Tag: pain

One Final Push

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

Had another follow up with the ortho clinic two days ago. I’ve had very minor improvement in my knee since the last injection, but I’m still getting pain with even walking still sometimes. I can walk farther most of the time before it starts bothering me, but I still have days where it just doesn’t like me to walk on it at all. After every activity that involves weight bearing, I have pain. I get pain after walking, after running, and even after standing twenty minutes to cook or greet people at the doors at church. Biking is almost normal, but I’ll still get pain after that if I ride longer than about 45 minutes, but shorter rides are okay 85% of the time.

All that said, I feel like I’m back to where I was before I injured myself further at the 5K race in November, but even before that I was still struggling with these same issues for 3 months. Now we’re at 7 months, and it’s not looking great that they will resolve without help. The doctor told me there’s still a chance that they can improve, but told me to look at it from the perspective of how much it’s limiting me from the activities I want to do. The truth is that it’s holding me back.

At my appointment, I had fully planned to discuss my surgical options, but I was so undecided about it. The doctor was really understanding about it and told me to take the next month and see if things improve, and during this next month, he told me (directly quoting him) to “beat the shit out of it as a field test”. He told me to increase my activities and see how it responds. Just based on how the weekend went, I think it was stupid of me to push surgery off another month, but I want to be sure I need it. I really don’t see things improving in the next month, but I’ll make suer I run consistently and keep doing my rehab exercises and see what happens.

Knee Consult

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

Today I finally had my specialist consult for my knee, which I was ridiculously excited for. I’ve been waiting for at least some answers, and while I didn’t get as much information as I hoped, just having some sort of plan in place right now is helping keep me grounded.

As I mentioned in my last post, I was scheduled to consult with a sports medicine doctor at an orthopedics office. The appointment began with taking x-rays, which I didn’t fully understand because I had an MRI done already, but I guess they show different enough information. After that, I went to a room to await the official start of the appointment.

Their office works with a physician assistant coming in first and getting a history, asking questions, and doing a physical exam. I was fine with that since I was going to be seeing the doctor after that. However, this PA was so fixated on my X-rays showing the beginnings of arthritis developing that that was all he was focused on while he was talking to me. He made it sound like that was what he thought the cause of everything was, even though I specifically was able to point to it developing after a run, and specifically worsening when my knee snapped at my Thanksgiving 5k. There was no way I was about to walk out of that office with anyone trying to tell me arthritis was the cause of my problems. It’s nothing new to me when someone in healthcare sees my body still being overweight, sees something like that in an X-ray, and just can’t see past it. He also kept trying to tell me it would be better for me if I didn’t run and switched to biking or swimming.

Thankfully, the doctor listened to me a lot better and I felt like he actually heard my concerns. He also asked some questions and did an exam. He then pulled my MRI and X-rays up and showed me exactly what the findings in them looked like on the images and talked about why he wasn’t 100% sure that my meniscus tear was the cause of my pain and deficits. The place where my meniscus is torn is the medial side, yet I’ve had a lot more posterior and lateral pain. He did say the posterior pain could be from the meniscus, but also said it may not be and that rushing to do surgery on it may not fix it. I told him that I was willing to try conservative treatments first, and whatever it takes as long as I can run again.

We settled on trying a couple of injections spaced apart by a month. He let me decide if I wanted one that would help the pain in the back of my knee first or the lateral pain first. I chose to treat the pain the back first because he said getting rid of the inflammation in the joint, whether from the tear or something else, would help clear up the Baker’s cyst since it’s a result of too much fluid production from inflammation. I was hoping he would drain it, but he said this would work better.

So, I had the steroid injection done on my knee joint itself, and it was surprisingly mostly painless. It was a little achy when he was actually entering the joint, but very mild— much more mild than the pain I’ve been living with daily. The doctor said it would take up to two days to see full benefit. He also said that if this didn’t address the pain, he would try an injection laterally to see if it’s my IT band causing pain in a different spot than before. I at least appreciate his honesty that he’s not sure exactly what it is, but he’s willing to try a few things. He did say that if the injections don’t work, then it would probably be wise to consult a surgeon.

I go back for a follow up in a month. In the meantime, he gave me about a dozen different exercises to work on at home. I am allowed to try some walking and biking as tolerated after taking it easy the next couple of days to let the injection take full effect. Right now I can’t do either without pain, so we’ll see what happens in the next several weeks. My only fear for the long-term is that these injections do help, but it just puts a band-aid on a bigger problem. The steroids will help the inflammation and therefore the pain, but what if just masking the symptoms causes me a false sense of well-being and I end up injuring myself more? I don’t like thinking about something like that, but I also know that I’m extremely unlucky when it comes to injuries. At this point, it would be naive of me NOT to think of it.

As always, I’ll share with you guys when I know more!

