Hint of Success?

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

Well, it’s been a week and a half since I had my cortisone shot for my hip tendonitis, and I’m happy to say I’ve been feeling pretty good! It’s such a luxury to not have so much pain. I forgot what it felt like to get up in the morning and not immediately hurt. I have some stiffness and it causes very mild pain, but I’ve been trying to be diligent about doing the stretches I learned in PT this past winter so I can prevent anything else from happening. I was able to have a discussion with the PT who treated it last time and get some good advice from him. I’m so grateful that he’s always willing to answer questions even if I’m not actively being treated by him; it’s one of the reasons I will never go to another physical therapy clinic. Anyway, he told me I was good to start running again this week as long as I started with half of what I was doing before and slowly build back up. I asked him about running without my ankle brace and if that contributed to the hip issue since both times I ran without it I had trouble. He said that “things like that are rarely coincidences” (his words), but that he wasn’t sure, which I understand. In any case, I probably won’t try running without my ankle brace for a long time just in case it did contribute to me re-injuring my hip.

Tuesday was the first day I tried running and it went well! I spent a good amount of time considering how to start back up. Cutting the time in half was easy, but I was working an interval program before that, doing a mix of mostly running with a few walk breaks. I decided on doing 5 minutes of walking to warm up, and then the next 12-13 minutes are 1 minute run, followed by 1 minute walk, and alternating those so I’m not running more than 50% of the time. I did that same thing today, and I think I’m going to leave it at just two interval workouts this week. Next week I’ll do the same thing three days and if that goes well, I’ll tweak the intervals. I’m covering just under a mile (excluding the warm up), and I’m okay with leaving it like that for up to four weeks depending on what my body tells me. I have 4 months until the Halloween 5k, so that’s plenty of time to increase distance. I’m going to take things slower than I was last time. Any efforts I can take to prevent another injury will serve me well. I don’t need to be the fastest person at that race; I just want to be injury free so I can try. I’ve had to postpone attempting a race three times this year, and I really don’t want to have to again due to injury. Covid might be another story, but October is still a long way off, so who knows what might come of that. Worst case scenario is that I’ll measure myself a 5k route and sign up for a virtual race that offers all the swag of a real race. I want a bib and finisher’s medal to be able to display after everything I’ve had to deal with the last year and a half.

June Letdowns

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, runningLeave a comment

It’s been a heck of a month, especially since I don’t even have my bike right now. Three weeks ago, I was riding it and the front tire went flat. I had to walk it home about a mile and replace the tube. After I had it repaired, I rode just over a mile and it went flat again. I inspected the tire and saw nothing in it, which I expected since the flat was happening on the rim side. Last time that happened, it was the rim tape that needed to be replaced. I was tired of dealing with the issue, and the brakes needed to be repaired anyway, so I just took it to the local bike shop to let them deal with the issues. They told me it would be 2-3 weeks because they were really busy, which didn’t bother me all that much. Well, I called today (week 3), and they told me it would be a couple more weeks because they were waiting for a tire to come in, because thanks to COVID, there’s a shortage of them now. The guy told me the mechanic left me a message last week, but there’s no messages in my voicemail. I had him check my phone number just to be sure it was correct, and it was, so I don’t know what happened with that. All I know is that I’m going to lose my mind not having a bike for several more weeks, even though it may end up doing my body good.

As anyone who’s been reading this knows, I’ve been having trouble with my hip again, gluteus medius tendonitis to be exact. I took a month off from running and felt pretty good last week, so I tried a run, and I only got 8 minutes in before the pain was worse than it had been in a long time. I fought back tears walking home; I was beyond frustrated. Last week, I asked my past physical therapist about when a cortisone shot would be wise to consider, and he said, “Now.” I thought it over, and ended up scheduling an appointment with the doctor who treated it last time. I got really lucky and got an appointment for yesterday, his only opening until after the Fourth of July holiday. Someone must have cancelled right before I called. I’m so glad I didn’t have to wait three weeks to see him.

