Miss me? I'm a slacker for not keeping my posts more current. I will do better, I promise. So today's input is about the gym. One of the most frustrating things about this whole RSD situation is that I miss running. I mean, I was never the fastest or strongest runner, but I used to be able to run forever. In fact, that's how I got into this situation. Well, actually it was a combination of two evils, running and feeling fat. So last May I had let myself go a little and I went a little overboard with the working out. Working up a good sweat, especially with running, always made me feel better. Stress and frustrations from work and life seem to get pounded out with each step. It really was invigorating. Well after I ran myself into a stress fracture I knew I'd have to go easy on the running and working out for a while. That's a dangerous thing for someone like me...
I may fool most of you with my constant energy and sunny disposition, but I'm lazy at heart and I can procrastinate any of you into the ground. Without proper motivation to do otherwise I definitely would spend my life on the sofa watching tv, reading people.com and eating chips! By the way, if they ever come up with a diet that involves chips, please let me know! Seriously, one of the reasons that I loved running in Las Vegas was because the treadmills at my gym had tvs attached to them. :)
Anyway, with the RSD I have an excellent excuse not to exercise. I mean, what can I do on one foot? Plus it hurts! Well, the first excuse is crap, but the second poses more of a problem. While bearing weight on my foot causes pain, I can deal with that by doing some horizontal exercises and using weights while sitting. The more difficult and more painful problem is that when my body temperature increases (as it does when I work out) my foot swells, becomes red and feels like it's on fire. Let me tell you, this sucks. That's really the only way to put it. I really do love to work out. It helps me have more energy and I feel good about myself. But part of me hates it because of this rotten RSD problem.
So a funny thing happened to me the other day. The love of my life told me that people he works with think I'm pregnant. Alright, any of you women out there can instantly appreciate my horror and mortification. Jon insists they think I'm pregnant because he has told them we're getting married. However, as a woman I have the obligatory female response which of course is, "I'm so FAT that people think I'm pregnant!!!" Now Jon thinks this is ridiculous and he thinks I'm gorgeous and yadda yadda, but really, once that thought is in your head there's nothing to get it out of there except to fit into your skinny jeans again.
So, I'm back to the gym. Two days in a row and I'm feeling good. Yes, there is pain. Most of my body hurts because it's pissed off that I'm doing more than lifting a fork, but that's a good hurt. The foot hurts while I work out, but I'm doing it. I have all kinds of concessions that help. I go with a cane. I usually wear socks and have right shoe off. I do many reps to get my heart rate up for cardio. I do a lot of work lying on the floor or sitting on a bench. And there's this awesome bike from like 1960 that has handles that move. The cool thing about the bike is that it lets me really do cardio without pounding or pressure on the foot! It's very cool.
It's not running in a marathon, but it's working for now. I'll let you know when I get into my skinny jeans.
The Nitty Gritty
Meds: I stopped the Lyrica. Just one lortab tonight.
Activity: Moderate. Weight lifting and a busy night at work.
Pain level: 4/10 - really cold foot right now!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Episode 4 (Day441) Acupuncture
I'm beat! Just got back from a fantastic road trip to Buffalo and really haven't quite caught up on the sleep. The trip was definitely worth the missed Zs though. It was pretty awesome. There were waterfalls, s'mores, 70mph winds, Cold Stone, and a potential scabies outbreak. Thankfully Jon and I survived all of it without any scars (without scabies too)! Don't worry, false alarm! No contagious diseases here!
So road trips can be a little rough as a result of the RSD. This is because (and I'm not sure how many other RSD survivors have this symptom) the longer my foot is down, the more pain I have. This is why most of the time you'll see me with my foot up on a chair, a desk or even propped up on my cane. So a road trip is not quite as bad as a movie which isn't as bad as a plane ride. Movies just require understanding from my date and theater ushers when I prop my foot up on the seats in front of me. It's a little harder to do that in an airplane though. Anyway, the trip was fun and it's back to the grind and back to trying to figure out what the next step in my fight against RSD is.
