Finally . . . Some Good News!

Well, folks. It finally happened! I got some good news today!! :) Dr. Schneider called as I was leaving my physical therapist's office, and let me know that the report came back from my MRI. The verdict? It appears that just my MCL is affected--nothing else seems to be wrong! HOORAY! Now, she did warn me that she hasn't actually seen the MRI herself; that's just coming from the report she received. But I'm going to go ahead and celebrate anyway! I mean, these people know what they're doing, right? Anyway, she said she should receive the film in a few days and will confirm then that everything looks good. I am so happy I could cry (and nearly did when I received the news from her--it totally cracked her up how excited I was)!

So why did I have to go through all of the stress and trouble of getting an MRI? Well . . . um, it's my own fault. You see, the reason I was still having so much trouble with my knee was that it was uber stiff. Why? Because I waited three weeks to start my physical therapy. Yep, THAT'S why. In my defense, I HAVE been quite busy. But yeah, now that I've been going for a couple weeks, I can really see the difference, and am FINALLY confident that my knee is getting better. That's not to say it doesn't hurt or that I'm even remotely close to running again . . . but hey, I'll take anything I can get at this point, you know?

Perhaps, my mama was right . . . hehehe.

Public Service Announcement

Okay, I just discovered this myself and I HAD to share . . . does anyone out there use the Vanilla-flavored Endurox Accel Gels? If so, you might want to go here and stock up! That's right, folks. A 24-pack of gels for a mere $9.99 (normally the stuff costs at least $30 a case, depending on where you get it). Now that's what I call a deal (assuming it hasn't been secretly recalled or something--hmm). And to Roadrunner Sports and Endurox, if either of you would like to sponsor me and/or give me discounts on your goods, I'd be more than willing to keep talking . . . know what I mean? ;)

P.S. I may or may not have just bought my first running skirt! Talk about commitophobia, it took me nearly two hours to hit "submit"!

The Waiting . . . Is the Hardest Part.

Well, I finally had my MRI this morning . . . now I just have to wait to hear from the doc in the next couple of days with my official diagnosis (which I probably won't understand a word of--maybe I should have paid closer attention during my year and a half of pre-med in college!). EEK! My mother has told me many times that I shouldn't waste my time worrying when there's a) nothing I can do about it, and b) no guarantee that it's even worth worrying about; but I just can't help myself! I want to find out how long I'm going to be out so I can try to figure out when to tentatively plan my next marathon for and go ahead and half sorta/kinda pick one out!! Ha. I know, I know. (imagine a concerned but seriously annoyed motherly voice) "You're only torturing yourself with this running talk, Bailey!" I should probably listen to my mama . . .

In other news, I had a very vivid marathon dream yesterday morning as I was waking up. I was running a marathon and there were no mile markers anywhere. I was asking everyone in sight, trying to find out how many miles were left. Finally, someone responded that there was less than a mile to go. I was so excited, and I saw these toll booth-looking things up ahead in the distance that I thought HAD to be the finish. Nope, not so much the finish. I kept on running. As this was happening, I think I was, in fact, very aware that the alarm was going off. However, I REALLY wanted to finish that marathon, and I knew I had to be close. I was not going to let myself wake up until I reached that finish line!! Finally, after several minutes of listening to the alarm blare, Wilson (who was already up) came in and shook my foot a bit to try and wake me up. I knew exactly what was happening, despite the fact that I was dreaming, and I fought SO hard to stay asleep and finish my dream. No dice. I eventually woke up, much to my dismay. Upon doing so, I immediately hit snooze and tried desperately to get back to sleep, hoping I could re-enter my marathon where I'd left off. Nope. Sadly, I was just too awake by that point. Bummer! Oh well. I guess the next marathon dream will be even sweeter when I finally get through it :)

Well, I think I'm going to take a lunch-time gym trip and try to pathetically bike a little (I've been told to start at ten minutes or so--weak!) and do some weightlifting with my weakling arms. Hope all is well out there in blogland! :)

Stupid Piece of Crap Knee Update

First off, I know I said I'd get you an update about my crazy/busy life as of late on Monday evening, but . . . I lied. Haha, I know you're not going to believe this, but I was too consumed with the Olympics to finish it. I promise I will get it to you soon (but I'm going to have to admit that it may not happen until the Olympics are over, and my self-control has returned from Beijing).

Secondly, I'm guessing you can tell from the oh-so-pleasant title of this post that I have a not-so-good update on the knee front. I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Schneider today, and she said she's not pleased with the amount of progress (or lack thereof) I've made since my initial visit. I guess I shouldn't still have the amount of tenderness along the joint line that I do . . . so she's thinking I may have torn my meniscus in addition to the MCL. An MRI will determine if that's the case--assuming I can get the imaging center and my insurance company to play nice with each other (ah, health care!) The kind of good news is that she still doesn't think my ACL is affected, but she admitted that she's not 100% sure about that. Will this never end? I just about burst into tears in her office when she mentioned the S-word (surgery).

I guess I shouldn't really be surprised by all this. I know better than anyone that the knee hasn't improved all that much over the past three weeks. But I guess I had this small glimmer of hope that I was just being a wuss--or overly cautious--and that in a week or two I'd be running again. Boo. It certainly doesn't help that everyone in my new (awesome!) neighborhood runs and bikes all the time; and thus, the fact that I can't do those things is just constantly rubbed in my face. Blah. Oh well, I guess there's nothing to do but wait and find out what the diagnosis is. Pity-party over!

Hope you're all well . . . run a few for me :)

Olympic Fever

Hi again . . . does anyone out there actually remember me? Ha, didn't think so. Sadly, I'm still not able to run (sigh), but I wanted to check in quickly to confess my addiction to the Olympics . . . it's getting bad. I mean, I just moved into a new apartment--I should really want to do things like hang photos, unpack boxes, organize my crap, etc. But every time I turn those damn Olympics on, it's like I've suddenly lost all self-control. On Saturday, Wilson had to literally pry me off the couch and away from the tv to get me to go to Lowe's with him and get a bunch of stuff we desperately needed for the new crib. I don't think I've slept more than a few hours a night since our TV/cable got hooked up on Thursday! Oy. Anyway, my hat goes off to the amazing athletes . . . competing for their countries under such immense pressure. Wow. I'm sure I don't have to convince you all that they're just a teensy bit inspiring!

Oh, and I have to say that one of the funniest lines I've heard in a while came from Wilson as we were watching some men's swimming the other night. Wilson asked me who I was going for . . . and when I responded and asked him the same, he replied matter-of-factly, "I'm going for the green line."** Hilarious. I am still laughing about this now . . .

Anyway, tonight I will attempt to post a more formal update as to where I've been the past 2.5 weeks (other than watching the Olympics) . . . but for now, I should go back to working. Missed you all! I promise to never go away for so long ever again :)


**For those of you not in the know regarding Beijing Olympics swimming, let me explain . . . the "green line" shows world record pace during the races--it's kind of like the CG first down line shown in NFL games, only it moves. This year, about a zillion and a half world records have been set in the swimming events. Thus, Wilson was essentially going for the "underdog" in going for the green line. See? Funny. Okay, now go turn on the Olympics immediately and get yourself some edumacation!