Sunday, December 14, 2008

Uuuugghh....Seriously???

Ok, this is some sucky shit. A little history....I ran my first Marathon on October 26. During my training I had a few minor injury issues (mainly hip pain that was pretty much fixed through a lot of PT, and the random broken rib). During the marathon everything went pretty well until about mile 17-18 when my right ankle started to kill. When people asked how it went I told them everything felt pretty good until mile 17-18 when it felt like my someone "stole" my ankle joint, leaving me with "bone on bone" (my visual demonstration for this was making my hands into fists and hitting them together....bone on bone). In the days/weeks following the marathon my ankle still hurt, some days were worse than others. There were times that it would feel like it got "stuck" really deep in there and if i put weight on it, it would hurt bad, but then it would go away. Finally one day while I was out shopping the pain got pretty bad and I could barely walk on it, so I headed to Med Express for an x-ray (thinking it was a stress fracture). They didn't see anything but also said that it would probably need an MRI to see it and to call my ortho dr. So I did that, he couldn't see me for 2 weeks, so I waited, then had to cancel my appointment because of work drama and re-schedule the following week. During those 3 weeks it felt pretty much better, just sore on the outside. So when I went to see him he did a basic exam and said that I had tendinitis and gave me a prescription for PT. Cool. But them I went to cardio kickboxing that Saturday, and during the "jumping jack and shuffle" my ankle "went". It felt like someone opened up my ankle and put a "jack" (you know, the pointy thing that you play Jacks with) in it then I jumped up and landed on it. PAIN!!!!! I had felt this same thing after the marathon, but just kept trying to get passed it, and eventually it faded out, but it was BACK. I couldn't put any weight on it, then it went away, then came back, took 2 steps, it came back, finished the class barely putting any weight on it, walked out of the room to the weights, it happened again and had to sit down. Finally I managed to leave, and it was gone for the rest of the day except for a few steps. Over the next couple days it came back sort of on and off. In the meantime, it was Thanksgiving (I did the Turkey trot), everyone was busy, blah blah blah (I didn't make a Dr's appt right away).



Fast Forward to the Jingle Bell Run, everything went well, except that my knee hurt and my ankle didn't feel great. I was fully trying to ignore that there might be something wrong and I didn't want to go back to the "Above Dr". However on Monday of last week I decided that I needed to get everything checked out and made an appointment with a different Sport Medicine Ortho for Thursday. At the appointment she was super thorough with my knee and ankle, even addressed a weakness that I wasn't aware of in my quad and hip and gave me a scrip for PT, along with the tendinitis in my ankle. Then back to the ankle, she felt that there was "something else" going on deep in there, possibly a stress fracture or torn cartilage, and set me up for an MRI on Friday morning.



Friday afternoon I heard back from her...........upon initial review of the MRI it's apparent that there is cartilage damage in the ankle joint, comparable to a "pothole" in the cartialge (WTF? am I going to need asphalt dumped in my ankle???) that would most likely need to be addressed surgically, often they drill tiny holes into the bone to make it "bleed" and make new cartilage (**I'm sure I'm off on some of this....if you know more, feel free to chime in!). Hmm, tiny holes in my bone, YEAH!!! That sounds GREAT!!!!



"Luckily" for me, one of my best friends just happens to be engaged to the "THE" foot/ankle surgeon here (and the same one that this Dr would refer to me). So, I called him and he went and looked at the MRI yesterday. In addition to my "pothole" I also have a cyst on the tip of my tibia, which he told me "is a rather unusal place for this type of cyst" (cool, i'm so unique!). Most likely I will need the surgery to address the cyst, cleanup the cartilage, and repair the "pothole". My next question was "What's the recovery like?" Believe me, you don't want to know. 6 WEEKS non weight bearing on crutches (and I forgot to mention, it's my FLIPPING RIGHT FOOT, aka THE DRIVING FOOT, which means NO DRIVING), then 6 weeks "intense" physical therapy, and basically "you're looking at about 6 months until you are getting back to "normal". WTF???? That doesn't mean that in 6 months you'll be ready to run a 1/2 marathon, that means that in 6 months you might be able to do a 5K.



HOWEVER - Since I said that I would want to wait until after the Holidays to do the surgery he suggested that we at least try a cortisone injection first, just to see if somehow I can avoid the surgery and to also help in seeing if this is really the source of pain. So, he's fitting in me in at 7:45am Monday for the injection. After the injection I need to take it easy for 1 week, then return to normal activitiy (along with PT) and see what happens.