Knee Damage

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

I had an MRI done this week after I injured myself even more at the Thanksgiving 5K. I got the results back and there’s a whole lot going on. The most serious issue is a meniscus tear, but I also have a moderately sized cyst behind my knee and a joint effusion. Basically, the whole thing is a mess. I had already set up an appointment with the orthopedics office before the testing, but they didn’t schedule me with a surgeon, they scheduled me with someone in sports medicine. They put me with him because I had no previous history of knee surgeries and a no specific diagnosis, which makes sense. Now that I have the results back and know it’s a tear, I asked my pcp if I should reschedule to one of the surgeons, and that is what he would prefer.

I called the office and asked if I could be rescheduled to one of the surgeons, but the wait is out to March and April, which is way too long to let this go. I decided to just stick with the doctor I was scheduled with for now so I could at least get some questions answered about the severity of the condition, if the tear itself is likely to be causing the issues (it’s my medial meniscus that’s torn, but mostly I have lateral and posterior pain), and if it’s possible to try conservative treatment. My appointment is only two weeks away; at this point, it just makes sense to see what he says and I can always ask to book with someone else if I want another opinion. Letting this pain and loss of function go on for three more months is unreasonable. I can’t bend my leg all the way, I can’t straighten it all the way, and it’s affected my gait for a month now.

Honestly, I’m scared of what I’m going to hear. I know that a lot of people with meniscus issues still have trouble with it even after a repair. I also know that it’s unlikely to just heal itself, so I don’t know what I’m facing. I would love to know how severely it’s torn, and would like to hopefully get the cyst and/or fluid drained so my knee doesn’t feel so stiff and swollen. I think just that would go a good way toward me feeling better.

I’ll keep you guys updated. I had dreams of doing a color run in April, but it really all depends on how this consultation goes.

November 2023 Life

On By LeraIn Life, running, weight lossLeave a comment

Hey guys! It’s been about a month since I’ve updated you, so here it is! I’ve been steadily working on losing weight. It’s slowed down to one pound a week. It’s frustratingly slow, but I realize that means I have a higher chance of success in keeping it off. I could always eat less to increase my deficit, but with working out, I need to make sure I’m getting enough nutrition, especially while trying to heal an injury. I am finally starting to fit into regular sized clothes, so I’m looking forward to having more options available for that. It was definitely the ego boost that I needed right now. Still, though, in the last 9 months, I’ve lost 48 pounds, which I’m thrilled with.

As far as my leg goes, I still don’t know what’s wrong with it. I feel like physical therapy was a waste of time for the most part. I think I would have been better off waiting for the clinic that was booking a month out because I think I would have had better treatment. I only did 5 sessions, which were once a week, all under 30 minutes, and all I did was the same exercises I was working on at home. The IT band area does feel better, so in that regard it wasn’t a waste, but I still have a lot of pain after a run a little lower down and around the back, pain so bad with kneeling that I can’t do that anymore, and there’s a lump there, so that’s going to need to be addressed when I follow up with my doctor in a few weeks.


All that said, my PT did tell me I could run short distances and try to build up from there. I had too much pain trying to run one mile straight through, but I split that up into walk/run intervals of 0.1 mile walk, 0.2 mile run until I hit 2 miles, and while I was sore the day after, it was less than running all the way through a mile. I ended up signing up for a Thanksgiving Day 5k, which I have wanted to do every year since I started running and have always ended up injured, but I simply don’t care this year and am going to go and do it anyway, even if I have to walk.

PR From Walking???

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

Good evening, guys! It’s been an eventful week. Sunday I absolutely crushed that 5k I signed up for, even though I couldn’t run. I really didn’t want to go and just walk it, and I was going to be there alone instead of with friends like usual, but I knew I’d regret not going more, so I laced up and headed out. My only goal was not to get caught by the sweepers, but it turns out I didn’t need to worry about that. I kept as quick a pace as I could walking and actually set a new PR! That’s how much my fitness has improved this year. I never thought I’d get a PR walking a 5k, but I did. I’m so pleased with it, but it makes me wonder how fast I would have been able to finish if I could have run it. Hopefully someday soon that will happen.

Thursday I started physical therapy. The PT I worked with also thinks it’s my IT band, but he didn’t really say anything about why it would hurt in the back like it is. I still think something else is also going on, but I’ll give it some time following his recommendations. I had to go to a new clinic because of insurance, and I just don’t know how I’m going to feel about their process. The initial consult didn’t even last a half hour. He felt my knee and did a couple quick tests, and didn’t really ask many questions. I tried to explain that the main issue is that it hurts in the back more than anything, especially when I bend it all the way, and that while it did hurt on the side when I stopped running, it hasn’t done that in weeks, but hurts in the back. I didn’t really feel heard, and the appointment was so quick. He gave me five things to do with three reps each, then told me I wouldn’t be coming back until a week and a half later. This is different to every initial consult I’ve ever done. I’ve always had at least a one hour appointment and been told to schedule another in a few days. I’ll see what they tell me when I go back, but it just feels very strange to me. I want to get this issue fixed, and it’s already been nearly two months. I don’t want to waste time. I want to get back to being able to run and squat and kneel without pain.

