What you make of it

If I had a real post for every time I actually thought about posting an update, there would be one gazillion posts on this blog. Instead, I have an idea for a post and then I watch 4 hours of Big Bang Theory reruns instead. That’s normal, right?

I am long overdue to provide a physical therapy update, and the longer I wait to do so the worse things seem to get. Hopefully this breaks the cycle or gets rid of the bad juju or whatever is going on.  Anyways, in the span of less than two weeks, from January 25^th - February 7^th, I tripped twice. Once while running, once while walking, both times yanking on the same spot of my left leg. Like a good patient, I told my physical therapist at my next appointment, as it had caused some minor discomfort. She did some manual therapy in the area and said that it did seem to be “lit up” but taking a break from running and keeping up on the foam rolling/strengthening stuff should knock it out.

Oh if that were only true. Instead, I started having discomfort during activities that were previously pain-free (spinning and elliptical). Rude. Not to mention the discomfort continued over the course of the day. Super rude. Given these sudden developments, my physical therapist shuttled me across the parking lot to a sports medicine doctor who had the pleasure of getting real up close and personal with me. I had an ultrasound of my left hamstring/adductor/glute area (where all those things come together) this past Friday. While I had hoped for answers, I was holding out for something…not what it was. Three microtears in the adductor near the ischial tuberosity (where both the adductor and hamstring connect). With the added bonus of bursitis in the bursa in the area of the ischial tuberosity. Sigh.

Ultrasound image. I can't see sh*t on it.

Immediate actions? Stop all cardio for 2 weeks. I can try to swim but only if I use paddles and a pull buoy so that my legs are not involved.  Otherwise, I can do upper body work and gentle yoga. Consider a steroid shot to the bursa in hope it will calm the heck down (OW). Dry needling with guided ultrasound to the area of the tears (what is up with all the needles?). At the end of the appointment I told both the doctor and my physical therapist that I needed a day to process this and see what, if anything, would be covered by my insurance. I’m already paying out of pocket for the physical therapy and it is a struggle just to do that.  While I await word from my insurance company, I am asking around about people’s experiences and opinions on both treatments.

I am 99% sure I am not going to get a shot. I’ve heard too many bad things about it and the odds of it being helpful (beyond pain relief, which I don’t need) aren’t awesome. As far as dry needling goes, I’m getting 50/50 reviews. Some said it hurt and did nothing, others said it was fine and really helped. I still have a day or two to mull things over while I wait for the insurance company to get back to me. I have a new sets of home exercises to do and I had manual therapy at the clinic this morning. Hoping to get in the pool tonight. I know that these things are better than nothing, but not being able to work up a good sweat just sucks. I think about all that endurance I’ve built up just leaking out of me like a soft tire.

I thought I had convinced myself that I would have a 5 second pity party and then move on, appreciating what exercise I was still able to do. The areas I could gain strength in where I hadn’t focused before. But that has not been entirely successful. I miss the exhaustion and epic sweatiness that comes from a spin class or a long elliptical workout. I know that the lifting and the core work and the PT exercises are helping my body become stronger. But at the end of the day I am still that toddler who wants to do the one thing she was told she could not. Does anyone have any other ways to look at this turn of events? Lemonade from the lemons? Silver linings in the thundercloud? 

The 2 week cardio embargo is up shortly (because it took that long to post this), but I still need to lay low and see what the doctor says. I am sure it isn't "go back to everything you were doing before" because the human body doesn't work like that. I am just hoping to hear that things are improving. These surprise setbacks and trouble spots that weren't there before are making me crazy. Which means I'm making the people around me crazy. Thank God that MS loves me because living with an injured runner is not an easy task. Especially when that injured runner is me. 

Captain Crankypants, signing off.