The appointment went well. I was 99% sure he was going to suggest a cortisone shot as the next course of treatment based on our discussion last time, and I was right. I know it has the potential to cause problems if done too frequently, but it was only my first one, so I wasn’t too worried about it. The shot was almost painless, which was a pleasant surprise because the size of the needle was huge. It was no worse than a normal injection. The doctor told me that if I didn’t have improvement in a week, he was going to give me a standing order for physical therapy. In the meantime, I’m working on my home program stretches. I wanted to ask my PT some questions today while I was doing occupational therapy for my elbow, but he wasn’t in the clinic this afternoon, so I have to wait until Thursday. I was curious about when it would be safe to start trying to run again, what other things I should be doing at home besides stretching, if adding strengthening to my program again would be helpful and when to do it, and what would happen if I did need to return to the clinic. I’m not sure that it will be necessary to return, but I want to know what kind of things we would be doing there since I can do 80% of it at home. I don’t want to waste his time. I’m getting ahead of myself, and I need to be patient and give the injection time to work. Today is my day off from work, so I won’t really know how it might hold up until later this week, and especially when I start running again. I was told at the doctor’s office that I could run in a few days, but that doesn’t seem safe to me. Maybe I’m just too afraid of hurting myself again, but I want to talk it over with my PT to know for sure. I really trust his judgment and he’s more familiar with my goals.

In other news, this week is going to my last week of occupational therapy. I have almost the same strength and flexibility in my right wrist now as I do in my left. The only deficit I have on my right side is that my strength with my arm extended is low because of the pain it causes at my elbow. At least I have one thing going right for me for a change. My shoulder is still sore at times, but I’m hoping that will eventually go away now that my elbow is improving.

I really hope July is a little more positive for me. I was going to run a 5k, but that’s unrealistic at the moment, so I’m going to a local lavender festival with a friend instead. It’s the same day as the race was supposed to be, so at least I still have something to look forward to. If I can get my bike back, I’ll be all set. I also started looking at a new 5k goal, and I think it won’t be until October, but it will be a Halloween themed race held at an orchard, and runners are allowed to dress up in a costume, so it’ll be fun to think about what to dress as. Given all that’s happening with my hip, I’m not sure trying to race any sooner than October would be wise. I’m going to be training slowly so I don’t have any other issues, fingers crossed!

It’s Working

On By LeraIn LifeLeave a comment

Occupational therapy is starting to improve my tennis elbow. I’m about to wrap up my fourth week going, and my measurements compared to when I first started are better. There’s still quite a large deficit in strength between my left hand and my right hand, so my therapist and I discussed it and I’ll be going for another month. My pain level is about the same as when I started, but we’re trying to improve my endurance so I can work without it hurting so much. My job can be physically stressful depending on the day, so the endurance will help. I find it kind of strange that the strength in my right hand is so much less than in the left because it doesn’t feel like it is. The only difference I notice is that I drop things a lot more than I used to. My therapist gave me a low resistance band to help strengthen and stabilize my shoulder and some special putty to work on my hand and forearm strength. I’m feeling optimistic that in another month, things should be almost back to normal.

Re-injured

On By LeraIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As the title hints, I’m having an issue. Tuesday I went out for an interval run, and hit a personal best mile time of 13:31, which is still slow, but considering the long road I’ve been on since my surgery a year and a half ago, and then an injury 7 months ago, I’m proud of it! I felt amazing when I finished Tuesday’s run. I took yesterday off and ran again this morning. It was the same exact workout, and I was only 8 seconds slower today. Everything was fine until the last 10 minutes, and then I felt that old familiar ache in my hip–the same hip I injured back in October. The pain was mild, so I finished my run, but the pain increased during my cool down walk. By the time I made it back home, it was a bit difficult to walk. I definitely feel like I strained my gluteus medius all over again. It wasn’t all the way healed to begin with, but back in March when my PT discharged me, he told me I was allowed to run as long as the pain didn’t get worse during or after, and even though I had mild pain after working all day, I had no issue running since then until today. I really hope that some rest and stretching will help it on its own, otherwise I’ll have to return to the doctor and see what I’m supposed to do. I feel like I’m just not destined to become a runner sometimes, but I refuse to let this setback stop me. It may take longer, and I may be facing having to postpone my first 5k yet again, but I will do whatever it takes. In the meantime, at least I can still bike to keep in shape, although biking isn’t as good of a workout for me as running is, but it’s better than doing nothing for a few weeks while I let myself heal.

Return to the Clinic

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This week I started occupational therapy for my tennis elbow. I didn’t know it was going to be classified as occupational therapy (I assumed it would be physical therapy), but the name doesn’t really make a difference in treatment. The way my clinic breaks it up is that OT is for hands, elbows, and shoulders, and PT is for everything else and occasionally shoulders. For my insurance benefits, that means my available sessions are 30 visits since it’s classified differently. I figured I was going to have to do self pay therapy again since I already used a bunch of PT visits early this year for my hip, but I got lucky and have a fresh count to go through.

