Sunday, April 7, 2013

Weakness, it is not always what we think

So normally I am a pretty tough gal. I am much easier on others than I am on myself. It is strange how I see an injury in myself as a weakness of my body and character. While thinking about this, I realize that this is completely ridiculous but nevertheless, it is true. I am a healthy person for the most part. For the most part, I think the human body is an amazing thing. I have not always thought so. I have had numerous surgeries~ all in the pelvic area. I was rather disappointed that my twins were going to have to be delivered cesarean section due to one of the boys being much smaller than the other and that the placenta was not giving him the nutrients that he needed to grow. He had to be born without delay.

Which leads me to today...I am a runner. I have signed up for a half marathon in a month and have been training for it. If I commit to something, I do it. With much ambivalence but thinking that it was wise in the long term, I decided to take a few weeks off of running at my husband's suggestion. He thought that my hip was injured and that resting it would be good. I did not get better, in fact, my pain got more frequent and severe. It did not seem like an injury because I could not think of a workout that had felt bad. And so with some trepidation I broke down and called for an appointment to get my hip/leg looked at. My quality of life was being affected by this shooting pain that went from my hip, down my leg and into my foot making walking, steps, lying down, standing up or sitting painful. I had a thorough exam by the doctor and he ordered some lower back and hip x-rays. I found out that I have mild degeneration of two of the discs. My hip is fine. The doctor thought physical therapy and NSAID's would be the first order of business. I honestly am relieved and am feeling so much better. The pain has almost gone away. I am doing stretches that are really going to make my core stronger. He said I did not have to stop running. Yesterday, I ran 10 miles and it felt great! It is the farthest I have run since the marathon in January.