Part of my exploration to find a cure has been alternative methods. So far that has led me to acupuncture. A friend of my father's actually fractured some of the vertebrae in his spine and has had amazing pain relief from this particular acupuncturist. As I've said, I'm willing to try pretty much anything to get some relief, so acupuncture has now become part of my treatment program. Now this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but let's review what exactly we're talking about here. First, RSD causes my foot to be INCREDIBLY sensitive to any kind of touch. Second, acupuncture involves sticking many small needles into my foot. Put those two things together and you can see why it was a slightly terrifying idea to me. Let me tell you, I was pretty twitchy about the whole thing when I went for the first visit. Oh and it was totally warranted. Woo hoo does it totally suck to have needles stuck in your foot. Now I've heard people say that they don't feel those needles because they are so small, but I would like to say to them, "Liar liar pants on fire!"
This week was my third visit with my acupuncturist (Dr. K). The first visit Dr. K put the needles on both legs, both arms, my forehead and on my ears. Apparently the ear needles were to help me relax. I personally think if she wanted me to relax she shouldn't have stuck me with needles! Anyway, there were slightly more needles in the right lower leg (where the RSD is) than the others. Now here's the cool part. It definitely hurt more on the right side when she put needles there, but after about 1 minute, I couldn't feel those needles at all. I could feel every other needle in every other spot, but I couldn't feel a single needle below my R knee. In fact, most of the other needles were pretty itchy and the ones in my ears actually hurt a little. I think they hurt because they were trying to accomplish the impossible task, getting me to relax. So the first session lasted about 35 minutes and my mother was there with me keeping me company. A couple of days after the first session I actually felt a little bit of relief. I thought that maybe this was working! Now, to be fair, that was about the same time that I started taking the Lyrica.
The second session was a week later and my father came with me. This time Dr. K only put the needles in my lower legs. She must have given up on trying to get me to relax. So again, it was like medieval torture. No, I'm kidding. I won't lie, the needles felt like little bee stings, but again the discomfort was pretty short lived and again after about a minute I didn't feel the needles in the right leg. The session lasted about 35 minutes and I didn't really feel a difference either initially or in the days that followed. But I'm nothing if not stubborn so I made another appointment. Now, Dr. K has said since the first session that she felt I'd have to have sessions about once a week for a little while and then maybe the frequency would decrease if I did get relief.
Oh! I should mention that unfortunately my insurance company, MVP, does not cover acupuncture, but many insurance companies do, so if you're thinking about doing it, check to see if it's covered. It's a pretty expensive treatment. I'm paying $55 for each session, which can add up after a while.
So my third session was on Tuesday. This time I brought Jon with me. Or rather he brought me. Either way, poor Dr. K must think I'm some sort of nutcase who can't be alone. Truth is, my family is just interested in the acupuncture and in being part of the quest for the cure! Anyway, the third session Dr. K only put needles in my right lower leg. Oh, man this one was different! Almost immediately my entire foot lit up in pain. It was very similar to the pain that I had following the failed sympathetic block (I'll blog about that later). During the whole 45 minutes of the session I held Jon's hand and felt like my foot was on fire. The pain followed the same path as the flare ups that I have. To describe it accurately, I felt like my foot was in a sock of hot needles. My heel is always spared. The pain shoots from the big toe across my foot and up the outside of my leg. The pain from that session lasted about 2-3 hours afterwards and my foot hasn't quite gotten back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be.
Now here's what I choose to take from this session. Dr. K said (and I agree) that this means that something must be happening with the acupuncture and this might indicate that she's doing something right. Hey, at least it's something, right? I'm going back next Friday and will be updating you all on the progress.
Alright, I'm off to bed. It's much too late and I'm much too tired to type any more. Plus the dog just ran into the other room and I think it may have been to poop somewhere. Gotta run!
Nitty Gritty:
Medications: Lyrica, Lortab (1)
Activities: Moderate day of work, some walking
Weather: Cool, rainy
Pain level: 6
So road trips can be a little rough as a result of the RSD. This is because (and I'm not sure how many other RSD survivors have this symptom) the longer my foot is down, the more pain I have. This is why most of the time you'll see me with my foot up on a chair, a desk or even propped up on my cane. So a road trip is not quite as bad as a movie which isn't as bad as a plane ride. Movies just require understanding from my date and theater ushers when I prop my foot up on the seats in front of me. It's a little harder to do that in an airplane though. Anyway, the trip was fun and it's back to the grind and back to trying to figure out what the next step in my fight against RSD is.