It took some time to get the appointment set up. My doctor’s office was supposed to mail the referral form to the house (and it did finally arrive 9 days later–talk about snail mail). Apparently since my doctor is part of a certain local health system that has their own affiliated rehab clinics, they automatically got an electronic copy of the referral the same day of my appointment, which I didn’t realize was going to happen. That clinic called me a few hours after my appointment to ask if I was having severe pain, if my daily activities were limited, or if I was post-op, and they told me that because of the pandemic, those were the only conditions under which they were accepting patients currently. I was polite when I told them I was planning to go somewhere else, but I was also annoyed because my doctor wouldn’t have referred me for therapy if he didn’t think I’d benefit from it. It was a good thing I wasn’t interested in going to that clinic anyway.

I patiently awaited my mailed referral form all last week until Thursday afternoon. I was supposed to have received a call to set up a follow-up appointment for 3 months from now, and hadn’t yet all week, so I gave the office a call to set one up. While I was already on the phone, I asked the person I was speaking to if she could possibly fax the form to Athletico so I could call and get my evaluation scheduled for the following week. She said she would do it for me, and I left it at that. I called Athletico Friday morning last week to see if the form had arrived, and it still hadn’t, but they let me set up an appointment anyway (with no conditions attached, unlike the other place). The clinic called an hour later to say they finally got the referral and that I was good to go.

Tuesday was my first appointment, and it went well. I’m working with someone new with it being classified as OT (my PT was probably happy to get a break from me for this injury). She’s really nice and I think she’ll be great to work with over the next month or more. A lot of the appointment was an evaluation and discussing my symptoms and activities that I was having difficulty with. My elbow hurts every time I work, to brush my hair/teeth, to pick up a glass of water, and even to clasp my bra. Pretty much any movement that uses my hands to grasp hurts my elbow and forearm muscles, not to mention any twisting motions, like turning a doorknob. My OT took some strength measurements and showed me some exercises to work on at home, and that was the end of the first visit. Today I worked on some new things in the clinic after ultrasound and an ice massage. She also did some stuff to work the muscles around my shoulder because it’s been bothering me off and on since my elbow pain started.

All in all, it was a good first week of therapy. I’m a little sore from working the muscles extra, but it will be worth it in the end. I’m grateful that Athletico was able to see me in the clinic and that they didn’t have any of the stipulations the other place had. Just because my pain isn’t severe and I don’t have activity restrictions, doesn’t mean I don’t need help. I think 4 months of home treatment is plenty of time to give it before seeking additional help. I’ll never go anywhere else for physical/occupational therapy because I know they’re always there for me when I need them.

It’s May?!

On By LeraIn LifeLeave a comment

Hey everyone! Let me just start by saying that I didn’t intend for two months to go by without posting an update. There’s been a lot going on lately and it’s hard to believe that it’s already May. I might break some of it up into separate posts just so this isn’t so long.

First, I finished physical therapy for my hip in early-mid March. It’s still not all the way better, but I reached a point where I wasn’t benefiting much from going. I was able to do a lot of the stuff at home. My PT told me that as long as it wasn’t getting worse, he wasn’t worried about it. In the two months since I’ve been there, it’s stayed about the same. I don’t know what to do about it. The main problem is that it gets very stiff, which makes it painful, but no matter how much I stretch it, I can’t seem to get much relief. It’s letting me run, though, so I’ve just been trying to deal with it the best I can. With the COVID-19 pandemic, everything has been upside down and doctor’s appointments are hard to come by right now for something that isn’t serious. Now that things are setting down a little, I might make an appointment with the orthopedic doctor who was treating it and see what I might be able to do about it. I had hoped the heel lift my PT gave me would have helped more than it is, but so far, not much luck. I’m just trying to focus on being diligent with my stretching several times a day and hope that eventually things loosen up.

Next, my tennis elbow is being extra stubborn. It hurts every day, I can’t straighten my arm all the way sometimes, it’s starting to affect my shoulder, and even simple things like brushing my hair are painful. Worst of all is how it feels if I spend a lot of time on my bike. That’s the final straw; I can’t let it get bad enough to get in the way of my biking. My doctor and I discussed options for helping it, and I was told that I could try an injection if I wanted to or I could try physical therapy. I know that doing steroid injections isn’t always the best answer right away, and it’s not as though the pain is severe, so physical therapy made the most sense, and that’s the way my doctor said he would go if it was him. It figures that I finally finish PT and have to go back. This is starting to become a trend. I don’t have anything set up yet because my appointment was a phone appointment yesterday and my doctor said his office staff would have to mail the forms to my house (not sure why they couldn’t be faxed to the clinic I always go to). I do know from when I was there last and discussing the possibility of having to come in for my elbow that I’ll be working with a different therapist. I think she’s an occupational therapist, so she does more upper extremity things. I follow up with my doctor in three months, and if at that point things are still unchanged, I have to see a specialist. I’m really hoping that physical therapy will help; it’s been four months and I’m ready to be done with it.

