This hamstring injury of mine has been
a long, drawn out process. The onset of pain was May 2nd and it has never
gone away. I've had better days and worse but the pain has been there for
9 months. Running, walking, sitting, bending over to put on my shoes.
It's become one of the constants in my life.
Just as stressful as the pain have been
the appointments to try and get a clear diagnosis and proper treatment. First
was my family doctor who finally referred me out to an orthopedic. I
had video analysis done with a
physical therapist to check for weakness and imbalances. Then there were
the three rounds of physical therapy. I took three cortisone dose packs.
Other anti-inflammatories. I tried massage, yoga, and acupuncture.
Somewhere in there I took a 2-week
break from running. I still trained for the Detroit Free Press Marathon,
albeit on reduced mileage and speed. And I ran that damn race, even though it about killed me to
do so. After that I really scaled back, running one last 5k a few weeks later for fun,
until I stopped running altogether. For 12 weeks.
The first day I didn't run I had a
meltdown. It felt like my world was crumbling around me and I burst into
tears. My whole body shook as I grieved the loss of what is so much more
than exercise - it's my release, my joy, my freedom, my peace. I didn't
know how I would live without it for an indeterminate amount of time.
Getting through the first week was the
hardest but it got easier. It helped that I could bike. I rode that
damn stationary bike every day, challenging myself to up the resistance and
ride more miles (whatever that even means on those things).
I also started going to Detroit Tough,
where Coach Terra helped me gain strength and balance in her Mechanics class.
Thanks to her I can do solid pistol squats, real sit-ups, and a seriously
good bird dog. More importantly, she helped me remember to look at the big
picture and got me through the tough days when I missed running the most.
Coach Terra also taught me to be BOLD.
I never learned to swim as a child so I took 5 lessons and practiced on
my own every Sunday morning. I moved from the kick board to a buoy and
flotation belt to finally swimming full laps across the pool with only the aid
of fins. They help my hamstring in a huge way, giving me a stronger kick
and allowing me to glide through the water more easily. I can swim
without them but not nearly as well.
After 9 months my orthopedic doctor
finally ordered an MRI for me. It showed small tears in my hamstring,
which is consistent with an overuse injury - high hamstring tendinopathy or tendinosis.
Because it is not tendonitis (inflammation), traditional therapies
haven't worked for me. Instead of being a nice smooth tendon, mine is
grisled and gnarly. It isn't getting good blood flow to the area and
healing time is very slow. Because this is been going on for so long, I
need to speed up the healing process.
Tomorrow I am going to have a procedure
done called Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP). Basically, the
doctor will take my own blood, spin it in a centrifuge, and extract the
platelet-rich plasma. That will then be injected into my hamstring using
ultrasound imaging to ensure it goes into just the right spot.
This is still not exactly a quick fix.
After the procedure I have to rest completely from any activity involving
the hamstring (other than walking). Shut it down. I'll have a
2-week follow-up and if all looks good I should be able to slowly start up
again. There will be 6-week and 3-month follow-up appointments. The
whole healing process should be complete by the end of 3 months but I'll be
able to run before that. Yes you read that correctly! Barring any
unforeseen circumstances I'll be running again!
To be honest, 2 weeks without any
cardio scares the crap out of me. Although riding that bike day after day
got old, it was something. But when I look back, I never thought I'd make
it 2 days without running, let alone 12 weeks and counting. If I could do
that, I can do this too. It's all about the big picture, which is getting
healthy so I can be back out there doing what I love most - running.
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