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March 04, 2005
My Right Ankle (Update)
Just returned from the IU Health Center. I decided my ankle pain was nagging me enough to warrant a trip to the doctor. They took my temperature and blood pressure, and those seemed to be fine, offering no clues as to the cause of my ankle pain. Then the doctor brought me into his room and played with my foot asking the all-important question, "Does this hurt?" Of course, since I was being proactive in getting this problem fixed, my body decided to turn off the Nociceptors in my foot. (BTW, Nociceptors are the body's receptors which are responsible for a good amount of muscle, bone, and skin pain. Remove these and your pain sensations would go away! But that would be a very bad thing...) So my ankle wasn't hurting today, and nothing the doctor did could cause it to hurt more. Because of this and other reasons, the doctor decided that whatever is going on in my ankle is not serious, it just needs a little rest. He ordered me off the pavement for 1 week, then if the ankle still hurts after that I am to go back to him.
I must say, I was preparing for the worst with this doctor visit. My unprofessional diagnosis was that I had a stress fracture, which may well still be the case. Last night I was very sad and worried that my marathon training would be finished. I don't believe this is the case anymore. I've learned that as an athlete you really have to listen to what your body is trying to tell you. Slight pains can turn into major ones if you don't watch out, and major pains may just go away if you give them a chance to heal. I'll trust my body and give it some rest...it will be worth it on race day!
Side note:
When I signed in at the health center this morning, the woman I talked to wasn't very talkative. Then I realized that the woman in the booth next to her was crying...and by crying I mean bawling. It really freaked me out, and made it difficult to answer questions like, "What is your address?" and "How do you spell your last name?" Thinking about it in retrospect, this would be a good psychological experiment...but I really wonder what she could have been crying about...
Posted at March 4, 2005 09:05 AM