Part of my exploration to find a cure has been alternative methods. So far that has led me to acupuncture. A friend of my father's actually fractured some of the vertebrae in his spine and has had amazing pain relief from this particular acupuncturist. As I've said, I'm willing to try pretty much anything to get some relief, so acupuncture has now become part of my treatment program. Now this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but let's review what exactly we're talking about here. First, RSD causes my foot to be INCREDIBLY sensitive to any kind of touch. Second, acupuncture involves sticking many small needles into my foot. Put those two things together and you can see why it was a slightly terrifying idea to me. Let me tell you, I was pretty twitchy about the whole thing when I went for the first visit. Oh and it was totally warranted. Woo hoo does it totally suck to have needles stuck in your foot. Now I've heard people say that they don't feel those needles because they are so small, but I would like to say to them, "Liar liar pants on fire!"
This week was my third visit with my acupuncturist (Dr. K). The first visit Dr. K put the needles on both legs, both arms, my forehead and on my ears. Apparently the ear needles were to help me relax. I personally think if she wanted me to relax she shouldn't have stuck me with needles! Anyway, there were slightly more needles in the right lower leg (where the RSD is) than the others. Now here's the cool part. It definitely hurt more on the right side when she put needles there, but after about 1 minute, I couldn't feel those needles at all. I could feel every other needle in every other spot, but I couldn't feel a single needle below my R knee. In fact, most of the other needles were pretty itchy and the ones in my ears actually hurt a little. I think they hurt because they were trying to accomplish the impossible task, getting me to relax. So the first session lasted about 35 minutes and my mother was there with me keeping me company. A couple of days after the first session I actually felt a little bit of relief. I thought that maybe this was working! Now, to be fair, that was about the same time that I started taking the Lyrica.
The second session was a week later and my father came with me. This time Dr. K only put the needles in my lower legs. She must have given up on trying to get me to relax. So again, it was like medieval torture. No, I'm kidding. I won't lie, the needles felt like little bee stings, but again the discomfort was pretty short lived and again after about a minute I didn't feel the needles in the right leg. The session lasted about 35 minutes and I didn't really feel a difference either initially or in the days that followed. But I'm nothing if not stubborn so I made another appointment. Now, Dr. K has said since the first session that she felt I'd have to have sessions about once a week for a little while and then maybe the frequency would decrease if I did get relief.
Oh! I should mention that unfortunately my insurance company, MVP, does not cover acupuncture, but many insurance companies do, so if you're thinking about doing it, check to see if it's covered. It's a pretty expensive treatment. I'm paying $55 for each session, which can add up after a while.
So my third session was on Tuesday. This time I brought Jon with me. Or rather he brought me. Either way, poor Dr. K must think I'm some sort of nutcase who can't be alone. Truth is, my family is just interested in the acupuncture and in being part of the quest for the cure! Anyway, the third session Dr. K only put needles in my right lower leg. Oh, man this one was different! Almost immediately my entire foot lit up in pain. It was very similar to the pain that I had following the failed sympathetic block (I'll blog about that later). During the whole 45 minutes of the session I held Jon's hand and felt like my foot was on fire. The pain followed the same path as the flare ups that I have. To describe it accurately, I felt like my foot was in a sock of hot needles. My heel is always spared. The pain shoots from the big toe across my foot and up the outside of my leg. The pain from that session lasted about 2-3 hours afterwards and my foot hasn't quite gotten back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be.
Now here's what I choose to take from this session. Dr. K said (and I agree) that this means that something must be happening with the acupuncture and this might indicate that she's doing something right. Hey, at least it's something, right? I'm going back next Friday and will be updating you all on the progress.
Alright, I'm off to bed. It's much too late and I'm much too tired to type any more. Plus the dog just ran into the other room and I think it may have been to poop somewhere. Gotta run!
Nitty Gritty:
Medications: Lyrica, Lortab (1)
Activities: Moderate day of work, some walking
Weather: Cool, rainy
Pain level: 6
Friday, August 7, 2009
Episode 3 (Day 435)
Let's start with what's important. The Yyyyankees win! Yankees win! Thank God they finally have won a series against the team that shall not be named. Take that Beantown! Ok, now onto more salient material.
