Moving forward, one limp at a time

I completed my first week of physical therapy. My physical therapist made my condition sound a little more serious… but no surgery, thank goodness. He said I severely irritated the tissue in my knee. He also said my tendons may have rubbed against cartilage. If that caused any cartilage to change shape, my condition will be more severe. But, we’re going to see how my progress is before we make any assumptions.

My first day there, I did simple leg raises and quad sets: simple stuff that didn’t cause any pain. Rick (physical therapist) gave me at-home exercises to do 2-3 times a day. Rick told me to apply heat to my knee for ten minutes before performing those exercises, then apply ice to my knee for ten minutes. I saw Rick again today and I bent my knee! First time in nearly one week! Now, it wasn’t a full bend… and I had to press down on my knee to take away some of the tension, but I still did it! Rick had me bend and straighten my leg 20 times. At one point, I started to feel nauseous. I guess the tension in my knee was getting to me. Rick got me some water and had me lay down for a few minutes. He reassured me that type of reaction is common for some people trying to get over an injury. Nonetheless, I bent my knee! And now I have more exercises to do at home.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll keep you posted about my progress.

Feeling okay!

I visited the orthopedic doctor and thankfully, my injury isn’t severe! It’s called Pes Anserine Bursitis. It’s a common sports injury due to too much stress on the knee. In a “not-so-technical” definition, tendons from my quad, calf and hamstring meet at a point in the inner part of my knee. Those tendons rubbed together and caused inflammation. I continued to run and so, my body compensated, causing another tissue higher on my knee to inflame as well. That’s called Plica Syndrome.

Area of pain

All in all, I need to continue icing it and wrapping it. I also have to go to physical therapy 2 to 3 times a week for 3 to 4 weeks. I already scheduled a therapy appointment tomorrow at Rick Rother Physical Therapy downtown.

My knee is very tender, making it difficult to walk. The slightest bend in my knee is painful. It has only been one day since the race, but my doctor says walking will slowly become easier in a few days. To get full movement in my knee, I need to perform specific exercises. I’ll learn those tomorrow at physical therapy.

Physical therapy will also teach me new running form in order to prevent this from happening again. Most runners lose their form once they become fatigued, causing injuries like this. I’m sure that’s exactly what happened to me. I see my orthopedic doctor in 3 weeks. If it hasn’t healed by then, we will take further steps to find the problem. But most likely, the injury will heal with time.

I’m relieved it’s nothing serious. I don’t have time to be injured! I still have to work on three more stories for KOMU. Not to mention, it’s soccer season and I would love to keep playing. Of course, I’ll take it easy these next few weeks. Nonetheless, as soon as I can be active again, the better.

Marathon Weekend!

It finally came! After months of training, Sunday was the day of the GO! St. Louis half-marathon. Not going to lie, I was really nervous at the start of the race! My two friends and I got up around 4:45 am to eat a light breakfast, stretch and drive downtown, in hopes of not hitting too much traffic. Of course, we did hit traffic. But that’s okay. We rocked out to some Justin Bieber, to help get us pumped up!

The three of us at the start of the race– Me, Elyse and Emmy!

About 17,000 people ran the race; that includes half-marathoners, full marathoners and relay runners. Long story short, it was packed! There were crowds and crowds of people. And that atmosphere was great! The gun went off at 7am, but that time was more for elite and full marathon runners. The three of us didn’t cross the starting line until 7:15-ish.

I was very proud of myself throughout the whole thing. I ended up running a 10 minute pace the whole time, finishing 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 19 minutes.

For a first time half-marathon runner… I was impressed! I ran the whole time, only walking a few paces to drink water. Water stations were located every two miles. I didn’t need water until the 8th mile, then I continued to grab some water at each station until the end of the race. Endurance wise, I felt fine. There was a hill between the 11th and 12th mile mark that was a killer!!! It never seemed to end! But I was able to run up the entire thing.

Crossing the finish line! You can tell I look exhausted!

Although I was happy with my performance mentally, my body was not. I mentioned before I was having knee pains during my training. I couldn’t run seven miles (sometimes less) without feeling horrible pain in my left knee. And of course, there was knee pain during the race.

I started to feel some tension in my knee at about the fourth mile. I’m thinking, “Oh great! I’m not even half way and I’m already starting to have problems.” My knee didn’t start to really hurt until about the 10th or 11th mile. By then, I was so close to the finish line, I couldn’t stop! Even with all that pain, it felt like I sprint that last mile. I was so close to the finish line, I wanted to get done as fast as I could.

Fortunately, I finished the race… and in what I thought was great time. Unfortunately, my knee swelled up and I couldn’t bend it at all. I iced it all day after the race and today I made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious… but, I woke up this morning and it was still swollen. I’ll let you know how everything goes. Wish me luck!

Health Care’s Impact; Lindsay’s Story

I finally finished my health care story. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I took some more creative risks in the editing process and for the most part, I believed it worked. A quick synopsis of the story:

President Obama signed the legislation for the new health care law. At the time of the story, the government still needed to carry it out. But, specifics of the law have not reached the state level, and neither the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Social Services know when that will be. One mid-Missouri family (my focus) wants to know if the new health care reform will affect home health care services. They’re anxious to know how they are to keep their daughter alive if their coverage runs out.

Controversial and political issues are always more appealing when they’re humanized. I think when you have a “central, compelling, character” more people will pay attention.

In other news, the half-marathon is in a week! I’m really nervous and feeling unprepared. But, I think once I’m there, everything will go smoothly. Hopefully my knee doesn’t go out on me. It’s been hurting after running 8-9 miles. But, I’m not going to let that stop me.