The Clouds are Clearing

Before I get into the most recent injury update, I wanted to talk about my bike rack of all things. Even though I haven’t ridden in about three months, I still have it on my car. I see it every time I drive, and trust me, it’s a hassle to get into the trunk having it there. Life would actually be easier without it.

I’ve purposely kept it on my car. Removing the rack during this lengthy downtime, to me at least, is the psychological equivelant of admitting defeat. It may still be a little while, but that bike rack will be used, and it could be sooner than we think. But I cannot rush myself.

This morning I received yet another cortisone shot. This would have both a diagnostic and therapeutic effect. First, we could further try to isolate the source of the injury. Second, it would give me some pain relief, which would be more than welcome after this rough recent stretch. The idea behind the diagnostics is that if the numbing medication cures the pain quickly, then we’ll know the source of the injury.

Before the shot, I was careful to be aware of my injury-specific pain. Today was a warmer than recent day, with a temperature in the 60s, so the hip actually felt a little better than usual, but I could still feel it there. I made it a point to walk around a little bit, making sure to concentrate on how the injury felt.

The shot was as I remembered — not too bad. It feels a little squeamish when the medicine goes in, but I would call it more of a weird than painful feeling.

I could tell a difference as the syringe was leaving my body. It was instant relief. It felt great. The doctor’s had me walk around a little bit, and I had to wait for my orthopedist to finish visiting with another patient. There was no pain whatsoever. He gave me a brief look and said I was good to go. We are not scheduling any further appointments until the pain comes back, which it probably will.

This means that the injury is almost certainly in the hip joint. I’ve suspected this for a long time, but I understand my doctor’s reticence to operate right away. Hips are funny when it comes to pain. I could have a back problem or knee problem that could be felt in the hip. Even now, on the bad days, my hip pain radiates down my leg, around my glute, and sometimes in my inner back. If the doctor is going to scope the hip, he’s going to make sure we’re not wasting time, money and a recovery period.

The next step is to wait and see. If the same type of pain comes back, then the next step will be surgery. Depending on my body, I cannot see this going longer than a few weeks. From there the question is whether I’ll choose surgery, and what sort of recovery time I’m looking at.

A good friend of mine gave me some invaluable advice. She said that even though I’m not doing what I love, there are other things in life to love. I can use this time to focus on other areas, pay attention to other passions, maybe even pay a little attention to my wife!

We are taking that advice over the holidays, heading down to Miami. The idea is that we can have a nice getaway, and also that the warm weather will be give me a chance to relax in peace. We’ll mix a little bit of family time along the way.

Since SteepClimbs has not been updated as much recently (sorry about that guys!), I’ve focused my creative efforts elsewhere. I started a new blog called AWCulture, where I talk about my interests in popular culture, history, and film. Most people that read this blog probably have no idea what an art snob I am. Since my tastes are far from the mainstream, I don’t expect many readers. But that’s nice too.

The title of this blog is fitting, because this is a steep climb to get back to doing what I love. It feels like I’ve been climbing a monster hill for a very long time, wondering when the punishment will end. Today was the equivalent of my looking at my Garmin GPS and seeing that the switchbacks are ending, the grade is lightening, and an intersection is around the corner. There may be one more steep pitch before I reach the end of the climb, and it will make the descent feel that much better.

Thanks for listening.