CLEARED!!

Wow – yesterday morning I did not think that the title of this post would be anything ending with an exclamation. I probably slept all of four hours Sunday night. All of Monday until 3:00 was sad faced, super unoptimistic, mind going 20 miles a minute. Why, you ask? Why the stress? Why the turmoil? And why until 3:00?

The doctor’s appointment of doooom.

At least that’s what I was making it out to be! I was SO thankful to have my mom accompanying me for this visit. In my opinion, it’s ALWAYS helpful to have an extra set of ears at a doctor’s appointment. How many times have you left the doctor’s office and thought “oh crap – I forgot to ask about _____!” Or “Damn.. I wish I would have thought to ask about ______.” I’m sure you’ve been there. My madre came prepared with a list of her own questions, but she was great in letting me be the one in charge. As many of you know, I’ve been pretty much in charge of my own injuries/treatment plan since I was like 16. Of course when it came to surgery, that was a joint decision made by the whole team – my doctors, surgeons, myself, and my family. The doctor reiterated though how important it is to be in control of your own health, and more importantly,  to be educated about it.

BACK ON TRACK – I had for sure thought that I wasn’t going to be cleared to run, because there had been no x-rays scheduled.. no MRIs, no bone scans, no CT scans.. none of the tests I had to go through six weeks ago to prove I even had the fracture in the first place. Without doing the tests again, there’d be no way to know if the fracture healed. When I saw the doctor yesterday (and I should add this is a NEW DOCTOR to my treatment team: a guy who specializes in solely femoral neck fractures) he said no tests! No more xrays, no more injections, no more radiation for my poor little ovaries! If any of you have been reading long enough to remember.. I was definitely worried about this before, since having kids is something I definitely want (or at least to have the option to do so) in the future! Think of the mini-speedy-Sperlies running around Awwww

(E y la madre, after regions sophomore year) (p.s. be prepared for plenty of throwback photos!)

Ahem.. returning to the appointment, once again. Sorry. So, no more tests. He pulled and bended me and asked me about my “pain”.. which if I haven’t mentioned it before (or you don’t remember) there really isn’t any. That’s not a good indicator of anything though, as there wasn’t any pain when my femoral neck was fractured two thirds of the way through either. But there is a noticeable change in the “sensations” I have in that left groin area now compared to six weeks ago: I’m not limping. I don’t feel like the muscle is trying to resist forward movement. I can stand and balance on my left leg. I can single leg squat on my left leg equally as well as I can on my right. I can run down stairs, I can run up stairs, it feels basically equal to my right hip. All good things!! Based on my symptoms (or lack there of), my new-favorite-femoral-neck-fanatic gave me the GO AHEAD to resume running!!

And as of yesterday night, I am 3 miles closer to having my life back. Aaaaamen.

In terms of a plan on how to return, as in how much, how often, how fast, how hard (TWSS. Jeeez…), he was more lenient than I expected for sure. And maybe “lenient” isn’t the right word – it’s not like I had to beg him to let me do X amount. But he was real with me and his allotments for my mileage were very much to my liking. I’m trying to avoid specific numbers here because I don’t need anyone trying to copy a recovery/rehab plan that isn’t made for them. Even given what he’s “allowing” me to do, I cut that down. My physical therapist thinks this is a good idea. If any of you want to know more about the rehab or specifics, just message me and we can talk.

(throw back to high school XC days – I was so carefree then!)

I’m sure that many of you who have come back from a rather lengthy/serous injury before know this feeling: as happy as you are to be able to run again, and as great as it feels, it doesn’t stop you from being paranoid with every step you take. Am I right? I just feel like I am so thankful to have this back in my life, but at the same time its something so precious and delicate. If you needed to get your one year old downstairs to your hubby, you wouldn’t just throw your her over the stair railing to get her there faster. That’s how I feel about my running. (Haha.. they didn’t call me “Extreme Erika” for nothing!) Take it slow, be conscious, be careful. All good. It is my every intention to still race, but for now, I need to put that aside and just focus on being strong and healthy!

(regions – sophomore year? can you find me?! )

Once again, I feel like I need to thank all of you SO much! Your support, advice, your own stories, and your inspiration have been so helpful in keeping me positive throughout this whole ordeal – this time around, the first time around, and always! And also to those of you who comment on facebook every time that status changes.. to know that other people are rooting for you and keeping you in your prayers doe so much in staying positive. THANK YOU!

OK – so where the jell is this giveaway she keeps talking about, right? Set your timers my friends: tomorrow we’re gonna get it poppin‘. And I’m not just talkin a bag or two – the chips are stacked high here! Puns fully intended.. get pumped popped!

I will of course continue to update on the situation with running, as well as the biking, swimming, XT, and PT, because none of those are stopping now that I can run again. As a matter of fact, I need to get changed right now to bike to physical therapy! Hope you all have a lovvely day!

-E

p.s. How many times can I say it.. I LOVE writing/working while I’m on the bus! Definitely couldn’t be blogging while driving. p.p.s. look what’s coming to Minneapolis: I. Want. To. Go.