Saturday, September 28, 2013

Trying to be Patient

I love reading blogs that offer race recaps and exciting news.  I feel badly that I don't have the most exciting things going on right now.  My last race, the Detroit Women's Half Recap is HERE if you are looking for some "lighter" news.  It was a great weekend and I had a good time being silly with friends.  Sadly, I don't have any races coming up!

Most of you that read regularly know that I've been struggling with my foot.  The DX has gone from stress fracture to morton's neuroma, to a strained/lightly torn tendon.  Thankfully things have been ruled out by scans as we go.  The last DX I got came from my MRI.  I thought that was the "end" of my issues because I assumed that the doctor now knew what was going on, could treat it and we could all live happily ever after!



After the MRI and DX I begged to run my last 1/2 marathon of the season and I was told I could if I promised to stop if I felt any major pain.  Apparently I don't have the same definition of "major pain" as my doctor?  I ran and then couldn't get shoes on my feet for 4 days due to the swelling and couldn't walk for 3 of those 4 days.  Since I was in so much pain, I called my foot doctor on Tuesday to get in early for the injection she promised would end my tendon issues.

Cortisone injections HURT!   I've read other forums and blogs where people said they barely felt it. They are LYING! LYING, LYING!

Fast forward to Thursday and Friday.  The numbness from the injection has worn off.

My foot still hurts.

I'm really trying to be patient.  I am.  The truth is, I'm not a patient person.  My foot started hurting in June.  I saw a doctor in July.  It's almost October!  I want this, whatever it is, to be taken care of and done with.  My hope was to have this healed so I could train for another half in December.

I've done a lot of inspecting of my foot and I noticed it was swelled a lot on top.  The foot doctor told me it was just the inflammation.  The swelling has slowly been subsiding.  This morning I woke up and though the pain was still there when I walked, I didn't think the side of the foot looked swelled for once.  However, I did notice two very "swollen" areas on top.

Lumps 1 and 2... ignore the "fort" my children were building in the background!

I did what every athlete does.... I played google doctor!  The lumps feel like they are filled with liquid.  Everything I've read points to ganglion cysts.  Any one ever have these?  What happened?  Did they have to be drained?  Surgery?  Go away on their own?  The problem I have is that it hurts to wear shoes for any period of time.

Here is a better shot of the one on the left (which is smaller but harder than the right one)


Sigh....  I REALLY just want this to be done with.  I'm so frustrated because I always feel like time slips away so quickly.  I had planned to started training NOW for a 70.3 distance triathlon so that I would have a great base to work with.  I wanted to get my running base set and keep working on cross training so that I could seriously start training in January.

My podiatrist doesn't act like she is treating me for me to be able to do these events.  She treats me like her goal is for me to walk normally again.  I don't want to just walk normally.  I don't want a bandaid.  And for gosh sakes, I don't want to live off of cortisone injections like they are asprin for my foot!  I want to be "healed" so that I can move on with my training- pain free.

Do I ask for a referral to a sports ortho?  Do I ask for a second opinion?  Do I call her Monday and beg to be seen based on these new lumps?

OR

Do I trust that she WILL treat this and heal me and stop acting like an impatient baby??

Do they do foot transplants somewhere local?

Ok, Ok, I know I'm being silly and will probably offend someone.  I know there are people with much worse foot problems than me.  I get it.  Pity Party....  Party of ONE please.

But in all seriousness, does anyone have any experience with these or other foot issues and what would you recommend I do to get this taken care of in a reasonable amount of time?




3 comments:

  1. OUCH!!! Hope you feel better soon!!!

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  2. I have no idea what that could be. In my opinion, I don't think a second opinion would be a bad idea. Hope it starts getting better soon.

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  3. YES, go to a sports ortho, you NEED a better doctor, one who is a runner!!!
    I'm going through a similar situation, as I have a strained and partially torn achillies tendon as well as bursitis. My bursa sack didn't get quite that big, to tell you if it is one or not, but that is something to consider. If it is a bursa sack, they simply have to drain it and it will go away.
    I'm not a doctor, but I've been through several now with my injury that has kept me from running the better part of 9 months. Go find a new doctor, and find one that is a runner or specializes in getting athletes back to running!
    I went to the wrong Dr. the first time and he put me in the wrong brace and treatment program. I went to an orthopedic hospital (when I wasn't getting better) that treats professional athletes and gets them back into their sport, and luckily they found out I had been in the wrong treatment for my injury and it had been making it worse than better. I'm now wearing a boot for 8 weeks. But I can already see/feel a significant difference.
    On a side note, a few months back I kept asking doctors to give me the cortizone shot because I figured it would be worth the risks. But not a single doctor would do it to me because the foot and ankle it can sometimes cause other problems. It's possible your shot, might have caused something to rupture which might be why you have the bumps now?? Hope not, but it's definitely worth getting it looked into and getting new opinions! Good luck! I hope you can get it all figured out quickly and get back to doing what you love!

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