Progress...Slow and Steady

I usually use those to words to describe a long relaxed run...but now those words very accurately describe how I am healing...SLOW...but I am making progress. I have very little pain anymore with walking, unless I have walked a lot or have been on my feet a lot. After being on my feet for an extended amount of time, I start to feel a dull twinge of pain in the area of the injury...it is kinda hard to explain. It is definitely still there and it lets me know every once in a while. Putting weight on the injured leg has been hard to do, but that is getting a little bit better each day, too. The rest time has been good and I think I am healing...slowly, but surely. It is just going to take some time.

I have been upping my calcium with calcium rich foods as well as supplements. This is my regular calcium, vit D, and magnesium. I have increased my usage of that to three pumps a day instead of 2. I am also taking another vit D supplement with some calcium and magnesium...but a very low dosage. I prefer to eat a mostly vegan diet, but have started having organic skim milk some and of course, greek yogurt. I am trying to eat lots of vegetables that have calcium, like broccoli...which I have always done, but I am just being more aware of it now. I have also wondered if I need to eat more protein, just during the healing process. For now, my protein comes from mostly plant based sources, like legumes. Maybe adding the low fat dairy items will help.

I am really excited to be able to do some deep water running. I read about this a while back in one of my running books and I thought, then, that it would be fun to try. And since we have a pool, it would be very convenient to do with my kids with me. Even before I was injured, I wanted to try this. I thought it would be a nice break from the heat and give my joints and bones a rest since there is no impact whatsoever. Now that I can't run, deep water running is the best next thing. If you look on my sidebar, you can see the aquajogger and weights that I am using. It doesn't get my heart rate up quite as much as running, but it does give me a good workout. I can really feel it in my quads! This will be perfect for me to do for the rest of the summer. Instead of keeping up with my miles, I am going to keep up with my time of water running. I am trying to do about 30 minutes a few times a week-hopefully I can work up to more. I am being very careful and if I ever feel any pain, I will stop. So far, no pain at all...it just feels great to be doing something!

I am a Granola Girl

These are my favorite 2 kinds of granola. My kids eat it on yogurt and I love mine with some rice milk or organic skim milk. I love the Bear Naked Fit granola...it is only 2.5 grams of fat and 4g of sugar...and really flavorful. The berry one is really good with some sliced strawberries and blueberries for some added sweetness. This is a good healthy carb food for runners...and since I am going to be running again (well, not real running, but deep water running), I like to eat some yummy low fat carbs while increasing my workouts!

Interesting

An interesting quote from here:

We suggest that a diagnosis of pelvic stress fracture or stress fracture syndrome can be made with confidence, even in the absence of radiographic evidence, if the following three features are present in a long distance runner presenting with groin pain: First, activity causes such severe discomfort in the groin that running is impossible. Second, the athlete develops discomfort in the groin when standing unsupported on the leg corresponding to the injured side (positive standing test). In some cases the pain is so severe that standing on one leg is impossible. Third, deep palpation reveals extreme, exquisite nauseating tenderness localized to the pubic ramus and not to the overlying soft tissues.

That's me!

Our Weekend

We had a nice weekend in Dallas. We went to pick up Abigail who was at the University of Dallas soccer/goal keeper camp.She had a hard week!!! The *pressure training* sounded very difficult, but she made it through with a pretty great evaluation. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge...an indoor waterpark, yummy restaurants, spa for adults and children, arcade, neat shops, and a bedtime time story for the children in the lobby. Everything you would want! Not as pretty as where Wendy has been, though!!! My sweet husband treated me to a relaxation package at the spa and the massage was excellent as well as the facial. What a great guy...and on Father's Day weekend!

Being on my feet a little more really caused me to have some deep achiness and sharp twingy type pains from my injury. It has been exactly 3 weeks since the onset of the pain and it is not really much better (only after lots of resting does it feel better). Mike and I have self-diagnosed me with some kind of pelvic stress fracture. I am sure at this point that it is bone, not muscle. Only an MRI would confirm it, but I have decided not to spend the $$$ and just rest it. That is what the doctor would say to do anyway. I can feel tenderness on the bone and think all the pain I am feeling radiates from that point. There is really nothing to do for a pelvic or pubic ramus stress fracture except rest and possible physical therapy later on. The pain is hard to describe and it moves around...most of the time it is in the groin and pelvic area...sometimes in the back of the leg where the leg joins into the pelvis...sometimes lower abdomen pain like a muscle pull...so strange! The overall achiness feeling is bothersome, but with resting gets better. I know if I was to run the more extreme limping type pain would be back. Friday night of our weekend I was very tired and the pain really bothered me so much that I had to stay sitting down. We ordered food and stayed in the room for the evening. Saturday I was able to go to the water park and let the younger ones play...that was fine. Then we had dinner with a sweet friend(met from blogging) and her precious family. I actually felt fine that evening. Later that night I began to feel it again and Sunday in the car was pretty uncomfortable. So, what I learned is that it gets worse the more I am on my feet...even though I am not running or walking quickly.

I am hopeful,though, that my injury is not as bad as some I have read about...and mine will heal quickly. I am going to rest and then rest some more and we will see how it goes!

I'm looking into getting one of these to use after the pain is better, but not able to run yet. Have any of you ever used a recumbent exercise bike? With very little impact, this may be a nice change of pace for me.

I hope you all have had a nice weekend!

Still Not Sure

Thank you so much for your prayers!

