I've been on a downward spiral lately, mentally and physically. Every time I return from a physical therapy appointment or a visit with my doctor, I receive negative news. While the first 3 months post operation were filled with fuzzy bunnies and progressive healing, the last 3 have been plagued with doubt and regression. One week I'm told, "Hang in there. In another month you should be able to try running again." The next week we discover my range of motion is even worse and my pain now tripled. The next thing I would hear sounded like this, "We don't know what is causing your inflammation to continue. We can try another round of anti-inflammatories if you want. You know, running just may not be an option for you anymore. Try not to do anything that upsets the joint, including walking or biking. It's time to scale way back."
Honestly, I'm mostly at peace with the idea of not running so much again. (Don't get me wrong, the thing I crave most right now is a 16 mile effort, but I can't focus on that, it doesn't help.) However, being told the only way to heal is through taking endless amounts of stomach lacerating pills and not using my legs, made me feel like I was drowning. My limbs were not amputated! I still have full functionality of my parts. They just hurt when I use them. Not walking is not an option.
I want my life back.
Last Thursday I was given two options. The first was to get a cortisone injection in my right hip joint, hoping to reduce the inflammation. My latest round of oral anti-inflammatory meds helped, but not enough. When I walk more than a half mile, my hip flexors become miserable. So the second option was to ride this out for however long it may take, hoping my hip stops hurting in the next year or two. I came home completely defeated. Hip arthoscopy was supposed to be a 4-6 month recovery. "You'll be running again by Christmas. It is not too much to think you can't run another marathon next May..." Now this could be a 2 year recovery, just to be able to walk normally again?
Not liking my choices, I decided to go for a second opinion. Today, I met with my original physical therapist who diagnosed me 9 months ago, without MRI or Xray. I trust him tremendously. After working with my range of motion and strength for an hour, he found a few stretches that he thinks will relieve my hip pain. I told him swimming makes all the difference in the world and he said that's because it's an extension exercise. So he prescribed a series of stretches to perform every other waking hour for the next 6 days. He believes we can reduce my inflammation and return my range of motion back to normal in the next few weeks, without using any anti-inflammatory drugs!
I was on the right track with swimming and he warned against stopping my 1-2 miles each day in the pool. My body literally craves the water and that one element may make the difference between a full recovery and a limited one. If we can get the pain and inflammation down in the next few weeks, we will start rebuilding my strength slowly and progress to biking again. He told me not to stop walking. That too is an extension exercise and it will provide really nice information on whether these stretches help or not. In the next 2-3 weeks, I should be able to walk one mile without pain. He believed it very possible; I needed that boost in faith.
~Roadburner
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