Now for some good news: at least my carpal tunnel is feeling a lot better. I’ve been wearing splints on both wrists at night and I feel so much better. I still have problems with numbness and tingling sometimes, but I would say things are 90% better than before. I didn’t realize how little I was sleeping because of the pain, but the splints have been a lifesaver.

Finally, things at work are better. They weren’t immediately; we did finally get a new manager, but one who was morally corrupt. I asked for a transfer after only two weeks of working with her (it was that bad) and everything has been so much smoother since then.

I know this post has been largely focused on my health issues this time, but there’s just too much to cover all at once. This post would have been way too long for anyone to want to read. I do have some other things that I want to share, but they’ll be waiting for another day. I don’t plan to wait so long to write next time.

Of Asthma and Running

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

February ended with a challenge. As you all know, I had started back running and went a few times with little trouble. Then the unexpected happened: I had an asthma exacerbation. Ok, so it’s not unexpected per se since I have a few each year, but this one was a lot more stubborn. I switched daily controller medication at the beginning of the month and started taking Flovent. I’m not sure if it was just the medication change that made my asthma flare up or if it was running in the cold air and not being used to it (even though I bike in the snow, running stresses my lungs more). Either way, I ended up having to make a same day doctor’s appointment to try to get my asthma back under control. I tried letting it calm down on its own and just treating it with my rescue inhaler, but I was having to use my inhaler every few hours. The day I called for an appointment, I woke up feeling really short of breath. I was glad I was able to get in to see my doctor that afternoon, because otherwise I would have had to go to an urgent care clinic. Things are better now. I finished my five day burst of prednisone yesterday and my doctor had me stop Flovent and go back to what I was taking before, which is Advair. I go back at the beginning of May to discuss my asthma, at which point I may move back down to Flovent, but I don’t want to switch medication before my race, which is a little less than two weeks after my follow up appointment. I lost an entire week of training last week, and I don’t need anything else getting in the way of my goals. I’ve had enough bad luck with injuries; I don’t need my asthma getting in my way either. I am going to meet my goal of running a 5k one way or another. It would just be nice if obstacles didn’t keep getting in my way.

First Run of 2020

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment
It takes a lot of gear for a cold weather workout!

It’s been four months trying to recover from my gluteus medius tendonitis, and I’m not sure if it’s 100% better yet. I’ve been stiff and a bit sore getting out of bed for the last week and a half, but my physical therapist told me I was allowed to try running again. I finally got to do it today! Full disclosure: it wasn’t just straight running. I’m working on intervals of running and walking for now, gradually increasing my running time each week. My PT told me I had to go slow and keep the distance short, so I only went a mile and a half, but it felt so good! Also, biking does not serve to keep me in shape for running, but some of the breathing difficulty could have been from my asthma just not liking cold air. It was only 27 here today. I plan to try running again Saturday when it will be 50, and I think it should be easier. I really hope my hip holds up; I want to be back running so badly! My plan is to keep it slow and listen to my body, along with being diligent about doing my home PT program.

February Update

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, running, UncategorizedLeave a comment

A few things have happened since last I wrote, and I thought I’d fill all of you in. First, I had my annual appointment with my primary care doctor (Dr. S is the absolute best) to re-evaluate my asthma, and we decided that I could try to step down on my daily medication. Now, instead of a combination inhaler with a steroid and long acting bronchodilator, I’m trying just a steroid inhaler. I’m actually a little nervous about how it will go because I didn’t do well when I tried that three years ago. I’ve had excellent asthma control for the last few years, though, so it makes sense to see how I do. If worse comes to worse, I just go back to taking the combination inhaler and we try again at some point in the future.

While I was at the doctor, I asked him to look at my elbow, and I was right: it’s tennis elbow. He said he knew almost immediately because my case was so textbook, which never happens with me (usually I have weird issues). He told me to try a brace on it, ice it, stretch, and use ibuprofen as needed, and if that doesn’t seem to help, we can try physical therapy. I also brought up the issue of my hands tingling, and he said it’s bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. He gave me braces to wear at night to keep the nerve from getting compressed. I’m hoping it helps and the problem resolves. It’s really annoying trying to hold a fork or spoon, pen, or crochet with my hands tingling and going numb. Bloodwork was ordered just to make sure it wasn’t a systemic issue, and everything came back normal, so it’s just overuse like everything else. I follow up with Dr. S in three months to make sure everything is on track.

