Jon’s Side Effects

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ContributorJon, 26Read Full Bio

Biography

Jon, 26, grew up in Boston where he played hockey and lacrosse as a kid. By 10th grade Jon was 6”1’ and experiencing what he thought was normal growing pains. He didn’t want to wear a back brace or have back surgery which his doctor suggested. Jon still wanted to play hockey and lacrosse. He could not put his own socks on by his junior year. Jon often travels for work, and a cross-country flight for him is “brutal.” For ten years he has not been able to sleep in one position for too long without pain. He is used to living this way.

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ContributorJon, 26Read Full Bio

Biography

Jon, 26, grew up in Boston where he played hockey and lacrosse as a kid. By 10th grade Jon was 6”1’ and experiencing what he thought was normal growing pains. He didn’t want to wear a back brace or have back surgery which his doctor suggested. Jon still wanted to play hockey and lacrosse. He could not put his own socks on by his junior year. Jon often travels for work, and a cross-country flight for him is “brutal.” For ten years he has not been able to sleep in one position for too long without pain. He is used to living this way.

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I had a few flare ups. In college I was playing Lacrosse Club, but we were top 10 in the nation and, you know, we'd travel a lot. And I remember we went to nationals my freshman year. We took a bus from Raleigh, North Carolina, and it was like a-God, maybe like a 23 hour bus ride. Well, by the time we got to Austin, I mean, I could barely walk. If I'm not consciously paying attention, as in eating unhealthy.
Last weekend, Super Bowl weekend, for example, eating nachos, hot dogs, wings, you know, having a few drinks, this, this, and this, you do that on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, this starts to grow a little bit, I haven't been in the gym. Monday morning I wake up and get out of bed and you can feel that right there, right? Any long periods of time that I have to sit still, that usually is when it'll start flaring up. Cross country flights, things like that. I move around a lot, and maybe that is my personality and the ADHD, or that may be because I-I know that if I sit too long, I'm gonna get some pain. But, you know, in my office, I'm not one to go sit at the desk all day, right? I'm up, I'm walking around, I'm taking every hour, I'm getting up, going outside, doing whatever, staying on the move.

Because right now as we're sitting, you'll notice I'm stretching, I'm going back and forth, and this feels good, right? And then stay here for a little bit, nope, doesn't feel so good. Switch over, ooh, this feels nice. Things like that. I don't know if this is what people do, or if it's because I'm constantly doing 'cause I'm constantly thinking about my lower back. I do constantly find myself thinking about my lower back. Does it wear on me? I don't sit down and-and really talk about my lower back problems with my friends. They don't want to hear about that. But, you know, now that we're talking about it, going through it, it does make me think, wow, maybe this is on my mind at all times, and maybe this is taking away from mental capacity that could be used elsewhere. I don't know the answer to that.

You know, I get back spasms every now and then. I mean, it ruins my whole day, ruins my whole week. It throws everything off. It's as if a crisis has come up you didn't prepare for, and now your meetings are thrown off, you're-you're behind on work, because all day long I'm, you know-or if I get up the wrong way, ooh, and I'm back sitting down in the chair and I've got to ride this one out. And people around me are like, "Are you all right?" I'm like, I'll be okay. Like, just give me a second, you know? [LAUGH] I mean, there's been times I've hopped on a plane running late, and, you know, I'll get up in the middle of the flight and stretch it out a little bit. But if I sleep through the whole flight, I'll get there and the next morning I wake up and I'll just regret. I'm like, I know exactly why this is happening, and I could have avoided it, and I didn't do what I know I should have done to avoid it.

I do think about it a lot, though. Like, if I make it to 75 years old, am I gonna be hunched over and a cane and not able to move that well, or am I gonna be able to beat this thing and stay at it and, you know, stay active, and-and not let it affect me. I mean, are there things that have progressed and that are suited for me today. Maybe this is the thing that gets me to go back. Some of my very close friends have seen me, I've, you know, put on the pounds, lost them, but hey, when you put them on, that's when you get the problems. There was a quote I saw walking into a restaurant the other day. It said one life, one body, treat it right.

I saw that, I was like, whew, praise power to that. As far as the physical aspect of it, I don't want to say this for sure, but if I didn't have to do these things to not be in pain, maybe I would be a couch potato, hanging out on a Saturday afternoon, just not doing much. But today, you know, it's a beautiful day in California. I'm gonna go hiking. I mean, I've taken a different approach to this entire situation. So whether you're in the hospital or going online and doing research or looking at things like this, there are other options out there. There's always more options out there to look at. It doesn't matter how old or young or obese or thin you are, anyone can do it, and just start somewhere.

Did a yoga class this morning, which was a little tricky to get up super early. But, you know, you do it, because after I feel so much better. I know another day, crushed a yoga class. I did the right things by my body. Body's gonna do right by me now.

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