Abba- glad to hear it's not getting worse at least. Like you I am hoping to take the agressive treatment route, it's already been 5 months of non-agressive treatment, and no sign of improvement yet for me. I'm trying hard to stay positive, but some days it is really really hard. I'm also still in purgatory. After last weeks doctor visits, I rode my bike on Thursday (no increased pain, just really really out of shape), did a walk/run Friday on the treadmill (run was less than 25% of total time and surprisingly no increase in pain... I was thrilled!). Took Saturday off, then tried to run/walk outside Sunday for 3 miles (ran a total of 2 of them). And the intense pain was back. Since I was seeing if I could live with it, this showed me that NO-THAT ISN'T GOING TO BE A POSSIBILITY. The intense pain was still present all day yesterday despite taking it off. I swam and did some water running today and I'm not in excruciating pain but I'm definitely not pain-free either. *sigh* I will update more after the specialist on Thursday, hopefully there will be some news.

Eric- yeah I had an MRI back in January which showed absolutely nothing wrong. I bet they'll order another one though since that was 4 months ago now and the pain has gotten worse. I hope that if you get an MRI it shows something. It's interesting that you felt great the day after the race. I'm wondering if we both have some nerve thing that causes pain sometimes and not others? Let us know how your visit goes tomorrow. Nice negative splits on your race btw! I'm going to ask my doc Thursday if instead of surgery to remove the nerves, maybe they can inject something in them to kill them? I don't know if anything like that exists, but it would (obviously) be more appealing than surgery. The only time I have felt good since November is when I had the cortisone shot into my nerves, and that only lasted a week.

Hello fellow purgatory-ites... Well, I posted for the first time in ages to the "main" board because I actually "ran" (wogged was more like it....) and logged a bar onto my log No orthotics yet (Hoping they arrive a week from Friday so 2 more weeks), calves are tight - the PT did some soft tissue on them because I could feel something kinda clicking around when I stretched my right soleus...I'm definitely feeling it today. Haven't had a moment to run since the last one, but the gear is in the car. Definitely have lost some fitness, I think, and my pace is really slow because I'm forcing myself to keep my heartrate down a la Maffetone method... Eric, glad to hear that you were able to run without pain - though sorry to hear the pain is right back again. Let us know what your doc says. Abba - glad to hear you're at least not getting worse! Shaunna - I have my fingers crossed for your visit this Thursday - I hope they have some guidance for you!

I just got back from my doctor's appointment. I went to see my orthopedist. Before my doctor entered the room, he was reviewing my charts with a medical fellow of sorts. I heard him describing me as "that tiny running guy that I saw 6 months ago." Great... He is a runner too, and ran a ~2:30 NYC Marathon some 10 years ago. It's good because he won't tell me to stop running unless it's detrimental. Anyhow, he took more x-rays (my mid section is aglow once again and the possibility of having kids go out the window). He also examined me and I pointed to what turned out to be the sacro-iliac (S/I) joint that's bothering me. He located the spot and think it could be a slipped disc. He ordered an MRI. So, I'll be magnetized on the 11th. Hopefully, that would shed some light on what's going on.

MC- how would they fix a slipped disk?? All these x-rays make me nervous too, especially since my doctor brought up the fact he hates to do any more than necessary and made me wear the big lead bodysuit last time I hope your MRI is useful!

I actually e-mailed her and asked how long it would take to schedule - she said she could do it Weds. (As in in one week.) That was a super scarry moment for me - I hadnt expected it to be that soon! Eeekkk!!!! Of course, if I do it I want it to be soon so I can try to salvage my surg rotation. It sounds like recovery is about 2 weeks. I would be weight-bearing as tolerated afterwards, though my surgeon said I would probably want to use my crutches for a while for balance. Of course, it also depends on what we mean by recover and who you ask. She said I could probably be back in class in 1.5-2 weeks. (I havent asked about running - at this point I have to admit that is so low on my list of concerns.) I was also hanging out in ortho clinic today with a surgeon who happens to do a lot of hips. (I was supposed to be with the other ortho onc surgeon, but evidently he left town and I didnt know. Gotta love our schedule which seems to be wrong more often than it is right! Grumble! But I saw lots of interesting hip stuff!) He was asking me a bunch of questions and then offerred to look at my x-rays. Well, yes please, of course! And guess what - he doesnt know what he would recommend. He did say if it were his son, he would go ahead and go the surgery route. But then he thought that the fact that internal rotation initially hurt but after 2 weeks on crutches it didnt was a good sign. Then he looked some more and noticed that the femoral neck is shorter in the injured hip - I didnt get to ask him what that means for real. But it sounds like he is not too optimistic about it healing quickly at this point after almost 6 weeks on crutches. He did tell me that he really likes the surgeon I am seeing (as does everyone else) and that whatever she recommends is solid. There are always multiple approaches ie, he said he would put two screws in the neck. She said she wanted to do nails and put one in the neck and one vertically in the shaft to lock it but he also said that he wouldnt argue with her approach - it just wouldnt be his plan. So reality is starting to sink in. I think whatever I do I am going to question it. I mean, if I go the surgery route, how close am I to healing on my own? If I dont go the surgery route and am still doing the same thing in 6 weeks, I will totally regret not having done it sooner. And then wondering if I am again 2 weeks away from healing on my own. I think all med students should be required to do a rotation at Hogwarts.

Not surprisingly - my parents think it is a terrible idea and I should keep waiting. Go figure. Isnt it nice to be an adult and get to make your own decisions? Reality vs abstract. Exactly my point. You just said it better. I have a ton more questions to talk about with her on Monday. And I am glad to hear that everyone respects her. And in terms of med school I am thinking that getting it over with is better than hobbling around on crutches and not knowing what the course will be. My first choice, of course, was not to get injured in the first place. My second choice was to have conservative therapy work. I still wonder if I am paying the price for delaying diagnosis for a month and a half.....