amcneice - congrats on the healed tibia! I'll keep my fingers crossed that the MRI has good news - you know, the kind which shows something that is wrong, explaining your pain, but that can be fixed easily.

Ok, it's checkin time again. I know Ms. Half-Dr.Gimp is getting special treatment from her Full-Dr. friends. For the rest of us, where we're at?

So I am now Half-Doctor Half-gimp? I guess I am about half as good as a doctor - depending on what your problem is and how much experience that doctor has. So it sounds like a reasonable title to me. And more relevantly it totally cracked me up. I will hopefully have more answers after my appointment tomorrow. Which is at 7 AM!!! Which means I get to sleep in.

Me: my behind still hurts. It moves around to different places. Some times it's the piriformis muscle, while other times it's where the sciatic nerve comes out. The best explanation at this point is actually a minor stress fracture but my doc said the x-rays look clean a month ago. I'm considering going back to my orthopedist and see what he thinks of it all. You?

I would go back - it sounds like you are still having trouble and are not satisfied that you know whats going on. In retrospect, I think my mistake was not going back sooner. Good luck with it!!!

Only problem - I fear I am developing a pavlovian response to water - just watch - I will probably morph from Pool Runner to Rain Runner "oh, look - water - I gotta go run!!!!"

Have you started running in the shower yet? Or running into the shower when you hear it going? I am excited for your progress - way to go hanging in there!!!

Have you started running in the shower yet? Or running into the shower when you hear it going?

No - but I do stretch in there woodlandsprite - hey 6 min of real running - yeah!!! Any progress is good. Are you using a balance board or bosu?

Abba - update? Did you get those answers?

Great news Claire! Official answer: Its up to me what I want to do. (Gee, thanks!) But she thinks it makes sense to give it another 2 weeks, which makes it 6 weeks. If it isnt much better by then, it probably will be a long time on crutches (like months) which I can wait out or I can deal with it any time I want, including now. She said she would give it another couple weeks to really feel like we tried "conservative therapy" so I am going back then at which point we will reassess.

Congrats Claire! Glad to see one of us is getting better. Now don't you over do it again and land yourself back on the bench again. Ms. Half-Dr. Gimp: you are still gimpy so why not call you that? I think you should get around in a wheel chair. Wouldn't that take the pressure off the femoral head? Besides, you'll get extra sympathy points for that and maybe get a handicapped parking spot. That'd be sweet! woodlandsprite: hang in there. The orthotics will fix all your problems. You'll have no more pain. You'll run faster. No more stress from work. It'll be sunny every day. Happy little girls and trees. Life will be good. Rainl_Runner: that's good news that you're on the road to recovery. Technically we all are on that road, except some of us never left the gate. Please don't over do it like Claire I did my first real track workout yesterday. It still hurt during track and I iced it afterwards. I was gasping for air during the entire time, and noticed I lost a lot of fitness. My legs just didn't have the energy to keep the pace. It was terrible!

Wow, lots of news this week! Claire- very happy to hear that you are leaving the bench, though we'll miss you. take care of yourself! MC-I would defintely go back ito the doctor if there is still pain. I know you have general pain all the time, but is it aggrevated during running or after running? I'm glad you at least got a little workout in, I dread to even think about how out of shape I have become. Cheryl- Glad to hear you are pain free. I know you're on the way to getting OTB. Abba- 2 more weeks, huh? And then it's either months on crutches or just tolerate it? Will it heal or get worse if you just ignore it? Woodland- Sorry to hear your stuff is still going on. At least you are runnning a few minutes at a time... if that were me I'd be putting them on my log, lol. I really hope the orthotics solve your problem. SO..... my update: I was waiting for my 2 doctors appts this week to hopefully get more info and I have some, but it's not good. The ortho yesterday did an xray and declared it clear. He told me (very sympathetically) that he is out of ideas, I have had PT, crutches and walking cast, cortisone shot, drugs, orthotics, etc and he just has no idea. He wants me to see a well-known ortho surgeon for another opinion. Luckily dropping the referral name got me in for next Thursday. Today I went back to the orthotics podiatrist and took my xrays from yesterday. The same slight shadow shows up onall my previous xrays on the 5th metatarsel and is unchanged. This could mean what we thought was a stress fracture has been there all along and isn't a new injury causing the pain. This doctor agrees that we have done everything. He double-checked the orthotics and says they are perfect. Yet my pain is getting worse and is affecting daily life, it hurts all the time, but especially bad in the evenings after swimmiing, walking, etc. The podiatrist suggested it may be a chronic pain issue, which would be a lot to deal with at the young age of 25. He's also hoping that the new doctor next week may be able to come up with something new to explain why I am hurting so much. If it is chronic pain, there are a couple of options, either manage it with drugs or possibly have surgury to remove the nerves that are transmitting the pain. Neither is something I want to deal with the rest of my life. The only good news right now is that since they don't think it's a fracture or neuroma or anything that can be agrevated by excercise, I am cleared to run/bike/whatever as long as I can tolerate the pain. I'm not sure if running is the best idea until I see the new doctor next week, but I may try riding my bike and walking and see how that feels.

The surgeon was good - I really liked that she seemed to address my general health and what lead to this as well as the specific injury. I also liked that she gave me my options. (And e-mailed me back in response to my questions today.) What I meant by "gee thanks" was she doesnt seem to have a strong feeling for what I should do - sometimes I wish there was an obvious answer like you need to do this, or surgery isnt indicated so keep crutching. Or whatever. I still wonder if I just took a month off from school would it heal on its own? (MC - crutches get me plenty of sympathy points! Especially since the attendings I am working with now know whats going on. And it will get me plenty on ortho when I start in a week and a half.) I asked why it is hurting more since I have been on crutches and maybe I should just abandon the crutches. My doctor's response: only if I want a hip replacement. To answer Shaunna's question: this is a really high risk stress fx and if it completes and dislocates you can loose blood to the head of the femur (the "ball" in the ball and socket hip joint). So I can either go the crutches until its better route or have it pinned route. If I end up going the surgery route I would rather do it sooner than later and get it over with. I still prefer a magic wand. Anyone find one lying around?