shoulders rolled. When I am driving to my physical therapy, I hear Teresa’s voice telling me to “tuck it, lift it”…and I do so. I even try to roll back my shoulders and twist my palms up on the steering wheel!

What did I gain from this challenge?
Hope. HOPE!
Hope has grown in my heart through the T-Tapp community and ‘consciousness’.
Trisch talked about healing adrenals almost as much as she talks about T-Tapp or Jesus Christ!
Kirsten encouraged me to care for myself so that I will have health — body, mind and soul. She even encouraged me to PLAY as part of my health!
Then there is Teresa Tapp. Her various Facebook posts about health and dietary issues, articles, and her research into all aspects of women’s health were foundational in preparing me to take charge of my health.
These three women gave me the pieces to my health puzzle. My new doctor looked at my pieces and gave me a plan.
By God’s grace, I have the hope and courage to put this all together for my future.

During the past 60 days, I’ve spent the first three weeks in bed from nerve block injections that failed.
During the past 60 days, I’ve received emails and posts of support, encouragement, wisdom and healthy research from all of these ladies.
During the past 60 days, I have learned to hydrate myself in order for my body to heal.
During the past 6 weeks, I have learned self care by doing skin brushing which has rolled into other avenues of self care daily.
During the past 6 weeks, I have been able to walk my dog 1/4 to ½ mile daily, to walk up and down steps daily, and to drive myself to and from my physical therapy and appointments.
In the last 3 weeks, I have found the courage to contact a medical doctor that is also a naturopath in order to take charge of my health.
In the last 2 weeks, I have been on a yeast free, God Made, food program, designed to both cleanse my system, and heal my adrenals.
I have dropped a cholesterol drug, a diabetes drug, constipation drugs, and reducing a stomach acid drug is next. I am sleeping through the night regularly, with no medications. I don’t fall asleep during the day anymore!
By Sunday, I had lost weight, and lost 7 ½ inches. I had also lost many of the health issues that had troubled my life.

This quick and total transformation is because of the T-Tapp community. Without the various products, discussions, posts and people, I would not have been prepared to understand the complex world of adrenals! Likewise, I would not have embraced the need for Magnesium, or bio-identical hormones, or B-12! Truthfully, I would not have kept trying, over and over and over again.

On Tuesday the 12th, I begin my third week into this new way of eating…God Made Meals! I will tell Kirsten that I have befriended the Tight Club(tm) rules now. I’m ready to get back up on that wagon(Rule #8)…even if it means a month or more of MORE Chair!.
I talk about T-Tapp and Tight Club all the time(Rule #1).
What has really changed in me this time, though, is Rule #2.
“If someone tells you “You can’t.” respond “Yes, I can!”“
Can I change my life, take charge of my health, and have hope for the future?

YES I CAN!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

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