I'm in Buffalo today visiting two very good friends and being BFF to their daughter. In trying to decide what to blog about I realized that both topics that I'm deciding between are sort of a bummer. I almost decided not to write on either topic, but then remembered that the purpose to this blog is to be real and give a real voice to RSD. So, I'll tell you the two topics and blog about one. the first is about going on trips with other people and the pitfalls of being the one that holds everyone up. The second is about the consequences of having children. While the first may eek out some pity from my faithful followers, the second is sure to terrify my father who is probably reading this at this very moment wondering if Jon and I have something to tell him and my Mother. So of course we will be talking about having children.
Rest assured Dad, this particular discussuon is in the hypothetical. For those of you who don't know him, Jon is a wonderful man who also happens to love me despite my many flaws. (Yes I have more flaws than just the RSD). So because of this we have discussed marriage and all that entails. Mom, unplug your ears, this is important! There is a lot more about my relationship thaT will be blogged on, but for now, children.
I am here in Buffalo playing with a beautiful child who sees right past my cane (which by the way she thinks is a new toy for her) and adores her "Aunt Betsy.". And I can't help but wonder, how will RSD affect the lives of my children? Will I be able to carry them with one arm and use the cane? Will I be able to play soccer and basketball with them? Or how about a simple game of Hide and Go Seek? Will I be able to be the tickle monster without worrying about them accidentally hitting my foot? Will they still believe that I can slay the mosters in their closet if I can't even climb up the steps? Will they think that I am weak? Will I embarass them?
Ok, that's a lot of questions. I don't really have answers to most of them. I can say that I hope so and of course not and all the other fantastically positive things that I'm sure is the knee jerk reaction from most of you. But I'm not going to say any of those things because these are very real fears that I have. But I will say this, I plan to teach my daughter how to be a kick-butt point guard even if it's on one foot. I plan to take advantage of the support that Jon and my family are offering and let them carry the baby if I need them too. I also plan to decorate my cane so that my son thinks it is a light-sabre from Star Wars that slays all monsters. And most importantly, I plan to never ever give up looking for the treatment that works for me and my family.
Now I'm not married yet and certainly have no children. But I think that Jon and I will adjust to this (when it happens) with the things that work best forus. Love and communicatio. These two critical things will help us to figure out the rest.
The Nitty Gritty
I didn't sleep well last night and the pain today is pretty up there. Right now it's at a 6 but I think that the long car ride and picking up a two year old has been a contributing factor.
Medications: Lyrica, ibuprofrn, Tylenol PM.
Activities: 4hr car ride, roughhousing with a toddler, shopping a lot last night
I'm in Buffalo today visiting two very good friends and being BFF to their daughter. In trying to decide what to blog about I realized that both topics that I'm deciding between are sort of a bummer. I almost decided not to write on either topic, but then remembered that the purpose to this blog is to be real and give a real voice to RSD. So, I'll tell you the two topics and blog about one. the first is about going on trips with other people and the pitfalls of being the one that holds everyone up. The second is about the consequences of having children. While the first may eek out some pity from my faithful followers, the second is sure to terrify my father who is probably reading this at this very moment wondering if Jon and I have something to tell him and my Mother. So of course we will be talking about having children.
Rest assured Dad, this particular discussuon is in the hypothetical. For those of you who don't know him, Jon is a wonderful man who also happens to love me despite my many flaws. (Yes I have more flaws than just the RSD). So because of this we have discussed marriage and all that entails. Mom, unplug your ears, this is important! There is a lot more about my relationship thaT will be blogged on, but for now, children.
I am here in Buffalo playing with a beautiful child who sees right past my cane (which by the way she thinks is a new toy for her) and adores her "Aunt Betsy.". And I can't help but wonder, how will RSD affect the lives of my children? Will I be able to carry them with one arm and use the cane? Will I be able to play soccer and basketball with them? Or how about a simple game of Hide and Go Seek? Will I be able to be the tickle monster without worrying about them accidentally hitting my foot? Will they still believe that I can slay the mosters in their closet if I can't even climb up the steps? Will they think that I am weak? Will I embarass them?
