Overall, I’m a positive person, an optimist. I set lofty goals, and work hard to achieve them. I’m a good news kind of guy. I like to share achievement, whether mine or others, and celebrate what human beings are able to achieve athletically.
I hate talking about bad news. Detest it. But sometimes bad news is part of life. It is a reality, and the best thing you can do is to stay positive and optimistic while going through it. That’s where I’ve been for the last year, and that’s where I am now.
When I changed doctors, I put together a brief timeline with a history of most everything that has happened. It was sobering to read, as this may very well be the most trivial and baffling cycling injury I’ve ever heard about.
The bad news continued on my mountain bike ride this past weekend. As great as it was to experience something new, around halfway through my ride, I began to feel a burning sensation in the groin. No worries, I’ve felt soreness before while riding and been able to suffer through it. I soldiered on, but the sensation became stronger.
I decided to make my way back home. Ugh, that was a hilly six miles away. The more I pedaled, the more it hurt. I took a couple breaks to massage my hip. Still painful. I made my way up the hills slowly, trying to put more power with my left side — not easy to do on a mountain bike with platform pedals.
With just a couple miles to go, I could barely pedal. I tried pushing the pedal with just my left leg. Not really possible. I had to endure the pain and make it home. By the time I was done, I was done. It was excruciating pain. I could barely walk, and had to use the cane again to get around.
This was a devastating setback, and the last thing I wanted to share on this blog. This most likely is going to lead to the next phase of my injury recovery, which I am praying will be surgery. Something is seriously messed up in my hip, and I need to get it fixed.
My Fall plans are most likely going to change dramatically. More on that as I get some answers.
I know, major bummer post. Not the kind I wanted to write.
For those who have not been following the entire saga, here is an updated version of the history I wrote for the doctor:
Climb | Description |
9/16/2012 | Bridge to Bridge. Injury probably occurred. Mild hip pain started day after ride, got progressively worse. |
9/25/2012 |
Saw general practitioner about hip pain. He thought it was tendinitis. Prescribed anti-inflammatory. |
9/30/2012 | Rode Six Gap Century with excruciating pain to begin with. Could barely move legs outward. Hip warmed up and no pain during 2nd half. |
10/13/2012 | Took two weeks rest. It felt a little better. Ran a 5k very slowly without much problem. |
11/12/2012 | Rested most of October then began training again carefully. Asheville climbing ride and it felt sore again the next day. It became worse. Got referral to Sports Med Orthopaedist, rested. |
12/10/2012 | First sports med appointment. Doctor thought injury was soft tissue in labrum. Got MRI. |
12/17/2012 | Diagnosed as stress fracture in femoral neck. Rest for weeks. Had to stop anti-inflammatory. Most of that rest was painful, took pain medicine on occasion and it didnt help much. On crutches. Clicking and popping began during this period. |
1/29/2013 | Next Sports Med appointment. Still stress fracture not healed. Switched from crutches to cane. |
2/19/2013 | Another MRI, this time with an injection of dye. Stress fracture had healed. X-ray diagnosis: lateral labrum tear. MRI: Paralabral cyst? No visible tear. |
2/27/2013 | Doctor canceled appt. Saw PA instead. He gave green light to ride carefully. Clicking and popping continued. Back on anti-inflammatory. |
3/27/2013 | Saw doctor briefly. He thought I was getting better, can increase activity. Hip was very sore in colder weather. |
4/16/2013 | Broken rib. Fitness improvements, clicking and popping continue, mild pain. Doctor said get to get bone density scan. |
5/10/2013 | Bone density scan showed abnormally low density in femurs. T scores -2.1 and -2.3. Made diet changes. |
5/21/2013 | Assault on Mount Mitchell completed. Had quite a bit of pain during last several miles. |
6/21/2013 | Started physical therapy, gradually increased activity. |
8/26/2013 | After little improvement, got second opinion. He confirmed labral tear, suggested a couple other possibilities. |
8/29/2013 | Cortisone shot. |
9/2/2013 | Tour d’Apple. Slight setback afterward. |
9/7/2013 | First mountain bike ride. Major setback, taking break from bike. |
September 9th, 2013 at 5:00 pm
Praying for your recovery, Aaron. So frustrating. Congrats on your 200k+ website visits! Will be excited to see the 1 million mark!
September 9th, 2013 at 10:07 pm
Thanks, Ed. Milestones are always fun. The last hundred went pretty quickly.
September 9th, 2013 at 5:19 pm
Sheesh brother, getting tough “liking” these posts… You’re going to have to whoop some PhD butt when this is done! Keep the faith brother.
September 9th, 2013 at 10:08 pm
Hey Jim. Yeah, the news has gotten bad and what I learned later today was potentially worse. I’m going to hold out posting until I have firm information. Keeping the faith!
September 9th, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Aaron, I think and I think. You have to called me. I don’t need to talk to them. It is up 2 you.
September 9th, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Aaron, I think and I think. You have to called me. I don’t need to talk to them. It is up 2 you.
September 9th, 2013 at 8:25 pm
You will be fine!
September 9th, 2013 at 8:35 pm
call me, I will help (edited phone number)
September 9th, 2013 at 10:10 pm
Hey Thomas,
I edited your phone number from the page. You don’t want Nigerians and Russians calling you with bank scams. It is late now, but definitely want to talk to you soon.
September 9th, 2013 at 11:46 pm
It might be something you have already tried, but I would hope to share it with you anyway.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:14 am
Sorry to hear this. I hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel, soon.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:39 am
Thanks, I’m sure there will be, although maybe not as soon as I would like.
September 10th, 2013 at 1:21 am
Its always darkest before dawn. Hang in there!!
September 10th, 2013 at 2:02 am
Aaron, I’m ready for some ‘Haute Route Training’ articles from you…get this thing fixed! 😉
September 10th, 2013 at 11:40 am
Hopefully those will be coming soon. I figure if a guy can ride it with one arm and one leg, then my measly hip problems can be overcome.
September 10th, 2013 at 6:50 am
You know my history from my car wreck. I uploaded some ride info to Garmins web site recently and I have a ways to go yet but the mileage is going up, as is the average speed. If we judge our performance by what we did yesterday, rather than aspiring to tomorrow it can make for a fair amount of angst.
I’m no doctor but it seems to me that as long as you keep racing on an injured hip, you are going to keep posting about the travails of your injured hip rather than STEEP CLIMBS which was the genesis of the site.
I want to hear about gut buster hills.
September 10th, 2013 at 11:42 am
Glad to hear you are progressing, Wayne, slowly but surely. There will be plenty of steep climbs and gut busting hills in the future once I get these little issues worked out.
The doctors had told me that it was okay to ride while recovering, but I’m beginning to think that they didn’t understand the sort of riding I do. A long rest is in order.
September 10th, 2013 at 3:27 pm
I’ve been reading off and on here for a year or so now. Just wanted to wish you good luck in figuring out exactly what’s wrong, getting it fixed, and healing quickly. That kind of pain is not easy to deal with.
September 11th, 2013 at 5:50 am
Appreciate that. I guess I’m still an optimist because I think we’ll figure it out real soon.