Out-n-back from the parking lot. Left calf still pretty tight but seems to slowly be loosening up, groin no better or worse than it was yesterday.
6:05 PM - 4 miles, 30:00 - Lake Park.
Twilight trot on the dirt. The 'ol legs are starting to show some signs of life again.
I forgot to cancel today's appointment with the orthopedist that I begrudgingly scheduled 12 days ago, so instead of being slapped with a $25 cancellation fee for bailing the day of, I kept the appointment, paid my $20 co-pay and saved myself $5 and a shitload of bureaucratic hassle. I also figured a second opinion probably wouldn't hurt, so in the end everyone except my wallet benefits in some way.
Not gonna lie, I thought this would be one of those appointments where I walked into the exam room, told the doctor what was wrong, confused him with my symptoms and went home $20 poorer than I walked in with only a vague diagnosis of a groin strain and a prescription to "stop running, put some ice on it and schedule an appointment with the PT office on Goldstar Boulevard" to show for it.
I'm happy to report that I was wrong. Still $20 poorer, but very wrong.
After checking in with the receptionist, I was immediately shuttled away to X-ray and had my midsection zapped before being hustled into the exam room where I met with my assigned orthopedist, Dr. Susan Davis. And no, Susan is not a dude, but she is a damn good doctor.
Dr. Davis' own thorough evaluation of the circumstantial evidence confirmed what James told me last week, which is that my persistent lower abdominal discomfort is likely being caused by a sports hernia. To be sure, however, she has me scheduled me for an MRI this Friday and a follow-up appointment a week from today because "we don't want to be guessing with one of these things." In the meantime, she told me to keep with the exercises James gave me and "not to stop running, although that may change a week from now."
Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but on the flip side of things this is the kind of pull-no-punches, up-front approach I've been looking for from a medical professional. Unlike when I suspected a stress fracture in my pelvis 16 months ago and had to fight for a CT scan to confirm it, I didn't so much as have to even mention my own suspicions to either James or Susan this time around because both of them appreciated the ferociousness with which I thrash my body on a daily basis. And while I'd rather not be in this position to begin with, I feel confident for once that I'm in good hands and taking the right steps to getting this newest problem fixed.
Now, if I could only eliminate them altogether.
Quote of the Day
"There is nothing like the feeling of standing on a wind-blown, dew slicked, intramural field awaiting the sound of a gun to send you hurtling forward through a mass of sharp elbows and knobby knees toward your own threshold of pain."
- Brendan O'Keefe on the beauty of cross country.
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