Ok, that's a lot of questions. I don't really have answers to most of them. I can say that I hope so and of course not and all the other fantastically positive things that I'm sure is the knee jerk reaction from most of you. But I'm not going to say any of those things because these are very real fears that I have. But I will say this, I plan to teach my daughter how to be a kick-butt point guard even if it's on one foot. I plan to take advantage of the support that Jon and my family are offering and let them carry the baby if I need them too. I also plan to decorate my cane so that my son thinks it is a light-sabre from Star Wars that slays all monsters. And most importantly, I plan to never ever give up looking for the treatment that works for me and my family.
Now I'm not married yet and certainly have no children. But I think that Jon and I will adjust to this (when it happens) with the things that work best forus. Love and communicatio. These two critical things will help us to figure out the rest.
The Nitty Gritty
I didn't sleep well last night and the pain today is pretty up there. Right now it's at a 6 but I think that the long car ride and picking up a two year old has been a contributing factor.
Medications: Lyrica, ibuprofrn, Tylenol PM.
Activities: 4hr car ride, roughhousing with a toddler, shopping a lot last night
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Day 2 (429) Grocery Shopping
First things first. I posted the wrong website yesteday (I used .com instead of .org) but it's all fixed now. Seriously, it's the best website I've found for info on RSD so definitely check it out!
Ok. So let's talk grocery shopping. Seriously. One of the things about RSD is that it changes your life in ways that most people don't think about. For example, today I went grocery shopping. Now on a day when I just need to run in and get something, it's not that bad. I get a little basket to carry and whenever I take something off the shelf I put the basket on the floor, put the food in the basket and then pick the basket up again. Or, I do the one-legged flamingo stance. This will become a recurring phrase during these blogs because I do this stance often. It basically means that I lean the cane against whatever's nearby and stand on my left leg with my right foot against the side of my left calf, thus freeing up my hands. It's very attractive trust me.
Anyway, that's the tack I take when I only need a couple of things. Now, the problem is... you can't fill up a pantry like that! So what does one do? Well I'm sure you've all seen the people on those motorized scooters. You know the ones that I mean. They're usually being driven by a person who is four to five times my weight. And of course we all look at them and say, "Sigh. If you would walk and push a cart you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Don't look at me like that. You know it's true.
So yes, I confess. I have to use a motorized scooter. And let me tell you, the looks I get! Wowser. You ever get the hairy eyeball before? It's a doozy. But seriously, most of the people don't see my cane propped against my leg, but they are pretty nice about trying to help me whenever they can. They stay out of the way, get things off the high shelves or open a freezer door for me like the nice man at Price Chopper did today.
Now the problem isn't motoring around inside the store so much as after the checkout. Anyone who wants to come with me on a trip will get lucky enough to see me tooling along at 5mph across the parking lot to my car. Vroom vroom. Dale Earnhardt Jr look out!
So that was the highlight of my day. Ok, serious time now. The thing with the shopping, I laugh now, but I still hesitate before I go. A small part of me still cringes when I think about a big trip. To be honest, I make all those little trips over and over and hope to stretch them out so I don't have to run around in the scooter and get the hairy eyeball. But, I'm blessed. I have a wonderful boyfriend and family who want to go with me to make it easier. It's sweet really, but I have to do it on my own. For me and for anyone who has a little difficulty doing anything. I shouldn't be embarrassed and neither should they. Next time, I'll laugh a little more and cringe a little less.
Ok, here's the nitty gritty. Status update. The pain level was about a 4 all day because the weather was cool and I wasn't upright very much. However, I did some laundry in a slightly warm atmosphere and am now laying here wishing that I hadn't run out of Lortab and that I was brave enough to try more than one glass of wine. Ice pack, check. Fan, check. Loving boyfriend trying to make me comfy, check. So pain level now is definitely higher. Last night I slept pretty well. I'm continuing to have my foot up on a pillow outside the covers and that seems to be helping. Tomorrow's another day.
Medications: Lyrica, one glass of white merlot
Activity: Laundry, groceries, driving.
Temperature: Cool, rainy
Pain: 8/10
Ok. So let's talk grocery shopping. Seriously. One of the things about RSD is that it changes your life in ways that most people don't think about. For example, today I went grocery shopping. Now on a day when I just need to run in and get something, it's not that bad. I get a little basket to carry and whenever I take something off the shelf I put the basket on the floor, put the food in the basket and then pick the basket up again. Or, I do the one-legged flamingo stance. This will become a recurring phrase during these blogs because I do this stance often. It basically means that I lean the cane against whatever's nearby and stand on my left leg with my right foot against the side of my left calf, thus freeing up my hands. It's very attractive trust me.
