Go! Run Fast!

Today is five days post surgery. The pain is easing up. I’m able to walk more. I walked to and from the metro last night (about 0.5 miles from my house). It was kind of slow, but not too bad. My range of motion is not back to normal, but it’s remarkably better than it was 36 hours ago. I find myself bending my right leg without noticing it. I can, on tippy toes, go down the stairs, but that still feels like it’s too much stress to put on my knee.
The wooziness hasn’t cleared up entirely, yet. I felt really awful before yesterday’s class and also on the train last night. I ended up leaning against the window with my eyes closed. I feel like I have a mild case of the flu. I’m a little nauseous, weak, a little detached from the world, and sometimes really hot or cold (though I don’t have a fever - I’ve checked many times). I’m not dizzy, but get a feeling a bit like right before an episode of world-tilting vertigo hits. It’s intermittent and very mild, but it’s still there. I rested this morning, which helped, but it kicked back in after I got home from my afternoon meetings. I know it’s getting better, but it’s getting better very slowly. It’s infuriating. I just keep thinking about how much easier this would be if my knee was my main problem. That pain/discomfort is much easier to deal with than the wooziness.

Today I headed back in to the doctor’s office for a followup visit and my physical therapy consultation.

From the doctor and his awesome PA, I didn’t get a lot of new information. They cleaned up the partial tear in the meniscus and put the nick in the IT band so I should be good over there once I heal.

PT exercises are pretty good. There are a bunch of leg lifts that I was doing anyway, some calf and hamstring stretches. My favorite one is that I’m supposed to push my knee cap back and forth and up and down.  The evaluation showed my range of movement is very good. I’m extremely flexible as is, so my limited movement is still in the typical range for an uninjured person. So the prescription is to do the exercises once or twice a day (and I will certainly do them twice), ice it after I do the exercises, and come in several times a week. The PA didn’t think I’d need extensive therapy, though, so I’m not going to be in 3 times a week for this.
It’s feeling a bit better today, but I’m still more irritable than usual. I’m moving better up the stairs, and I suppose it hurts a bit less. However, I can tell that my energy and stamina aren’t back to normal and occasionally I feel a bit woozy. I’m sure it’s part anesthesia effects hanging on, part the fact that I laid on the couch for three days straight, part that I’ve been eating like crap for the past couple weeks, and part that I had a very hard time sleeping last night (probably because I’d laid on the couch for 3 days and have not been eating well).

Tomorrow I have to go back to work. I hope my crabbiness abates and my ability to move improves over night. Fortunately, I can work at home for half the day so it will be an easy transition.

Today was the day to take my dressings off. I also got to shower, which made me feel a lot more human.

Things don’t look too bad in there. What I thought were additional incisions are actually just tiny spots with single stitches. My knee is swollen, but it bends much better with the dressings off. If I try, I can walk up the stairs normally, but that still feels like I’m pushing it. Going down the steps is still definitely a one-at-a-time business.

I will occasionally find myself with the knee bent at 90 degrees, but I try to keep it a bit straighter than that.
I went out to CVS to get bandaids (and a bag of Utz). Moving around is not very easy. I can drive and I can walk slowly, but not well. I realize it’s only 48 hours post surgery, but the novelty has worn off and I’m starting to be irritated. It’s good no one is around, because I would be crabby company.

I have a normal schedule this week, but I have two weeks of travel coming up in the first two weeks of April. There are two trips, both of which I really should take, but we’ll have to see how the healing progresses. I can’t imagine dragging myself through airports like this. It was hard enough after the Mardi Gras half marathon last month. I will still have stitches in for the first trip. I’m trying not to worry about it yet, but I’m not very good at not worrying - especially about travel and especially about my health issues. Put the two together and get a stressed me.
Anyway, here are some pictures of my knobby knees to show the swelling and stitches.

Nothing gory yet, but here are the photos of the inside of my knee from the procedure yesterday.I believe the bottom ones show the torn meniscus since there is something ragged looking in there. More details on this Monday when I see the doc.

My knee is feeling a bit better today, but I am still taking advantage of my situation to sit and watch episodes of House all day. The dressings are still on, so I can’t move my leg much. I did discover the other incision, though. I heard rumors of a second but I thought it was on the outside by the first one. Turns out it’s on the inside of my knee. It doesn’t really hurt, but I felt around and can tell it’s there.

My big achievement of the day is getting the iodine off with some rubbing alcohol.

I’m still walking fine on it. I tried bending it a bit on the stairs, but it hurts. That could be the incisions. It could be something in there that they fixed. Anyway, I’m going to be nice and not test it again. I’m continuing to ice it and keep it elevated (while I watch House).

