Usually, I write these intros having already planned everything out. Today's update is long overdue partially because these past few weeks have been a bit of a blur so why not cut to the chase already.
While my personal life's been a bit of a blur, in the past two weeks I was able to resume physical therapy and even built up toward some light weight lifting. Everything was going pretty well until I started to feel pains and twinges similar to those I had at the start of all this. I'd wake up feeling sore for no reason even after taking two days off between PT sessions and tightness along my abductor constantly. Obviously, not great signs.
On Thursday, August 6, I went in for my third round fully expecting to hear that my tear was still hanging on because of the pains. Needless to say, I wasn't super excited post blood draw, numbed up, and waiting on the table for my orthopedic to start injecting. Ultrasound is used to examine the area being injected and help guide the injections so my ortho did a quick exam before stabbing me. The good news is my tear is completely gone! During my first session of PRP you could very clearly see the tear, a line protruding out from the rest of my labrum. In my second round that protruding line looked more like a bridge, there was not a distinct projection, but you could see space between it and the rest of my labrum. Thursday everything was as smooth as can be, no line, no bridge.
The still not so great news: my adductor and glute medias had some tendonosis going on which was probably the reason for the aches and pains I had been feeling.
A few pokes later I went back to #potatolife for the next two weeks. Thankfully I only had to crutch around the first two days and now I'm walking around pain-free (albeit maybe a little wonky still).
These past few months are the most inactive I've ever been in my life. It's been a frustrating experience, not having anything visibly wrong, but knowing and feeling there is, perpetuated by a month plus of misdiagnoses before finding the answer I wanted to hear the least.
Making these past few months harder was a small dose of doubt. There was always the possibility that PRP would not fully heal the tear requiring surgery to correct it. Surgery would mean nine months to get back to training at the level I would need to be at to compete again where I left off. Nine months would put me in a time crunch to try to qualify for the trials, literally my goal as a kid. With that uncertainty gone, it feels like a huge weight off my shoulders. I'm finally on the home stretch of this injury and as anyone reading this knows it's one of the best feelings there is.
Obviously I'm still a way off from running, at least six weeks, but compared to the past three months that's a cakewalk. I am so thankful for my friends, family, teammates, and medical support for helping me get to this point.
fingers crossed my next update has some training involved!
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