The following post is part of The Girl Behind The Blog series that will continue each week detailing my story of illness and recovery starting in March of 2007. I believe that God created me for a reason and each experience I have can draw me closer to HIM and be used to encourage others. This post and those that follow detail a pivotal moment in my life that changed me forever.

Need to catch up in the story? Read Part 1. 

Psalm 139:13-16
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.

Since I was little I have always been fascinated with the human body and the intricate systems that allow our bodies to function daily. In college I was several courses shy of a Kinesiology minor, the study of human movement, but the fact that I wanted to graduate and that I really didn’t want to take anymore science classes swayed me to not pursue the minor.

During college I started exercising on a daily basis partially because I had enrolled in a few too many Kinesiology courses because they sounded interesting. To my surprise I discovered I enjoyed working out and pushing myself in ways I never had before because I knew my body would adjust to help me perform to my best ability. I began to want to do things that shocked even my parents because I had never been a super active kid. For instance my Dad and I took a road trip to Yosemite National Park in California to hike and climb the cables to the top of Half Dome in 2005. Hiking became a weekly part of my life as did trail running.

Earlier that day I made mention in phone conversations to both my parents and Josh about the peculiar feelings I was having in my feet. My parents and Josh had grown used to me being slightly melodramatic when it came to describing how I was feeling. I was trying to not overreact to what, at the time, was just a few odd sensations in my feet and toes. I tried not to sound panicked or overly anxious when describing what I was feeling and felt reassured after getting off both calls that whatever was causing these feelings would correct itself in a few days time.

Tuesday came and went with no noticeable difference. I went about my daily routine of going to the gym after eating breakfast because I didn’t see a reason to skip my workout for the day. I wasn’t sick with a cold or the flu and other than the tingling in my legs I felt fine.

Wednesday morning when I woke I discovered that the tingling sensations had not gone away but in fact seemed to be a little more persistent in my feet.  I went about my routine of eating breakfast, going to the gym, and heading into work. I called both my parents and Josh once again to let them know that my feet still felt funny and made plans to see Josh after I left work.

That night as my co-worker and I were locking up all the rooms in the building my legs started to feel very wobbly. I can remember thinking that it wasn’t the best idea to have worn my Steve Madden heeled boots; and I told myself that tomorrow I would need to wear more sensible shoes to work. I walked to the parking garage stumbling a bit over my feet and attributed it to the fact that I needed more practice walking in heels.

I called Josh when I got into my car and let him know I was on my way over to the townhouse he was sharing with his brother. My feet weren’t feeling any better and I was hoping for a sympathy foot rub and also to show him how cute I looked in my boots. I arrived and upon entering the house I immediately removed my boots. They were killing my feet and I didn’t care how cute I looked, I wanted them off. I again mentioned to Josh how weird my toes felt.

Thinking it might feel good to soak them in warm water we walked outside to the community pool and I sat on the edge of the jacuzzi giving my feet a good soaking. It didn’t help and I was starting to get more annoyed that they weren’t feeling better. It had been three days since the tingling had started and I was ready for them to return to their non tingling state. I said goodnight to Josh and went home. I was in bed 15 minutes later praying to God for my feet to be healed in the morning.

Thursday, March 15, 2007, I woke up and was highly disappointed and starting to worry because not only were my feet not better but the tingling sensations I had been feeling had gotten worse. Plus the odd sensations had traveled further up my leg to just above my ankle and were feeling a tad more uncomfortable. It was a pins and needles sensation that I had only experienced before when sitting for long periods of time in one position. I got out of bed and thought about going to the gym and debated if I should go or stay home before work. Opting to go I quickly got dressed but had to steady myself when I put my pants on. I walked to the gym, did cardio on the bike, and walked home.

Back home from the gym I stepped into the shower to get all squeaky clean. I shampooed, lathered, rinsed, and repeated, and was letting the conditioner seep into my hair. I picked up the razor and started shaving my legs and did a double take to look down at the razor.

