Three and a half years ago I started noticing strange
symptoms while running – tingly, numb feet after about three miles. Less than a
year later, I was diagnosed with Bilateral Exertional Compartment Syndrome. If
you’re really interested in all the details I suggest using Google, but
basically there are four compartments in each of your lower legs that are
surrounded by a sort of ‘skin’ or protective layer called fascia. When you
exercise, your muscles swell and the fascia is supposed to expand, but with
compartment syndrome, it doesn’t stretch so it constricts the muscles and
results in numbness and pain. Over the past three and a half years, my symptoms
have progressed from just numb feet after a few miles of running, to extreme
pain from the knee down almost instantly after beginning to run, and after only
a few minutes of brisk walking.
It was
incredibly painful – and it was only getting worse. So over the past seven
months, I have seen two doctors (the one who diagnosed me two years ago, and
then one he sent me to take care of it), had several visits just to
re-diagnose, had a Compression Test done on my right leg, and on November 11th
of 2014, underwent a fasciotomy in all four compartments of both of my
legs. My last post-op doctors visit was
on January 7th, during which he told me I had only to wait one more
month until I could begin to ease back into running.
So today,
on February 7th, I ran for the
first time since my surgery!
I did a good twenty-minute warm-up walking to a park that I
could run in, then ran for five minutes – about a half mile. At first, I was
disappointed. I couldn’t tell how I was feeling… To be honest, I don’t remember
what it feels like to run without pain, so I couldn’t tell if the tightness in
my calves was the beginning of my symptoms or just my being out of shape. So a
little discouraged, I started walking home. After a while though, I had so much
energy left I decided to try and run again. It felt a little better the second
time. I probably ran a total of 1 mile today, and I guess I’m just going to
have to take it slow to see how I’m feeling in future runs…
You’re probably wondering, what does this have anything to
do with Rome? Well, it does for two reasons, besides the sheer coincidence that
I happen to be abroad when my doctor said I could start running again. For one,
there are so many beautiful parks here – one of which we stumbled upon later
today! I cannot wait to explore them on my future runs! And secondly, I think I
learned a little something about Italian fashion – running capris and four,
long scars are not trending here! I got a lot of stares this morning. Not that
I mind, I am proud of my scars.
Observation of the
morning: I really, really miss running. Enough said.
