I'm a 'sick in the head' runner-CT Results

[AirForceRunner]

While doing speedwork one evening about 13 days ago, I felt a twinge in my neck. I backed off, just to be sure. The next morning I woke up and it hurt a little more, kinda like that stiff neck feeling you get when you sleep in the wrong position. Worked that day, went to bed. When I woke up this time, I experienced what I will say hands down, was the most excrutiating pain I have ever felt. Let me qualify this. In 1998, I had a bad mountain bike accident where I fractured a vertabrae, fractured the orbit around my right eye, suffered a concussion, and trail rash over the entire right side of my face. Yeah...that doesn't come close to the pain I felt the morning I woke up. The end result was a pinched nerve, but what complicated it was the nerve was causing my entire left side to spasm. Spasms suck, but throw in the nerve impingement...crippling. Luckily for me, the military doctors office is just down the hall on the ship we are staying on. First it was over the counter muscle relaxers and NSAIDs. Then it was moved to narcotic drugs. These all did nothing (except allow me to finally understand what it means to be 'stoned'). I actually went 2 days without eating. Yeas...it was bad. They finally shipped me off to City Sports Physio here in Vancouver. After a long session in traction, I was able to stand upright without tunnel vision (nearly passing out). I've been going the last 5 days, and it is gradually improving. They've got me taped to the hilt to pull the pressure off the nerve in the hopes it will withdraw. I missed 6 days of work....let me qualify this...I NEVER miss work, no matter what the issue. Now here I am, on the largest domestic security military operation in the history of our country, and I can't work. They in fact amost sent me home. But things are getting better every day. They've said 4-6 weeks and I should be back to normal. And I'm back to work with orders to take it easy.
Now...the title of my post...'Sick in the head" runner. Instead of focussing on how much pain I was in, which would have been VERY easy to do, I kept thinking "Y'know, this will be good for my racing. If I can withstand this pain, I'll be able to withstand any amount of discomfort that comes from racing hard". I uttered this comment to my roomate on the ship, who is a non-runner.
His response...you guessed it...."You're sick in the head, you know that?"

[trixiee]

Yikes! Hope your recovery is swift! Please do take it easy!

[Jo-Jo]

Be a good boy....take it easy.

BTW...you may be a tad "touched" but I've grown fond of you over the years

[VeloCarrie]

Hey! I'm sick in the head too!

[Tori]

Owwwww! Take it easy, I hope you are feeling better soon. That sounds awful.

[msdesigner]

Yikes! I'm glad that you are on the mend.... but holy crap..... rest!!!! You are a nut!!

[klc]

Holy crap! Get better fast!

[DougG]

Rick I've noticed you have this masochistic streak in you. Weren't you warned to stop running for a year or so because of a previous injury?

Do they let you play with those big guns?

[Darth Tater]

Rick, you make me .

Get better man.

[AirForceRunner]

Well, this stupid thing just got a little more serious. My physio told me to return to the doctor because my arm is at about half its normal strength(normally a 50-60 push-up guy, can't even do 10 now). Went to the military doc...he sent me to Civie Emerg at St Paul's here in Vancouver. They stated I have muscle wasting (atropy) and have scheduled me for a CT scan, and hope to get me in with a neurologist before I leave Vancouver on March 4th.

And the hits just keep on comin'....

[Jo-Jo]

(((((Rick)))))

Thinking of you. Keep us posted.

[Darth Tater]

Geez Rick, take care.

[Doonst]

What the heck?

[AirForceRunner]

CT Scan is booked for tomorrow at 16:30. Seems pointless, as they said the chances of getting in with Neuro is near impossible given the short time frame.
More to follow.

[seuss]

CT Scan is booked for tomorrow at 16:30. Seems pointless, as they said the chances of getting in with Neuro is near impossible given the short time frame.
More to follow.

really? have your med folk double check with the Olympic medical team re a referral to a neuro - everything is supposed to be ready to go for anyone connected with the Olympics. should be faster than getting one through St Paul's. the neuro i am waiting to see is operating his out of town clinic for the duration of the games, but i am sure that there is a neuro on standby for just such a situation as yours.

