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