Post Surgery Update #10

      So Wednesday was what I was hoping and expecting to be my final followup visit with my surgeon and it turns out I was right.  After I got called back to the exam room and got all my vitals checked and what not, I had a 5 - 10 minute wait for the doctor to come in.  Today he had a bit of an entourage with him as he was followed in with one guy that was taking all his notes for him and another guy that was just their to observe what he was doing.  They were defiantly training to be doctors so I would say it seemed like a internship would be for us non medical types.  Anyway he ran through a few questions about how I was feeling and asked me what my activity level has been.  I told him how Alisha had worked me up slowly doing 2-3 days a week of running and slowly progressing the distance.  He seemed pleased with my report and asked me to get on the exam table for a few quick tests.

     He went through a series of leg manipulations that he did pretty much at every other visit I've had with him.  He was checking for any symptoms of my issue still lingering and checking my flexibility as well.    By the end he instructed me to continue to increase my activity level, but stressed to take things slow while reminding me it could take 8 months to a year to feel completely back to normal.  The only thing he found that I need to work on is getting a little more flexibility in one area and gave me a couple of good stretches to do.   It was at that point that he told me to come back and see him if any problems should occur in the future but I was officially release from care.  

     I walked out of that office with a great big smile on my face and just happy that this was all behind me.  If I am not mistaken we are around just a month shy of one year since the first symptoms reared its ugly head.  Looking back now I am amazed at how quickly I was able to recover, but during all this it sure did feel like an eternity.

     Now I have to create a plan for the foreseeable future or I may run myself right into another injury so I called Alisha.  We setup an appointment for this coming Wednesday to create a strength training plan, talk about a running plan and I want to ask her opinion about when I may be able to tackle marathons again and my next big goal of an ultra.    

 

     So how does one celebrate this fantastic news, well with a race of course!  To be honest I in no way planned this it just kind of happened, but I couldn't ask for a better race to celebrate at.  Wednesday was May the 4th which if you are Star Wars nerd or even just a casual fan I am sure you heard it was Star Wars Day - May the fourth be with you, as they say.  The Toledo Roadrunners club put on a fun run called May the fourth be with you 4K and the Wookie 1k Younglings run.  Kids of all ages were encouraged to come out and run and dress up in cosplay.  I ran a solid race and didn't worry about racing it, just enjoyed the privilege of being able to run again!