Anyway, that's the tack I take when I only need a couple of things. Now, the problem is... you can't fill up a pantry like that! So what does one do? Well I'm sure you've all seen the people on those motorized scooters. You know the ones that I mean. They're usually being driven by a person who is four to five times my weight. And of course we all look at them and say, "Sigh. If you would walk and push a cart you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place." Don't look at me like that. You know it's true.
So yes, I confess. I have to use a motorized scooter. And let me tell you, the looks I get! Wowser. You ever get the hairy eyeball before? It's a doozy. But seriously, most of the people don't see my cane propped against my leg, but they are pretty nice about trying to help me whenever they can. They stay out of the way, get things off the high shelves or open a freezer door for me like the nice man at Price Chopper did today.
Now the problem isn't motoring around inside the store so much as after the checkout. Anyone who wants to come with me on a trip will get lucky enough to see me tooling along at 5mph across the parking lot to my car. Vroom vroom. Dale Earnhardt Jr look out!
So that was the highlight of my day. Ok, serious time now. The thing with the shopping, I laugh now, but I still hesitate before I go. A small part of me still cringes when I think about a big trip. To be honest, I make all those little trips over and over and hope to stretch them out so I don't have to run around in the scooter and get the hairy eyeball. But, I'm blessed. I have a wonderful boyfriend and family who want to go with me to make it easier. It's sweet really, but I have to do it on my own. For me and for anyone who has a little difficulty doing anything. I shouldn't be embarrassed and neither should they. Next time, I'll laugh a little more and cringe a little less.
Ok, here's the nitty gritty. Status update. The pain level was about a 4 all day because the weather was cool and I wasn't upright very much. However, I did some laundry in a slightly warm atmosphere and am now laying here wishing that I hadn't run out of Lortab and that I was brave enough to try more than one glass of wine. Ice pack, check. Fan, check. Loving boyfriend trying to make me comfy, check. So pain level now is definitely higher. Last night I slept pretty well. I'm continuing to have my foot up on a pillow outside the covers and that seems to be helping. Tomorrow's another day.
Medications: Lyrica, one glass of white merlot
Activity: Laundry, groceries, driving.
Temperature: Cool, rainy
Pain: 8/10
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Day 1 (428)
So here it is folks. Brace yourselves. I've decided to start a blog about my travels and travails. Well, to be honest, it's more travails than travels but the particular issue that I am going to spend most of the time blogging about will cause me to travel a bit. The issue is...RSD. Oh excuse me! It's called CRPS now.
(Alright, can I just offer some opinions on this CRPS vs RSD renaming shtuff? First, I like RSD better. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy sounds fancy enough to sound like a real disorder. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome sounds to me like we're all a bunch of loony tunes who think we have pain but don't really. Second, CRPS looks like the CRAPS to me. I kind of like that).
ANYWAY, I digress. Whether you want to call it RSD or CRPS, I've got it and it sucks. What is it you ask? Well it's a crappy disorder that causes a lot of pain in a limb after a minor injury. You know what, check out this website for more info. They're pretty good about explaining it and I might come off a little spastic if I try to explain it. http://www.rsdhope.org
So, 428 days ago I broke my foot. How, you ask? Well, I'd love to give you an awesome story about my time fighting in Afghanistan like I was running to aid a fallen comrade and yadda yadda broke my foot. Or I was rescuing a puppy who had fallen down a well. Or I kicked the crap out of some big dude picking on a little handicapped kid. But, it's just not that exciting. Simply put, I got fat. I decided to fix the problem by going into workout overload. This included training for a half-marathon with the intention of achieving my life-long goal of running a full marathon. (Yes, I'm a little crazy). The workout insanity (dozens of miles and hours on treadmills, stairclimbers, ellipticals, bikes and step class) caused a bit of strain. I was up to 8 miles for my long run and 132lbs which I was feeling pretty good about (I'm 5'1"). So I go to this conference in San Antonio to further my knowledge and I decide to run in a charity 5K race the first day of the conference. I ran 6 miles the day before the race and noticed a twinge when I stepped off the curbs but paid it no attention. Sure enough I get 1 mile into the 3.1 mile race and whammo! Sudden pain! So what do I do? If you know me and love me, you know the answer. I finish the race of course! Anyway, by the time I was done I could barely walk. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the "proximal 4th metatarsal" and put in a walking boot for 4-6 wks.