September Setbacks

On By LeraIn Life, running, weight lossLeave a comment

I feel like the title is a misnomer, because August is actually the month where things started holding me back. I ended up hurting myself about halfway through August and I’m still not better. I went for a rainy day run and felt great during, to the point where I intentionally got a new PR, but later that night it all went downhill. The worst part is that I don’t even know what the issue is. My doctor thinks maybe my IT band because it hurts on the side of my knee when I run, but I can walk or bike without that same pain. I also get achy behind my knee, and when I bend it all the way, it feels like there’s a painful lump or something that’s preventing it from bending to its max. So basically, I am the master of injuries. My doctor told me to try to self treat a little longer, but I think it’s going to end up being something I need PT for. I thought it was doing better last weekend and I did 5 very short run intervals in the middle of a 3.5 mile walk, and those didn’t hurt at the time, but a couple hours later, the pain was awful and has been present in varying degrees since.

So, while I can’t run, I have been walking and biking. I still need to get some sort of movement to help with my weight loss. I’m up to 43 pounds lost this year, so at least that’s something going in the right direction.

My biggest source of sadness right now is being stuck walking my 5k on October 1st when it should have been a PR race for me by a solid five minutes. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded walking it, but I just found out that I’ll be doing it by myself. None of my friends want to do this one this year. This is the first race I’ve run in 3 years where I won’t even know one person. I guess it was bound to happen, but I’m still feeling really down. If I was able to get a refund, I don’t think I’d bother going because it’s just going to feel like a shell of the experience I’m used to.

Anyway, that’s life right now. I’ll let you guys know how the race goes. Maybe I’ll get lucky and I can try to run a little. I know it looks like I’m probably not going to be doing the Thanksgiving Day 5k this year, which stinks, but if by some chance I heal quickly, I’ll sign up.

April Update

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

Clearly consistency isn’t my strong suit with this blog lately. I will try to do better at updating on at least a monthly basis.

Since my last update, I did run another 5k. It was holiday themed and held at the local zoo, so it was a unique experience. Afterward, we got to stick around for free and check out the holiday light displays. I had a really great time, but I was still struggling with my knee injury at that point and was in horrible pain after the run and then walking around another hour and a half after. I ended up taking time off from running again. I started back up in February and only ran twice that month, and also only ran twice in March. For April I managed to run once a week for the whole month. I’m still having trouble, though, so trying to keep it slow and easy when I do go. I’m thinking I’ll end up back in physical therapy for it at some point. I do have some posts planned coming up. I’ll probably put the first one up within a week just so I can set the stage for future posts, so stay tuned!

Autumn Tidings

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, runningLeave a comment

Forgive me for not updating this in four months! I can hardly believe how fast the time is flowing by these days. It’s been six months since changing jobs, and I don’t regret a single thing.

In terms of running, it’s been going okay. My knee is still an issue, and now my hip on the same side has been having some muscle stiffness on the outside. I took a few weeks off and restarted Couch to 5K this weekend. I had only been getting out once a week to run and focusing on cross training with speed walking and biking. Even biking still makes my knee hurt if I go too long. Despite everything, I’m grateful for at least being able to do some things. That said, I do want to do something with this knee of mine. It’s still far too much of a problem. The last run I did before taking a breaks was 2 miles, and I had major problems— all of them on my right leg. My knee was achy and swollen, my hip was mildly sore and quite stiff, my hamstrings, glutes, and calf felt strained, and even my ankle was trying to act up again, and that hasn’t been an issue in many months. I have no idea what to do. I’ve been really upset and angry about it. I’m sure if I see my doctor, he’ll want me to do PT for it again, but my copay will be much cheaper in the near year for that, so I’d rather wait a bit. I’m already doing PT for my shoulder right now (rotator cuff tendinitis), and that’s taking enough of my money.

Issues aside, I did run a 5k last month! It was the Halloween-themed run that I did last year, and it was even more enjoyable this year! I dressed as a female version of Mario and got some amazing compliments on my costume, and I got singled out by one of the photographers as I was walking by him because he wanted me to pose for a photo, so that was fun. I ran this race with two of my friends, and it was great. I actually didn’t do too badly, but I would love to finish faster one day. Again, I’m just grateful to be able to do it at all.

