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I started the week on Monday by seeing three doctors. All 3 have been very helpful. First I had a 9:00 a.m. appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. She is supposed to be one of the best in the area with athletes. She did an ultrasound scan of my achilles tendon and found something unusual pushing up against the tendon. She couldn't tell from the ultrasound whether it was a pocket of blood or a cyst. Either way she wanted to try conservative treatment for 10 days which includes the use of a walking boot when I'm not working out and physical therapy three times a week. My physical therapist is Charlie Stelk, the hurdle coach at Augustana. Charlie's office is close so that made sense to me. He also was very accommodating when I saw him last weekend and promised to take good care of me if I needed anything. I saw him after the orthopedic appointment and the treatment was good. That evening I saw Dr. Kaminski who has been doing a great job of helping me gain more flexibility in my ankle joints. My range of motion is improving with each visit. I decided to play around with this picture editing program to show where I'm hurting and I'm sure you are all impressed with my skills on this picture!
With Dr. Kaminski's ART and Charlie's PT I have begun to feel much stronger. Each day I wake up with less pain and I even started biking with the walking boot on to minimize the strain on the achilles while I ride. For the week I was able to get in 93 miles of cycling including a hard workout on Wednesday and 53 miles split over 2 rides on Sunday. The second one was outdoors without the boot. It was a pretty easy ride except for the hills which I pushed very hard. I adjusted the cleat position on my cycling shoes and that seemed to help alleviate the pain. A week ago I couldn't have done this much riding without a super high degree of swelling and discomfort so I know the treatments are helping.
On Saturday Dr. Kaminski told me to stop by a class he was taking on diagnosing injuries. The seminar was being led by a well renown Dr. from Boston, MA named William Brady. When I walked in I thought Dr. Brady was going to look at me during a break but little did I know I would be used as a case study in which he would show how to diagnose an injury. He asked me all about the background of the injury and the treatments I have gotten. When he heard the ultrasound showed a possible cyst he checked the achilles for tendinitis and tendinosis and ruled both of these out. My achilles looks to be in good shape but what he concluded was that a cyst is causing friction on the tendon when I cycle and run. It is worst in the dorsiflexed (toe up) position. I'm hoping that when I go back to the orthopedic this week she can remove the cyst. From what I've read it is a fairly simple procedure and recovery from it is very minimal if everything goes well. For the week I also swam 10, 500 yards. My stroke is much more efficient thanks to a clinic I'm taking every Saturday at Augustana. I missed a race today but it didn't bother me so much because I'm seeing progress with every day and know it won't be long before I'll be back to regular training. I'm excited to run on fresh legs this summer.
4 comments:
Glad to hear you achilles is ok! Hopefully you will be able to recover from this cyst and get back to work quickly!
Jason
Thanks Jason! Good luck this weekend. How has the bike been treating you? I wish I could be in Newton to watch you!
God works in mysterious ways. You have too many positive things in your life to be doubtful, but I know we all are. I am proud of you! I loved the picture with you & Payton. You will succeed.
God Bless You! Love, Mom
I think we need a picture of you biking with a boot on!
Also, I second the great work at Healthy Habits.
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