Bummer big time, but the race was 12 wks away and I was going to be FINE! Right? Wrong. The next 5 months were a litany of doctors visits, sleepless nights and battling my own instincts. I'll tell you more about that in a future post. For today, we'll just stick with how the injury happened. The fact is that I am now 428 days out of that injury and dealing with pain in my R foot on a daily basis. I walk with a cane. I take medications and I can't stand for very long and certainly can't think about running. But I do. Every day. Every day I wake up and say, today it will be better. Today is one day closer to the answer. Today I may run instead of limp.
My incredibly wise and supportive father has listened to my comments, questions, vents and tears for the entire 428 days and, knowing my penchant for hearing my own voice, has advised me to write this all down. So here you are. Day 1 of the blog of Betsy and the quest for the day I can run again. Because people, don't misunderstand me. I will run again. And you all are coming on the journey with me to get there. Welcome along!
Pain level: 5/10
Medications: Lyrica
Activity level: Moderate
(Alright, can I just offer some opinions on this CRPS vs RSD renaming shtuff? First, I like RSD better. Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy sounds fancy enough to sound like a real disorder. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome sounds to me like we're all a bunch of loony tunes who think we have pain but don't really. Second, CRPS looks like the CRAPS to me. I kind of like that).
ANYWAY, I digress. Whether you want to call it RSD or CRPS, I've got it and it sucks. What is it you ask? Well it's a crappy disorder that causes a lot of pain in a limb after a minor injury. You know what, check out this website for more info. They're pretty good about explaining it and I might come off a little spastic if I try to explain it. http://www.rsdhope.org
So, 428 days ago I broke my foot. How, you ask? Well, I'd love to give you an awesome story about my time fighting in Afghanistan like I was running to aid a fallen comrade and yadda yadda broke my foot. Or I was rescuing a puppy who had fallen down a well. Or I kicked the crap out of some big dude picking on a little handicapped kid. But, it's just not that exciting. Simply put, I got fat. I decided to fix the problem by going into workout overload. This included training for a half-marathon with the intention of achieving my life-long goal of running a full marathon. (Yes, I'm a little crazy). The workout insanity (dozens of miles and hours on treadmills, stairclimbers, ellipticals, bikes and step class) caused a bit of strain. I was up to 8 miles for my long run and 132lbs which I was feeling pretty good about (I'm 5'1"). So I go to this conference in San Antonio to further my knowledge and I decide to run in a charity 5K race the first day of the conference. I ran 6 miles the day before the race and noticed a twinge when I stepped off the curbs but paid it no attention. Sure enough I get 1 mile into the 3.1 mile race and whammo! Sudden pain! So what do I do? If you know me and love me, you know the answer. I finish the race of course! Anyway, by the time I was done I could barely walk. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the "proximal 4th metatarsal" and put in a walking boot for 4-6 wks.
Bummer big time, but the race was 12 wks away and I was going to be FINE! Right? Wrong. The next 5 months were a litany of doctors visits, sleepless nights and battling my own instincts. I'll tell you more about that in a future post. For today, we'll just stick with how the injury happened. The fact is that I am now 428 days out of that injury and dealing with pain in my R foot on a daily basis. I walk with a cane. I take medications and I can't stand for very long and certainly can't think about running. But I do. Every day. Every day I wake up and say, today it will be better. Today is one day closer to the answer. Today I may run instead of limp.
My incredibly wise and supportive father has listened to my comments, questions, vents and tears for the entire 428 days and, knowing my penchant for hearing my own voice, has advised me to write this all down. So here you are. Day 1 of the blog of Betsy and the quest for the day I can run again. Because people, don't misunderstand me. I will run again. And you all are coming on the journey with me to get there. Welcome along!
Pain level: 5/10
Medications: Lyrica
Activity level: Moderate
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