Sometime in late January, early February 2024, I felt my back and was a little alarmed. I felt it because the burning pain was getting worse. As my fingers felt my spine, I discovered the scoliosis had moved farther to the right.
My heart sank, and I sighed.
Damn. Is my back going to land me in a wheelchair?
I've had scoliosis my whole life, but it was never an issue until I developed kyphosis, which is a rounding of the spine. (Think Quasimodo.) Typically, kyphosis happens in the upper spine; mine is in my thoracic area which is also where the scoliosis curves. Together the two are called kyphoscoliosis.
Kyphoscoliosis first showed up in a lung x-ray around 2018ish(?), and then in a couple subsequent lung x-rays in following years. At first, I ignored it. I had so much else I was dealing with, and the doctors didn't seem concerned. So, I focused on managing the polyradiculitis and all its repercussions, including the side effects of high-dose, long-term steroids.
"Steroids?!" you say. "Those are terrible for you. I'd never go on so many steroids!"
Good for you. I certainly didn't want to be on steroids (again). But neither did I want to be bedridden. And all the natural means to help with the inflammation wasn't enough. Like with the asthma days, the polyradiculitis has been relentless. In 2016, after six years of living with Polly Rad, we discovered that my 2008 hip implant had been leaching chromium and cobalt into my body. Like with the mercury toxicity (most likely from my amalgam fillings) in my asthma days, it's hard (if not impossible) for the body to heal when its slowly being poisoned from within.
The kyphosis is the cause of my height shrinkage. We all shrink as we age, but I was in my latter 50s and shrank 3 inches within 4 years. That's not normal. The likely cause? Steroids. I bought an inversion table around 2018 which I use almost daily. Since then, I've not lost any more height; I'm holding steady at 4'11".
On February 12, 2024, I received an email newsletter that highlighted an article about a study: Tai Chi Surpasses Aerobic Exercise For Lowering Blood Pressure. It caught my attention. I had had blood pressure problems for about a year but had gotten it down to normal levels. I chose meditation, breathwork, and herbs instead of medication. It worked and still does, though under certain stressors my blood pressure will sometimes get a little high.
But the article prompted me to again pick up Synergetics which I'd heard the Synergetics founder describe as a type of westernized tai-chi...
