Let me start with a little background about myself. I was born with Myelomeningocele (Spina Bifida) at the L5 S1 level. This cause paralysis from my waist down, in a “spiraling effect.” I can feel the front of my legs but not the back. I have muscle tone in my thighs but not my calves, so this makes it very difficult to walk. I have always walked with my knees slightly bent, for stability – and this has caused pain for as long as I can remember. With all of my weight on my knees, they were constantly giving out when I was younger, and consequently have been a source of chronic pain my whole life.
I have had about 12 surgeries in my lifetime related to Spina Bifida. The majority of them have been Orthopedic in nature. My most recent surgery took place on April 9th, 2009. I was diagnosed with a bulging disc at L2-3 and a stress fracture in my femur (hip). The location of the bulging disc was very dangerous, as this is so close to my lesion from birth. I had noticed some sensation differences in my legs within the last year or so. I had also been noticing an increase in occurrence of my kidney infections (something I fight on a regular basis). All of these signs pointed to a more severe possible diagnosis of a tethered spinal cord. A tethered cord happens when the base of your spinal cord (in my case, this goes all the way down to my tailbone) gets attached to scar tissue. It “tethers” itself to the scar tissue, pulling the cord taught, making it more difficult for nerve impulses to travel the length of the spinal cord. So…in January of 09, after nearly 3 months of severe hip pain, I went in for an MRI of my hip and Lumbar Spine. The hip MRI showed a stress fracture at the femoral head/neck. The L Spine MRI showed 2 bulging discs and a tethered spinal cord. So…which came first?? Nobody knows. There is no medical explanation for my hip fracture and one of my bulging discs was bad enough to need surgery. My doctor still wasn’t sure if my pain was coming from the disc or the tethered cord. After 3 more months of tests and waiting, I had surgery to repair the L2-3 disc and stress fracture.
Six weeks of medical leave is pretty boring, but definitely necessary after such major surgery. I came home using a walker (barely) and it took me a good 2 weeks to be able to get up without it. The next two weeks were spent walking for as long as I could (which was only for about 10 minutes or so). And the final 2 weeks were just for me to get back into a “normal routine.” I went back to work on May 27th – still with some pretty significant hip pain. Every time I took a step, pain would shoot down from my hip to my knee. I have always walked with a different gait than the “normal” person, but since the surgery there was an obvious change for the worse – even for ME. I had decided I was no longer going to take any pain medication – I’m not one to become dependent on those sorts of things. So I just decided to deal with the pain. I took it easy and only walked when I HAD to. The first step or two after sitting for long periods of time were excruciating.
Now we fast forward to last Wednesday, June 17th at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas. I attended the meeting with my Grandpa, Don Alanen. My parents had been to the lunch meeting and told me how amazing the stories were. They were so amazing in fact, that I was hard pressed to believe them. I have a medical background, so I look at the science of things…but I also recognize the value of Natural Medicine – I have had tremendous success with previous supplements my parents had introduced to me from Enrich and other companies of the sort…but you know that part. So…as I sat in the meeting, I loved learning the science behind it and hearing just how phenomenal this product truly could be! I was pleasantly surprised when it actually tasted great too! I could drink that whole bottle in one sitting!
I went home that night and decided to wait until Thursday morning to start drinking TRIVITA’S Nopalea. So at 7:30am, I started for the day. I know the recommended is 1-3 times per day, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do more – especially since I’d just had major surgery. It took from 7:30am-10am, and I noticed a small change. When I got up to go to the back of the office to take my next dose at 10am, my leg didn’t hurt when I stood up to walk. It was a little sore and I still favored the leg, but nothing like the day before. I ended up taking Nopalea 5 times on Thursday – once each time I had something to eat (Breakfast, AM snack, Lunch, PM Snack and Dinner). On Friday morning, I had NO pain in my leg or my knees. I didn’t really believe it, and thought it might be the placebo effect. When I got to work on Friday morning, I have the option of either taking the stairs or the elevator. I opted for the stairs on Friday – just to test it out and see if the pain really was gone. I took the stairs up to my office (on the 5th floor) and only had to stop at the 3rd floor because I was a little winded. By the time I reached the 5th floor, I was amazed I wasn’t falling over completely out of breath or unable to walk due to pain! I actually did it – pain free! In my entire life, I have never been able to walk up ONE flight of stairs without at least my knees bothering me or having to stop halfway up to catch my breath…and I just did 5 flights – with no problem! My family can even attest to that story – they know I wouldn’t dare take stairs. Even on the night of the Nopalea meeting, the elevator was broken so we had to take the stairs up one floor. I had to put all my weight on the rail whenever I stepped with my right leg because it was just too painful.
My body knows I need this. I can tell when I haven’t had in for a while…my hip starts bothering me, so I go for more TRIVITA’S Nopalea…and almost immediately my hip feels better. I can’t explain it – and don’t really need to. I’m pain free and that’s all that matters!
Hope this story helps others! Thank you for taking the time to read it, and let me know if you need anything else from me. I am happy to talk to ANYONE who might have questions for me or want to know more about my story (as this is a condensed version of the last 26 years).)
Thank you!
Ashley St. Clair
p.s. My home address is:
2896 NW Moda Way #913Hillsboro, OR 97124
Phone: (503) 758-7999
Your quality of life and your success, in large part, will depend on your health.
TRIVITA




