It's been a while since I reported in here... so much has happened since February.
My leg has allowed me to run quite well, but the problem still exists and I am still seeing the consultant that I saw last Feb.
I had a couple of tests in the summer, and on Friday I went back to my consultant to talk about the results and also what, if anything could be done...
This is what I reported on another website that I
occasionally visit
I went and saw my consultant this morning.
Since I got injured in April 2006 I have seen at least 20 professionals, NHS and Private, and they've all tried to find the answer as to what is going on in my leg... the guy who I saw today is the only one who has been determined enough to succeed.
I first saw him in January and I knew from that first consultation that I'd finally found the right person, I trust him 200%, he's always been totally honest with me and tells me exactly how it is... I respect that.
Through tests that he'd ordered for me we discovered that the problem was with the Common Peroneal Nerve. Today was the consultation to talk about the options... there are very few.
I have to say that my leg is allowing me to run further this year than I could last year. However I do have to constantly monitor it. I can't push it as hard as I would like to. There are times during a run or a race when I'm feeling great and could go faster but have to hold back because my leg begins to complain... it can be very frustrating!
So, to the options...
1) Do nothing and accept my lot, just keep running as I am
2) Manage it with steroid injections
3) Surgery
The problem with 1) is that I know I can run faster, plus I have always had the goal of doing Comrades, which I was actually supposed to be running this year until the injury halted all my prep. I might get away with it but then again my leg could one day say "enough"
The problem with 2) is that I've had a steroid injection in it before and it lasted about 8 weeks, then all the symptoms came back...I don't want to have to keep pumping a steroid into my leg every couple of months
The problem with 3) is that there are major risks. My consultant, Mr Robinson, pulled no punches when he told me what they were. Basically I would be an experimental case, nothing of this kind of surgery has ever been done before so there are no guarantees as to the outcome. Mr Robinson also said that he can't know for sure what he's going to find if he goes in. It would be an extremely delicate operation due to the proximity of the nerve fibres, and if any of that nerve got damaged in the process that would be the end of my running...completely.
I kind of suspected this was going to be the situation and we were both batting forward pros and cons...I felt 100% that he was on my side, rather than just speaking as a surgical member of the NHS. I could see that he was in as much of a quandry as I was.
He told me of times that he attends conferences etc and quite often the question is asked of consultants/surgeons... "What do you say to marathon runners when they come to you with knee/leg injuries?" And the answer is often "I tell them to stop running". He told me that the most common reason for that answer is that they know "how hard you guys push yourselves" and that surgery can't always help the situation.
I gave him the perspective of a runner and he fully appreciated that.
So, as it stands now Mr Robinson is going to speak to the chief radiologist who performed my last test and bat about my results to see if there is anything at all that can sway the decision either way. Then he'll get back to me with the final word. Meanwhile... I'm still training for Amsterdam, Hastings, Boston, FLM, Dartmoor Discovery...etc etc
On the way home from the hospital I stopped off for a coffee at Coffee Republic, and while I sat there mulling over what Mr Robinson had said, 3 people sat down at a table next to me.
One lady started to tell another how ill she'd been last week, with stomach cramps and sickness etc. I didn't really pay much attention until the word chemotherapy was mentioned. The lady who had been ill was wearing a hat, and it was obvious that she had lost her hair. As the conversation went on it turned out that she'd been on the treatment for a long time for a tumour and this latest bout of chemo was a harsh one, but her body was still dealing with the previous course of chemo, which was why she had been so ill. There was also a guy at the table, fairly young, probably early 30's, who was comparing his treatment for a tumour also. The lady was talking quite openly and said that they were worried about the cancer getting to her bones. Difficult to put an age on her as she'd been ill, but I wouldn't say that she was older than 50.
It kind of put my situation into perspective... I'm not saying that the problem with my injury is not important, because it is... to me, but we all have the ability to accept and move forward. The people who were sat next to me had gone through the huge process of accepting that they have cancer, which could ultimately take their life, they accepted the treatment and all that went with it in order to try and move forward and grasp onto life.
As for me, I have been through a huge process of accepting this injury, trying to find a solution. I can accept whatever Mr Robinson says, and still move forward. Whatever the outcome, even if I don't ever get to run Comrades, I do have my life.
Oh what have I done FLM09 