Bottom line, I am hugely disappointed. I cried forever on Friday, I kept thinking about my "Rock Star Plans" for 2009 and how much I was looking forward to becoming a "better runner". I know that this is all still possible and maybe it won't be in 2009, maybe it will have to be in 2010, but I wanted it now. I was finally feeling like I found something that I enjoyed, that I could work on and get better at, I love all of the running friends that I have made and I was looking forward to getting to do so much more with everyone this year. If it all happens to work out and the injection "fixes" everything, I will have an even bigger appreciation for it all, but if the injection doesn't work.....that is just going to suck.

So, anyone have any experience with this? Anyone have a spare ankle? Sorry for such a shitty post, but it's where I am right now.

17 comments:

mrjwhit~ said...

NO extra ankles for you, but I have a silly 1 yo DD to part with. Any takers? Just kidding. Hope this turns out well for you.

teacherwoman said...

Oh my goodness. I am so sorry for all your pains. That is horrible. I hope this heals fast and you will be feeling better in no time!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about this news, but I am glad the root of the problem was solved. I know this is a disapointing, but many people actualy come back from injury stronger.

Please keep us posted on how things are going.

SuperDave said...

Damn I'm sry.
I can't tell you anymore than what you already revealed. You have been well informed.
What I can tell you is that this should be an outpatient procedure and shouldn't require overnight admission.
Rehab, Rehab, Rehab.
The positive is that it is December and you should be up and running again well before Spring!!
Hang in there....

Unknown said...

That really stinks, I'm sorry! I hope they get it fixed and you have the speediest and easiest possible recovery.

Aron said...

oh my gosh :( that just plain SUCKS. i am so sorry!!! hang in there girlie - big HUGS being sent your way!

Amy - the gazelle said...

that sucks major ass. It's hard to find a bright side to something like that, but I'll do my best.

I was training for my first marathon, and ran through a knee injury for a while. When I finally gave in, I had to quit running for 10 weeks (and no leg activity at ALL for 1 month, and then only some yoga). I am now, 5 months after I had to stop running, almost back to where I was - so I do understand the frustration 2008 was supposed to be my marathon year.

And also, through my PT, I learned a lot of things about my body & my strengths & weaknesses, and feel that I am a stronger, better runner now - even though I don't have my speed back yet, my form is so much better & I feel like I'm equipped to better avoid future injuries.

I'm so sorry this happened, but I know that you can get through this and still be strong.

Marlene said...

I can imagine how disappointed you are feeling right now. So sorry!! :(

Just remember that even if 2009 doesn't turn out to be a great running year, there's always the next one and the next one and the next one.

Hope you get some answers soon.

The Laminator said...

Omigosh...that is major suckage!

So sorry to hear about your ankle troubles. I hope everything gets fixed real soon so you can get back. Damn.

Sending all the best recovery vibes your way. Best of luck with the ankle!

BeachRunner said...

Oh no! Hope you get some relief and healing soon.

Melanie said...

I am so sorry to hear about this. I KNOW exactly what you are feeling and saying right now. Last week after several weeks of hip pain and calling off a marathon I'd been training for since August, a MRI found that I has a fracture in the neck of my femur. I've only been on crutches since Wed. and I can't tell you how many tears I've cried this week. I kept hoping and praying I'd find out it was just bursitis of tendenitis, but my worst fear came true. I'm on the crutches for at least 4-6 weeks, and then another month before I cna maybe run a few miles a week. It. Sucks.

Feel free to grab my email off my blog profile and email me if you want someone to complain with. They say misery loves company, yes?

Carolina John said...

oh man i'm sorry to read that. The body has a remarkable way of healing itself when it can. That surgery sounds painful and the recovery worse. Hang in there, keep your spirits up. We'll all be pulling for you!

jahowie said...

That is some "sucky shit". I'm very sorry to hear about your injury.

Progman2000 said...

That blows big time. At least this happened after Marine Corp. If this had cropped up and kept you from running your first marathon after all the training is would have sucked x 100. Now you can recover and come back for #2. Good luck.

Jess said...

Oh man I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle that seriously sucks. I know I was bumming big time all summer when my knee was messed up and I was stuck in PT.

Do what you need to do to get it fixed though. And don't worry, your blogging buddies will still be here whether your laid up with an injury or not

Anonymous said...

That really sucks! At least you got some answers about what was really going on. It is better to be healthy..you have a lot of years left to be running!!!

Laura said...

I'm sorry I'm so behind on your blog, and I'm REALLY sorry to hear about your ankle troubles! Hoping the next few posts reveal some good news :)

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