[DonnaRigs]

Geez Rick - That is scary stuff. Please let us know how you are doing.

Sending hugs your way, big guy!

[AirForceRunner]

CT Scan is booked for tomorrow at 16:30. Seems pointless, as they said the chances of getting in with Neuro is near impossible given the short time frame.
More to follow.

really? have your med folk double check with the Olympic medical team re a referral to a neuro - everything is supposed to be ready to go for anyone connected with the Olympics. should be faster than getting one through St Paul's. the neuro i am waiting to see is operating his out of town clinic for the duration of the games, but i am sure that there is a neuro on standby for just such a situation as yours.

Interesting. I had my appt today, with a very interesting encounter. I approached the radiology section, told them I had an appt, and they sat me down. When I told them I was military, they asked for my Olympic credentials. Once I showed them, they told me to wait in the waiting room because, and I quote "We have a long list of priorities, and you Olympic people from out of town are at the bottom of that list."
She wasn't rude or anything, just following a procedure she had been given (I'm assuming). Just caught me a little off guard. In the end I only waited 20 extra minutes.

[AirForceRunner]

On a side note, the accompanying spasm actually released for the 1st time in 3 weeks. Wanna know what released it?

Running.

No kidding. I got fed up with laying around during my free time, and figured that wasn't fixing the problem. A nice little barefoot 3 miles around the deck of the ship, and everything seemed to 'back off'. The arm is still useless, but now the whole arm hurts, which is actually a good sign. Before it was just kinda numb.

Thanks for putting up with this...it just seemed kinda important to journal this somewhere.

[DougG]

Yikes

[Jo-Jo]

Thanks for putting up with this...it just seemed kinda important to journal this somewhere.

We're not "putting up"...you're one of us!!

BTW...I thought of you last weekend when I went and cheered at the Twosome. My friend Marc gave me a new improved cowbell...huge!!

[AirForceRunner]

Thanks for putting up with this...it just seemed kinda important to journal this somewhere.

We're not "putting up"...you're one of us!!

BTW...I thought of you last weekend when I went and cheered at the Twosome. My friend Marc gave me a new improved cowbell...huge!!

I was sad to miss it. I never missed that race while I lived in Kingston (the only KRRA race I can make that claim to).

[AirForceRunner]

CT Results should be in today....GAH!!
Tip...never research ailments on the internet. You never hear of people recovering in record time. All you hear is "10 years later....."

[jgore]

CT Results should be in today....GAH!!
Tip...never research ailments on the internet. You never hear of people recovering in record time. All you hear is "10 years later....."

Yeah, but are any of them 'sick in the head'?

[AirForceRunner]

Went to the doc this evening on ship. Yeah......
He forgot to call St. Pauls for the CT results.
Maybe tomorrow.
Anyone know the number of a good faith healer?

[AirForceRunner]

So...without the benefit of the CT scan (it hasn't come in yet), here is what my doc is postulating. He says based on what I told him, the act of sprinting may have caused my trapezius to go into spasm. This, combine with potentially weak serratis anterior muscles (hey, I'm a runner, not a bodybuilder) caused my left scapula (shoulder blade) to pop out into a scapular winging. He says the nerve pain which started 2-3 days afterwards is likely pressure/damage to the brachial plexus nerve from the improper position and resultant spasms everywhere else. Anyways, what he did was push my shoulder blade in, and held it there until I could figure out which muscle I needed to actively use to hold it in place. That immediately releived the spasm pain, but my arm is still weak, which has him concerned.
This is all theory, however (his words), but hopefully more will be revealed by the CT.

Oh well. I had my best run in days after he popped it into its proper position. There's a bright side to everything.