I also recently took a little bit of a bike trip about 30 miles south of me and rode on a trail that went through four different parks. It was ten miles out and ten miles back, and I stopped and chained my bike every so often and just wandered around. I packed a mini breakfast to eat halfway through; at the end of the path was a dam with a two story overlook. It sounds a little more grand than it was, but it was still really beautiful. It was on the chilly side that morning, so I didn’t run into a lot of people, which is the way I like it. I spent three hours just exploring all along that trail. I definitely want to make time to do something like that again at a new place.

All in all, things are going well. I can only hope it stays this wonderful through the end of the year!

Happy July!

On By LeraIn Life, runningLeave a comment

The last nearly two months have been crazy! I just finished a week where I was traveling to other offices. It wasn’t bad, but I think I’ll like some offices better than others. Some days I feel like I’m doing well, and other days I feel like I make one mistake after another. Despite how challenging it can be at times, I really am enjoying this new adventure.

Next, running! I’ve been running every single Saturday morning in the woods. It’s so freeing that I don’t know how I was doing it on the road before. It used to be that it was too painful for all of my injuries, but it hasn’t been bad lately. My knee is still bothering me, especially the tendon below my kneecap, but it’s not bad enough that I can’t run. I’ve only been going once or twice a week, but I’m hoping I can eventually get that to three times. I would like to do a Halloween race again this year. It was a ton of fun last time getting dressed up and going out to enjoy the morning.

I ended up replacing my FitBit charge 3 with a Garmin Forerunner 55. My FitBit wasn’t tracking accurately and was giving me some crazy paces. I wish I could believe that I was really running 9 minute miles, but I know that’s way too fast. If I can keep it at 14 minutes a mile, I’m doing well, so it was obviously off by quite a bit. It wasn’t as inaccurate on the roads, but still enough that I decided to upgrade. The Garmin has GPS built in, so it will be a lot more accurate than the FitBit, which had to connect to the GPS on my phone. It also means that on rainy days, I won’t even need to worry about protecting my phone; I can just leave it at home now and still track my runs.

Really not much else has been going on. I’ve just been getting used to working a normal office hours type job and enjoying having my nights and weekends free to do whatever I want. It’s a nice new level of freedom I never knew existed before!

May Flowers

On By LeraIn Cycling, Life, runningLeave a comment

Okay, so this really has nothing to do with actual flowers (although I did enjoy my tree’s cherry blossoms this year!), but I get bored titling everything with the month and the word ‘update’. I’m going to touch on my injury progress later, but I want to start with work first.

I started my new job a week ago, and I think it’s going to be soooo good for me. I love having a set schedule. It’s nice knowing that unless it’s my turn for a late day (which is shared and usually only an extra hour and a half max), I’ll be gone at a certain time. I’ve made plans to do a workout at a wooded metro park once a week, a run Saturday morning at a different park, and there are weekly glow rolls Saturday nights all summer long I want to make it out to once in a while. I love having a schedule that lets me plan events and have evenings and weekends off to see people much more easily. I’m already feeling a lot less lonely.

Next, my knee. It’s not 100%, but it feels so much better now that I’m not on my feet all day long without a break. The pain is minimal, but I do still have trouble with running. I’ve only been doing three sets of 5 minute run/ 2 minute walk when I go out, but I do get some pain at the beginning of my runs. At this point, it’s more the patellar tendon that’s giving me trouble, and a little bit is coming from my hamstrings on the same side. The sports medicine doctor I was seeing said I didn’t need to come back unless the pain got bad enough to want an injection, or unless my knee is swollen for two or more days despite rest. He said to just work on continuing to strengthen it and to try to be less fat (not how he said it, but that’s what it comes down to). He said there isn’t anything I can do with my knock knees, so I have that working against me forever, but strengthening should at least help downplay it a little. I still lack so much strength in my right leg that it feels like a never-ending battle. I still can’t do a single leg calf raise or single leg squat, which means I still can’t jump rope. However, I haven’t had very much trouble with biking unless I overdo it, so if I keep it reasonable, I have little pain afterward. Honestly, my biggest issue is stiffness, and I think a lot of that has to do with sitting all day at work now, so I need to start stretching more. I did find out Friday that the desks all convert to standing desks, so I’ll be going back and forth standing and sitting throughout the day.

Lastly, I’ve been having some shoulder troubles. I think it’s leftover from my last job, so I’m hoping it will eventually go away, but it’s been lingering for a good 6-8 weeks now, so I’m going to ask my physical therapist if he’ll look at it for me and at least give me an idea of what it is so I can try to work on it on my own until I can get in to see my doctor. I don’t think it’s major because it’s just sore enough doing certain things to be annoying, but given that I’m not stressing it at work anymore, it should start to go away soon. Fingers crossed.

I’ll do another update in a few weeks in regards to work, but I might post something else in the meantime if something is worthwhile so these don’t always end up so long.