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I'm old enough to remember the days when the doctor would come to your house when someone got the sniffles. Besides the fact that physicians actually did house calls, it was remarkable that the doctor could be summoned on a moment's notice. These days, I plan my doctor visits strategically, taking the first appointment of the day in hopes of "only" waiting an hour to be let in to the exam room.
It's much harder to get in to see a doctor these days, especially if that doctor is a specialist. I was surprised that I was able to schedule an appointment with an orthopedist as early as next week. I've been careful not to aggravate my self-diagnosed piriformis syndrome, substituting the elliptical for the treadmill for the past three weeks.
I thought I'd try an easy run this morning to see whether things had improved. My pain has reduced, but it hasn't gone away. I still have sciatic pain when sitting for long periods (i.e., my morning commute) and I was curious to know how my glute/hamstring area would respond to some easy running.
I started out slowly "running", first at 3 MPH and then increasing to 4 MPH. I felt okay, but noticed a little discomfort. Once I brought it up past 5 MPH, I knew I was borrowing trouble. I shut the treadmill down, walked over to the elliptical and did my workout there.
That experience made me realize that this problem will not resolve itself through patience. I looked online and found a sports orthopedist whose office is located five minutes from my house. I called them up, verified that they take my health plan and made an appointment for next Friday. I was shocked that I was able to do that. The last time I tried to meet with an orthopedist, the appointment had to be scheduled so far in the future that my injury went away before I was due to meet with him.
I'm encouraged to know that I'll have a qualified person diagnose this problem and (hopefully) put me on a path to quick recovery. I've been dealing with running discomfort since last November and have concluded that enough is enough. I fear that the doctor may say that my injury is more serious than I thought, either requiring surgery and/or extended physical therapy.
But it's better to know the cause than to continue this cycle of running, recovery, and re-aggravation. I just want to get back to running the trails.
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Doctors used to come to your home when you were sick? Was this on the prairie? Did someone have to carry you to the outhouse?
ReplyDeleteYes, the kindly old doctor would park his buckboard in front of our prairie homestead in suburban Boston and treat us with liniment and sarsaparilla. And for your information, we didn't have an outhouse. We used the barn.
DeleteI'd also like to point out that Mr. SIOR probably remembers house calls as well.
The fact that you used "buckboard" and "sarsaparilla" in your response only proves you are telling the truth. Well, the upside is you look good for 150.
DeleteThank you. I've been told that I don't look a day over 120.
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