Beyond The Barre

What’s Your Reason?

First of all, and I don’t think this comes as a surprise to anyone who knows me or has come across this blog, I love being a dog mom. Especially, to our ‘love bean’ – a term of endearment we use for Emma. Her ‘daddy’ gave her the nickname “Bean” when she was all legs and went from looking like a tiny potato to a string bean during her growing stages. We just loved it! If you’ve ever raised a young puppy then you know they all go through weird phases of forming into their own. Some puppy breeds have to ‘grow into their ears’. Well, Emma grew into her legs. Come to think of it as I sit here typing, this is sort of ironic considering this most loved stage of her development – her legs – eventually gave me purposeful determination.

Emma was diagnosed with CCL disease and advanced Degenerative Joint Disorder (DJD) when she was only five (5) years old. Her healing journey after this early diagnosis has been equally challenging as well as rewarding. What do I mean by that – you ask? So much! Though for the purpose of this particular post, I will focus on the important aspects of my well-being and a daily key component that has helped me manage through life as not just Emma’s dog mom but also as her advocate and caregiver.

When you first get a dog, you don’t see past the joy to any big hindering issues beside the usual – and if you know what I am talking about, there’s nothing more humbling than having children and/or pets – enough said! Emma used to go on 5k runs with me routinely and we initially thought she had a sprained muscle, that’s all. So, I took her in to be seen for a ‘slight limp’. Being told by the treating veterinarian (when Emma was still regarded to be a young pup in her prime) that we needed to consider surgery was devastating. What in the world? How did we go from a sprained muscle to total knee replacement surgery (TPLO in dogs)? As you can imagine, it was mind-blowing and the wheels in my head were already turning. I stood in the room for the duration of our visit and carefully listened to the veterinary recommendations that followed but I was skeptical. When it comes to these types of situations, I blame the ‘skeptic’ in me on my work in clinical research. Without the proper testing and/or data, all I could do at that moment was to thank him, pay, and leave. Let me clarify that it was not a rude interaction. In fact, rather informative. I just needed to take it all in – and by that, I mean – do my own research.

I had to step up my game – mentally, physically, and emotionally. Again, all the important aspects of what makes you ‘function’. Mental health refers to your ability to process information. Emotional health is how you express feelings based on the information you have processed. Physical health is the state of your body – are you eating balanced meals, staying active, and getting enough sleep at night. In full transparency, I was struggling with all of it. The period that followed receiving the news of Emma’s diagnosis was emotional and mentally challenging. BUT, I was all in – reading to educate myself on the matter, researching options, getting second (and third) opinions that sometimes required us to travel out of town, going over scenarios in my mind for her future – ugh, I was frazzled and out of character. At that point, I had been a long time client and team member at Pure Barre Wilmington and knew enough about the technique to rely on it (to keep me ‘functioning’). Pure Barre quickly became an important element in my every day. I incorporated going to barre class into my daily habit to help me cope with the information as well as the feelings to process all the conflicting research I came across until I could form valuable concrete decisions in the determination of her lifelong treatment plan. That’s when my focus changed and I started to “Barre for My Reason”!

Pure Barre has helped me navigate the most ‘normal’ life for and with Emma in so many ways. It gives me the cardiovascular stamina to keep up with her energy level which is still incredibly high (thank goodness). It gives me the strength to lift her in/out of the car, boat, bed, and stairs (since we limit Emma’s jumping), as well as the vigor to trailer her 75 pounds of pure joy around town on my bike to give her intention. Pure Barre gives me patience to never deny when she seeks additional engagement or playtime – even at the end of a hard day when I’m exhausted – because all I ever hear in me head now is “you can do anything for 30 seconds” (IYKYK) – so what if it turns into 30 minutes? It also gives me a better mindset to make healthy lifestyle choices when it comes to eating balanced meals, getting plenty of sleep/rest, staying active, and building boundaries. Last but not least, the connections I’ve made through the Pure Barre Wilmington community have been abundantly pivotal in more ways than I can put into words – a support system and means for rapport, advice, validation, compassion, recommendations for professional services, social interactions that provide distractions when needed at times – the list goes on!

Tying it all back to the tag line for this site, I want to mention that shopping with Emma has been rewarding in my role as part of the Pure Barre Wilmington team. You see, now when working on cross-promoting feats, businesses remember meeting the lab that wears pearls – which seems to be the thing that captivates people most – so I give Emma’s eye contact (her way of getting your attention) and charming personality credit for making my PBW job effortless.

Thanks to Pure Barre for the benefits that allow me to give Emma the life she deserves and my deepest warmest appreciation to the altruistic Pure Barre Wilmington community – team, members alike – for supporting my reason beyond the barre!