Getting quite the collection of braces going.

In other news, physical therapy for my hip is going well. I’ve had 3 ASTYM treatments so far, and I’m hoping that will resolve the last of my hip woes. My therapist told me he wanted to do it because other nearby areas were starting to get tightness in addition to the gluteus medius: the gluteus minimus, the tensor fasciae latae, and the IT band. I’m glad he discovered that before I start my running program up again. The last thing I need is another problem starting or coming back.

I’m counting down the days until I can start running again: 17 days left! I’m not allowed to run until the last week of February, but I’m going to ask at PT if I can at least do some really short interval runs (30 seconds at a time). If I can’t, that’s okay. I’ll do what I have to for proper healing. I was given the go ahead by my physical therapist to do a 5k in mid-May, so I’m doing the one the local zoo hosts. It raises money for conservation and I get free admission to walk around the zoo afterward, so it’s a really great event. The best part is that I have two friends who want to run it with me! I’m looking forward to it more than words can say. I really hope I can make this one! I plan to run at least 5 races this year, especially the holiday ones. One of the local orchards does a Halloween race, and then there’s the Thanksgiving turkey chase. Other than those two, I’m not sure which ones I want to do yet. There’s a women’s only one in the summer where each runner gets to go down a long flight of stairs individually at the start that sounds cool, and there’s a state border run that I might do, too. I have plenty of time to decide, though, so no rush!

Lastly, work is still ridiculous, but I made it clear I wasn’t able to work so much overtime anymore given all of my new injuries. I think we might actually be getting a manager soon. I was told they were doing interviews today, so I’m hoping someone can take over by next week. I really hope it’s someone who is easy to work with and can work around all of my upcoming appointments and race dates.

Living at PT

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In my last post, I mentioned that continuing physical therapy would be left up to my PT and I to discuss. Considering my desire to get back to running and considering I still need some help strengthening my muscles and loosening them up, along with my crazy work schedule that doesn’t leave me time to properly rest my affected injuries, we decided to continue on a week by week basis for now. I attended two sessions this week, and I’m honestly not sure what to think about my progress because a new issue started trying to pop up. I don’t have as much pain as I did when I started, but now my IT band is getting tight on the side where I already have the gluteus medius tendinitis and trochanteric bursitis. Given this new development, my PT decided that giving ASTYM a try would be worthwhile. Those of you who have been following along with this blog might remember that I had this done on my Achilles tendon this past summer and it’s what ultimately helped me recover from that surgery. I had my first ASTYM session for my hip/IT band today and I was really dreading it because I remember how much it hurt last time, but to my surprise it wasn’t as painful in that area as it was on my Achilles tendon. The worst part was having to wear shorts, which I hate because I hate my legs. I actually only had one pair from before I lost 70 pounds, and they’re huge on me, but they worked pretty well for ASTYM since my whole leg had to be exposed. I just changed back into my capris when it was time to work on the exercises so I didn’t end up losing my shorts on the floor xD

I left this out last time, but I started to get elbow pain last week that is very persistent and bothers me when I do pretty much anything. Doing some of my own research, I think it’s tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). I have an appointment with my primary care doctor in a week and a half, so I’m hoping to get a definitive diagnosis so it can start feeling better. I feel like I’m living at my physical therapy clinic. Every time I feel like I can escape, something else happens. I hope I don’t have to attend sessions for my elbow, but I won’t know until I see my doctor. I’ve also been getting tingling in my fingers on both hands, which hurts enough to keep me up at night sometimes, so it’s just a matter of time before that needs treatment, too. Having a physical job is doing me no favors. I feel like the only way I might convince the powers that be to get us a real manager is if I show up with my arm in a sling, which may very well happen considering my shoulder on the same arm is also bothering me (not as much as the elbow, though). Maybe once there’s some outward sign that I can’t do 80% of the work alone, things might speed up. I’m tired of working overtime and being in pain. I want to be able to get back to running. I’m planning to start training again in 5 weeks, which would put my first 5k race the last week of April, or first week of May, but that’s assuming everything stays on track. With the way things have been lately, it’s hard to say. I’m going to work as hard as possible at PT; if I can get back to running, that’s the first step to getting back to tennis, which I really miss!