Pain in the Butt

Let's review. Tuesday I fell down the basement stairs, ran 20 miles, and then couldn't move the remainder of the day.

Tuesday night I slept horribly. Every possible sleeping position hurt. Every time I turned over I was woken up in pain. Wednesday morning when I woke up I called the doctor and every doctor in the entire practice was completely booked for the day. They could get me in on Thursday but couldn't guarantee me an appointment. I would just come and wait. Although I wasn't happy with that option, I took it and fully expected to feel much better on Thursday and wouldn't need the appointment. Despite being in pain and completely uncomfortable, I did a 1500m swim of just pulling and 45 minutes of just spinning on the bike.

Well, I thought I would wake up Thursday feeling much better, but I was wrong. In fact, I barely slept the night before. Pain. Pain. Pain. Thursday I was in terrible pain. I would sit up from the bed or couch and stare at the floor and wonder how I was going to be able to get up from there. I made it to the doctor, gingerly getting in and out of my car. Surprisingly I was called immediately back (thank goodness) and the doctor began his evaluation. First thing, he wanted me to stand up and see how far I could bend over. I struggled to get off the examination table and then could only bend my head down to see my feet. There was no bending. Then he had me climb back up on the table (good grief!) and started pressing on areas. With tears welling up in my eyes, I told him I could take no more. He sent me straight to x-ray.

I've learned with all my breaks that x-rays can be really uncomfortable. It's like it's the technician's job to contort your body in a way that causes pain but, of course, creates the best picture. This was no different. I had to do several laying flat on my back (OMG! PAIN!!!) and then several more laying on my side. In no time my doctor was reviewing the images with me. And it did not look good. It appeared that I had broken a bone in my sacrum/coccyx area. My doctor even consulted with another doctor in the practice and he too agreed it looked broken. Just to be sure and to come up with a proper recovery plan, the doctor wanted an MRI. I was scheduled for one later that afternoon.

All I could think about was...NOOOOO! I have a marathon in four weeks!!!

The MRI was excruciating! It was an hour long and I had to lay on my back putting pressure on my backside that entire time. By the time it was over, the technician had to help peel me off the table. I just couldn't move. I went home defeated. Things were not looking good.

The doctor said he would have my MRI results on Friday. He told me I could keep working on as long as I let pain be my guide. So I headed to the gym and did 50 minutes on the elliptical. By late afternoon I still hadn't heard back from the doctor's office. I called and the assistant was gone for the weekend. Well, crap! Luckily for me, I'm pretty good friends with my doctor so I sent him an e-mail. I got a reply instantly.

NOT BROKEN!!!!

My buns were just bruised. Badly. But just bruised. Races and training were back on. Good thing. Today I raced...