I could not feel anything as I slid the blade from my ankle up to my knee.

I tried again.

Nothing.

I pressed the razor against my calf.

Nothing.

I was starting to freak out.

I tried the other leg.

Nothing.

I dropped the razor and started touching, poking, and pinching my leg at various places.I had lost all feeling in both legs from the knee down.

The following post begins a series that will continue each week detailing my story of illness and recovery starting in March of 2007. I believe that God created me for a reason and each experience I have can draw me closer to HIM and be used to encourage others. This post and those that follow detail a pivotal moment in my life that changed me forever.

I really don’t know how to even start this post. For the past few months I have been wanting to blog about my illness and share my story but never really could figure out how to begin. I guess I have to start back to when I was a Hallock, not yet a Buschel. Let me rewind my life towards the end of 2006 and beginning of 2007.

I was finishing up my college career at ASU super excited because I was already working for the past 6 months at my dream position for the City of Chandler in the Parks and Recreation Department as a Recreation Coordinator. I was 23 years old, graduating college, had a full time job with benefits, my parents had bought me a car earlier in the year & helped me put a down payment together for my townhouse, and to top off all that wonderfulness my boyfriend had just asked me to marry him (photo below)!!! I was on top of the world! Everything amazing that I had ever dreamed about was coming true!

My graduation party turned into an engagement party and I couldn’t have been happier! Everything was lining up perfectly! To top it all off my soon to be husband was currently entering the testing process for his dream job to become a firefighter. We seriously were feeling Gods blessings pouring down. We set our wedding date for November 10, 2007!

In the mix of all this fun I had to still be an adult and take care of a few important items like paying my mortgage payment (I felt so grown up having a mortgage payment, now I don’t feel as excited about it, hahaha), paying my car payment, and getting my wisdom teeth removed (yuck). I also began wedding planning, honeymoon location scouting, and dreaming about all the other fun things life would hold for me once Josh and I were married. Thinking back on this time still makes me so happy!

The New Year was celebrated by signing up for a 10k run (my first ever) and Josh signing up for the fun run to support me. We had a blast and I was so proud of myself. I loved running and would make it a point to hit our local hiking spot for a 5 mile trail run at least once a week. Running was not really Josh’s thing so we decided to buy mountain bikes and make that our activity together. 2007 was definitely getting off on the right foot (literally).

Two weeks before we bought our bikes I got a nasty stomach bug that left me curled up on the bathroom floor unable to move. After I had recovered from the flu we purchased our bikes and took to the trails that weekend. We did pretty good on our first ride, Josh only flipped over the handle bars once and I screamed about 50% of the time riding my bike down the hills.

Having had a fun time hanging out with Josh over the weekend it was time to go back to work. My hours were Monday-Thursday 12pm until 9pm and Fridays 8-5pm with every other Friday off. It was a nice schedule because it allowed me to have leisurely mornings and still have time for a workout before heading into work. The week after mountain biking I developed a sore throat and took time off of work to see my doctor. He ordered a strep and mono test to be safe because I also mentioned I had been feeling a little more tired then usual. I was prescribed a z-pak and took the rest of the week off of work to go home and rest. The strep and mono test both came back negative. I finished my z-pak by Saturday was ready to return to work the following week.

On Monday, March 12, I woke up to the strangest feeling in my feet. It felt like I had slept on them funny during the night because there was this odd tingling sensation in my toes. I wiggled, moved, massaged, and pulled but nothing seemed to make it any better. Figuring it probably had something to do with how I had slept I made my 10 minute morning walk to the gym. I got my workout done but felt a little more fatigued then usual. I said bye to my trainer and headed out the doors.

While I was making my way back home from the gym I tried to make the light to cross the street by running but my legs felt so heavy and numb I had to stop and walk. I felt like I was moving in slow motion and assumed maybe I had started exercising again too soon after being sick. I made it home took a dose of Emergen-c, showered, and headed into my office at noon hoping that I would start to feel better soon.

Thanks for reading and here is Part 2 to continue the story.