Let me tell how I came to be called Truffle

I am called 'Truffle' because in the late 1990s a girlfriend and I teamed up to get fit. We called ourselves 'Two Really UnFit Forties Ladies Exercising SometimeS' (TRUFFLES). I am Truffle 56 as I was born in 1956 (my friend is Truffle 55).

It was a bit of a joke to start with but we found out we motivated each other wonderfully and we worked out together at Fernwood in Brisbane for a couple of years.

Then, in late 2000, I had to move to Canberra for work and family reasons. Both Truffle 55 and I thought that we would be able to do it alone. But we couldn't. Old habits resurfaced.

My long work hours and my family commitments gave me ample excuses for not exercising. My chronic knee injury, sustained playing netball in my early 20s (which just goes to show that not all exercise is healthy) added to my misery. I have been in constant pain for longer than I can remember. My knee injury in 1980 had led to a reconstruction in 1981 (one of the first ever done) that led to severe arthritis, that led to a limp (1980s and 90s), that led to a total knee replacement in 2006 which has all resulted in spondylolisthesis and muulti-level facet joint arthropathy. In short, a painful lower back and sciatic pain that radiates down my right leg.

It hurts to walk. It hurts to stand. It hurts all the damn time. It is ever-present. It never goes away. Some days the hurt isn't too bad. Other days are just plain shitty. Unfortunately I never know what day it will be. Sometimes anti-inflamatories work, sometimes they don't. I have regular physio which usually gives me some short-term comfort. On bad days I just want to stay in bed but for some reason, lying down aggravates it. Which means that nights are always nasty. Never being able to find a comfortable position, I contort myself into different positions, wriggle and toss and turn, always seeking but never quite managing to find relief. On really bad nights even the dog chooses to sleep on the floor!


In September last year I decided I was going to be in pain whether or not I exercised. And as I did not want to go into my 60s in the same shape as I was in my 50s, I decided I might as well start exercising. So I got back up, dusted myself off, and put my creaky old body on a mission to get fit and healthy - and stay that way! (There is more about this in my post titled Be kind to yourself.)

And now I am on my first round of the 12WBT. It turns out to have been one of my better ideas. I finally feel like I am growing up and taking responsibility for myself. And I am trying to live my favourite sayng:

Just because you are in pain doesn't mean you have to be one!