Well, this was a day.
For whatever reason I had a bad night and knew right away it was going to be a bad day. I haven't figured out what makes the pain worse (or better) but I did whatever that is yesterday.
I went to PT at 9:30 and Melissa, who I think is good and really wants me to get better, did things that in some cases relieved the pain and in other cases...HURT.
From PT to Home Depot to pick up the last few supplies to finish the trailer build and from thence to a McDonald's for lunch and their wifi. I spent an hour or so searching for maps that will help me with class Sunday morning.
The more it hurts to walk the harder it will be to find a parking spot within 3 miles of your appointment with the orthopedist.
I actually saw a PA, not the dr. Before seeing her I got weighed, measured, and had my BP checked. I used to be 6' 1.5" and today I'm 5' 11.75" tall. Hmph. From there to the Xray room where they took pictures of my hips and spine, and then a visit with the P.A.
The question going in: is my pain from a bad hip or a bad back? The pain that radiates down my leg suggests spine but boy, does my hip hurt.
The answer? Yes.
They printed out the Xray pictures and the PA, a very nice woman who did a good job of explaining things, showed me that my left hip has bone spurs and significant loss of the padding that separates the ball and the socket causing pain. The vertebrae in my lower back that are supposed to have nice cushy discs between them don't. The space between the discs is about 40% of what it should be and that pinches the nerves that go down my leg, causing pain.
In two weeks I'll have an injection of an anesthetic and steroids into my left hip. Because it has to go deep into the joint the procedure is done using an ultrasound to guide the needle. She said I should feel relief from the pain almost immediately. The extent to which I do get relief will tell them how much of it is coming from my hip and how much from my back. The effects of the steroid may last up to three months and most doctors will do a max of 4 steroid injections per year.
At some point it will be necessary to replace the hip but we're not there yet.
I'll have to see a neurosurgeon about my back but I'm going to wait until we find out how much this injection helps.
In some ways I'm glad for this news. It frustrated me that I didn't know what caused the pain and therefore didn't know if, when, or how it would get better. Now I have at least some answers.
What may bother me the most, though, is that this means an end to my running. Both the left hip and my lower back are way past the high impact nature of running. She said options include biking and swimming. I have no place to do the latter, and what I do is more appropriately called drowning avoidance.
Biking is not a winter activity in western Oregon and during the rest of the year is a risky proposition on the narrow and winding roads around MoHo. If I decide to get back into serious cycling it will mean throwing the bike in the car and going someplace safer than the roads I've been running.
I NEED to exercise regularly, both for my physical and my mental health. I started running when I was in my late 20's never having done any kind of regular exercise before that. I got hooked on both running and staying in good physical shape. For about 8-10 years I switched to cycling and also enjoyed that, but since moving here it's been all running. I like going to the gym but it's not the same. It's indoors, it has a layer of social pressure, and it isn't solo (which is good for my mentally).
But this is my new normal, so there's no point fussing over it. Figure it out and move on. Find what works and just do it.
And hope they can figure out a way to alleviate the pain.
OK, there's more news, and it's good news. But it will go in a separate post.
Edited to add:
After I wrote the above I talked to Josh and got some very helpful perspective.
He said deteriorating discs and hips losing their padding puts me in the company of about 95% of people my age. The my symptoms came on so suddenly (went to bed feeling fine and got up in pain) suggests I slept funny, my wife kicked me in the middle of the night or.... some event precipitated this whereas my deteriorating bone issues have come on very gradually. That suggests that there's no reason to make super drastic changes like abandoning running for the rest of my life. The answer is to get past this episode and then scale things like running back to a level appropriate to my age and condition.
Yes!!!
I knew that kid would come in useful some day.
I'm going to call tomorrow and get put on the "first available" list to get the shot and then take advantage of the pain relief to get strong again, keep with the PT exercises, and then learn where the proper exercise threshold is.
Boston Marathon in 2020?
OK, maybe not.
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