The long leg story

This is the story of my leg. Something I’ve mentioned a bit, but not extensively since it has started bothering me. Definitely not much since starting my round of doctors to figure out what was going on. I wanted to share, but never felt I had enough information to warrant the time to type it all out.

I broke my leg in 1994. Xrays showed an abnormality in the bone, about the size and shape of an egg. They took my cast off early to see if it would break again. I was told that I’d need bone grafting if I broke it again. Also that impact would be a bad idea so I used it as an excuse to sit on the couch for 6ish years.

The fitness bug bit me in 2000 but I would not run and made some lower impact modifications when I took classes. I got less and less worried about it and eventually stopped modifying and started running. When I found out I was pregnant last year, I was training for a half marathon (while knowing I might need to quit) and had run 7 miles 2 days before I knew. With no pain.

I ran a bit while pregnant but my leg started to bother me. While sitting. Completely randomly! I googled and it seemed like hormones could cause old injuries to bother you as a symptom (one of the many glamorous pregnancy symptoms!). I stopped running and started again earlier this year using the Couch to 5K program.

The day I ran 20 minutes non stop, it hurt. Again next time. I got new sneakers and limped a minute before giving in. And started my doctor’s appointments. I was told not to run for a bit, but luckily could do most things with little to no pain. Now I have seen my regular doctor, orthopedist, had an MRI and saw an orthopedic oncologist.

An oncologist! Scary word. But I had a benign bone tumor that no longer looked like it was in the bone, but looked like it (like me) had grown up a bit. But the bone had grown around the tumor, which means that I do not need surgery at this time. Or need restrictions.

So I’m going to be smart about it. I went running today in the new sneakers that have barely been worn and felt okay. I’m going to start Insanity now that I’m finishing up Les Mills Pump. I’ll take it easy when and if I need to and change the plan if I have to.

So welcome back me. And welcome to my new sneakers.