Columbia

Member Since October 2008

My Story
Before & After

Before Curves, my pain was so debilitating I could hardly move. Some mornings, I had to roll back and forth just to get out of bed. Other days, I couldnt get out of bed without assistance. When taking a shower"the easiest way for me to take a bath"I had to run hot water over my body just to get moving enough to take my bath. My walking had gotten so bad, I was teased about my Fred Sanford walk. Before taking my meds, I had to eat something. My coordination was so bad, I needed someone to assistance me, when eating.

One day, when preparing breakfast, I felland couldnt get up. I was so uncoordinated that, when my husband came through and tried to help me up, we both fell.

After that, my children started coming up with ideas to help me"a walking cane, a walker, a lift chair, etc."but none of those ideas were acceptable solutions, to me.

My youngest daughter asked if I had made a doctors appointment, for my conditionwhich was a little off queue. When I said no, she had me make an appointment.

The initial diagnosis was crippling arthritis. A second opinion rendered, simply, arthritis. Along with my medication, it was suggested that exercise would be beneficial.

When my grandson suggested Curves,"his wife is a member"I was in favor of it. But when I got to Curves, I found that the exercises were very difficult. Not only were they painful but I didnt think I could do them. But they worked with meencouraging me to go on.

Two weeks into my membership, I noticed a substantial difference in my freedom of movementas well as my balance. I could feel my energy level increasingand my level of pain decreasing. As my mobility increased, so did my ability to perform, at Curves.


Before Curves, agonizing pain was a constant companioneven with the seven medications that helped me get through each day. After Curves, my days are filled with the kind of activities that, I thought, were long behind me"and only four medications help me through the day"with an occasional thud of pain that reminds me of how far Ive comein regaining the ME that I love sharing with others.

Before Curves, the pain of each step was a struggle that, oftentimes, I wasnt sure I wanted to take. I did what I had to do, as far as my daily activities but, otherwise, I was becoming much like a couch potato"something Ive never been. Today, in addition to my visits to Curves, I walk two to two-and-one-half miles each day, and am constantly on the move. Im back to being MEand Im enjoying life, again.

Before Curves, my life was in a downward spiral of constant pain and waning health. Today, Im thirty pounds lighter, and feel twenty years younger, thanks to the staff at Curves.



Katie Barber
Curves member