I went to the sports injury doctor yesterday and had a pretty thorough exam. He did some reflex and movement configurations and said if it was my hip (femoral neck stress fracture) then it would hurt when he turned my leg a certain way. It did not. That made me feel better, because that is the one I was worried about. But, still everything I read about that type of stress fracture says the pain is in the exact place where I am having the most pain. And I know a lot of runners get misdiagnosed with this injury...so I am not second guessing the doctor, but just want to be cautious and sure it is not that. I am not convinced yet...although I am thinking more that this may be a muscle injury that has some nerve irritation. He seems to think that is what it is because I am having some minor achiness and pain down the back of my leg...and even into my foot at times. He doesn't know what is causing the nerve pain...only an MRI would show that.

He also did hip and pelvic x-rays that did not show anything at all. But, he stated that if it was a stress fracture it would probably not show anything anyway, but it might show where one was healing if there was time for that to occur.

An MRI cost roughly $1,000...so that is my dilemma now. He said that if the MRI cost $100 he would recommend it that day in a heartbeat because then we would see exactly what the issue is...bone or muscle. But since my husband is self employed and we have a high deductible, we pay for most/all of our medical care since we usually never meet the deductible...we have it for big emergencies only.

So, since that is the case, he thought I should come back in one week after completely resting...no trying to run, no fast walking, no cross training, or even strength exercises. He asked that I try to stay off of my feet as much as possible. We would then re-evaluate to see if it is improved and I would have time to talk with Mike and see what our next step is. If the pain is much better by then, then we won't need the MRI at all and I can start gradually working back up to running. We may never know what the injury was...but, if I am still having pain and achiness even with resting after one week more, we will probably do the MRI.

So, how am I doing you ask? I miss running terribly, but I am doing okay and know that resting and taking it slow will get me back to running more quickly than trying to run sooner than I should. It has been hard, though..I have to admit to you. I REALLY enjoy running and love how it makes me more energetic...I just feel good after a run. I always look forward to that time of the day when I can get out, pray, and see all that God has made, while knowing I am doing something good for my body.

Plus, I just started this blog not too long ago and I think that God has brought our little running group together here to encourage and pray for one another--that has been so precious to me. So, what was God's purpose in all this? I'm not sure...but I know it has been a blessing to me and I am thankful for it. My running posts will be non existent for a while, but I may post about some different things as I work through this injury and see what the Lord is teaching me about Himself. I will be cheering all of you along, though! I know some of you are getting ready for races and are training...some have some fun runs ahead...whatever is going on, I will be the benched friend on the sidelines praying and cheering for you all!

Update on my Injury

I have been resting this week as much as is possible with 4 children and a busy schedule...my family has been sweet and understanding and have allowed for me to rest quite a bit. I have even missed church 2 times this week, which has been hard for me, but really resting requires me to miss some things and I need to be okay with that.

The pain gets better when resting. It feels so much better that I feel like trying to exercise some. I did go out for a short walk 2 times this week, just to see how my body would respond..I walked for a few minutes and then tried to run very slowly. The pain came back immediately. Afterwards, I was limping again. Then after resting a while, the pain gets better. That is how the cycle is going right now. So, I have decided that I better just stop anything that requires impact at all. I can walk from A to B just fine...so I am able to do things at home...but after too much time on my feet, the achiness come back. Not full fledged pain, but still bothersome dull pain. Not fun.

I have done a lot of research to find out what it could be and I think that I might have a stress fracture...possibly pel*vic or something in that area. I really hope it isn't because depending on the severity of it, I can be down from running for MONTHS! This is a pretty common injury with women runners, especially after running a marathon or increasing their mileage, etc. Most of the time, the pain or achiness just resembles something that could be muscle or tendon pain, but it doesn't go away in a few days like a typical muscle injury does...plus the pain feels deeper and gets worse with weight bearing activities. I have been feeling the achiness for a while and just thought it was typical "after running" soreness and all...but then when I ran that fast 5k a couple of weeks ago, I started having much more pain and the following 2 runs after that caused me to limp...and that is how a stress fracture acts...it occurs over time as more tension pull is put on the bone until it is an all out fracture.

I am also having some nausea, which I think is related to the injury. I just have an overall feeling of not being well.

So, I am going to the doctor...as much as I do not want to...I need to know what this is and what I need to do to get better. I have an appointment at an Ortho Clinic on Tuesday that specializes in sports injuries. I am expecting a bone scan or MRI of the area. It is in an awkward place so I am really nervous about the appointment..."Hello, nice to meet you, I have pain right down here". I am such a modest person, even with doctors, that I would really like to avoid this whole ordeal.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your sweet comments. I wrote all this to ask you again to pray for me as I go to this appointment and pray that it is not a stress fracture! I am having some trouble thinking about not being able to be active for such a long period of time. But, like I said before, if God needs to remove this from me for now, then I will praise Him and thank Him for knowing what is best for me.

Death Is Not Dying

As you know, Jane mentioned this a while back and then my pastor's wife reminded me about it...so I finally have had some time to sit down and watch this video and hear Rachel talk about how wonderful our God is...even through extreme suffering. The video is worth the hour, trust me. I love reading her letters, also. She is glorifying God through extreme difficulty...knowing that God is sovereign and loving. And He is who He is, not who we want Him to be...and He does what He knows is best, not what we think He should do. Some great reminders to us all!

Hopefully you can find some time to watch it and if you are like me, get your whole family to watch it to.

I think we should all be praying for their family as well. She is dying. She has a husband and 2 very young children who love her dearly. This must be so hard...God's grace is somehow sufficient in these times...but we still question, cry out to God, and grieve for them...I don't pretend to understand it all, but I trust the One who does...and He loves us more than we can ever know.