No great pictures today. Tomorrow morning I’ll have the dressings off and I’ll post all kinds of gory pictures of what’s under there.

I got up this morning oh so early before 7am and my friend Judith, to whom I am very grateful, picked me up and brought me to the hospital. After a lot of waiting, I went in around 9:45am. Don’t remember much.

I woke up and only vaguely remember talking to my doctor. I know he said I had a partially torn meniscus and they fixed it. When I asked him a question he was gone.

So it seems that I did indeed have a partially torn meniscus as the doctor told my groggy self, which was fixed, and they also debrided the IT band and put a little nick in it so it will let it stretch better. The meniscus issue won’t affect the recovery plan, which is good.

It doesn’t feel too bad. I walked on it at the hospital and have been walking around at home today (just a bit - kitchen, dogs out, up and down the stairs every now and then). It hurts, but it’s not unbearable. I didn’t even take the percocet prescription they gave me. The recovery today is mostly just getting over the anesthesia effects. I came home and took a 2 hour nap to get over the nausea and grogginess.

I can’t see what’s going on under the bandages, but here’s how it looks. There is gauze and then an ace bandage and then the black thing is an ice pack.

I also got flowers! The first bouquet is from Tom and Michelle and the second is from Judith. Thanks!!!!

After last night’s successful treadmill run, I went out for a 3 miler after work this evening. It was good. The only problem I had was a side cramp, which are frequent irritations for me. I may have sensed the beginning of some tightness as I finished, but I also could have just imagined it.  It was very good.

This just confirms my issue with the orthotics. I looked back over my logs from late December and early January and I was feeling little twinges in my IT band after only 2 miles. Now with the orthotics out I’m doing much better. There is still obviously something wrong in there, but it seems quite clear that things are worse with them than without. If only I could return them and get my $400 back…

Surgery: Friday morning

Me: Still completely freaked

I did run today, though. I just did 2 miles on the treadmill, but it didn’t hurt and it felt so good to run again. I’ll probably try to get one or two more in before surgery on Friday. I can’t make it much worse, can I?

Good news: the followup MRI showed my bone contusion has healed. My IT band even looks ok on the MRI (even though it’s still a bit sore).

The news, though, is that with all conservative treatment tried, with extensive rest, and with the other issues resolved, I have two options:

1. Stop running (forever)
2. Have IT band release surgery

And you know, I’d stop running except I love this blog that absolutely no one reads and if I stopped running I’d have to stop writing it. That, or not running is simply not an option.

Thus, surgery. I’m having it done in just under 2 weeks. It’s a pretty successful and low-risk procedure. My doctor has never had a negative outcome and, for patients who had it, it has permanently solved their IT band problems. Recovery is also quick. I’ll be walking that day and running again within a few weeks. I should be back to normal in a couple months and, then, hopefully on schedule for summer training.

This is my scientist side reporting.  My non-scientist side is happy that I am doing something that will potentially fix this, pretty confident that it will work, and freaked out. There’s not much more to say about that.

This weekend was my 7 week date with running. I headed to New Orleans EXTREMELY nervous that I wouldn’t be healed.

Turns out my anxiety was well founded this time. I started feeling something on the outside of my knee about a mile in and it started hurting before I got to mile 3. I spent several miles debating whether or not to finish; the route went right past my hotel at mile 8. However, I decided to just get it done. My strategy was basically to force myself to walk 2 blocks every time I saw a mile marker or a band, and to walk through the aid stations. I was not tired, but it eased the pain and tightness in my IT band.

I finished and was very sore Sunday evening and Monday. It’s still a bit sore today, but not as bad.

I’m very disappointed that all that time off did absolutely nothing to improve my situation. I also have developed a theory that the orthotics are contributing to the problem at this point. My left IT band has never given me problems and it was fine during the race, but it was a bit sore when I got home. If I have had no problems and rested for 7 weeks, it seems VERY unlikely that this would just crop up from compensating alone. I’m sure that contributes, but if it didn’t hurt after the marathon, it shouldn’t hurt after a half.

I went into my sports medicine doctor today and chatted briefly with the podiatrist about this. He said they could be causing the problem and offered to take a look. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten them at home so I will probably go back in next week to have them checked out. However, I’ve lost my trust in them for now.

The PA was quite baffled by the situation. I’m going back in for another MRI on Thursday and then seeing the doctor next Tuesday afternoon. This will let us see if the bone contusion has healed and to reassess. Surgery is looking more likely, but at this point I am so frustrated that I am ready to do what needs to be done. I basically can’t run more than 2 mile without some kind of discomfort, the rest and stretching and cortisone are not helping in the slightest. I feel like I’m running out of options.

ETA: I did get a very cool medal: