This year has started out pretty rocky on the running front.  After the Chicago Marathon, I took a week off of running hoping that my hamstring strain would magically disappear and that the knee pain that had been bothering me for about a year would also go away.  Oddly enough, that did not happen.

So, I went back to my doctor and he diagnosed my hamstring strain and suggested physical therapy for that issue.  For my knee, he wanted to give me another injection but instead of another cortisone injection, he wanted to try a synovial injection.  More info here….http://www.synviscone.com/what-is-synvisc-one.aspx

I have to backtrack here and mention that I got the intial cortisone injection for pain in the back of my knee.  After getting an MRI done, nothing showed up in the back of my knee that explained the pain.   However, I had some inflammation and pre-arthritis in the front of my knee so my doctor thought these issues were likely causing the pain in the back of the knee.  So, I got the cortisone injection in the front of my knee and ever since then, I have had issues in the front of the knee.

So, hearing that he wanted to give me another injection in my knee was not exactly the news I wanted to hear.  I put it off and put it off while continuing to run.  I finished my recovery program and then started ramping my mileage back up to about 75 miles a week but my knee continued to get worse.  It was so swollen that I couldn’t bend down (kind of not handy) and completing daily tasks became impossible.  I knew I needed to do something but didn’t know what.

I complained and whined shared my story with several friends (one happens to be a PT- lucky me!) and two of them suggested I see the same doctor.   I really wanted another opinion before making and decisions, so I made my appointment and the trek into downtown Seattle on a weekday morning.  Before I even met the doctor, I was taken in for x-rays.  I then met with a PA and went over my history and did an initial exam.  He commented on the swelling but said the x-rays didn’t show anything wrong.  The doctor finally came in and reviewed my information and suggested Orthovisc injections.  I was expecting to get another MRI since I hadn’t had one in a year and the pain had moved from the back of the knee to the front but I guess the xrays were enough.

So now I’m scheduled to get my series of three Orthovisc injections next month.  However, I’ve been doing some research on the shots and people’s experiences with them and I’m feeling very unsure.  People have commented on how painful they are, how they haven’t helped at all and the real kicker is that they only last 6 months.  I’m just not sure I want to risk any more complications, nor am I excited about signing myself up for injections every 6 months.  So, I’m at a crossroads…

On a sidenote, I’m still dealing with the nagging hamstring strain.  I’m in PT doing laser treatments, massage and stretching and it just won’t go away.

All of this means that I’m running very little which is extremely frustrating.  I’ve become a regular at the gym and have been doing hot power vinyasa so at least I’m able to do something but none of this compares to running for me.  I’m trying to take advantage of what  I hope is just a little break for me and I’m catching up some projects around the house, staying up too late and sleeping in when I can.  It all feels very different and I feel a little off schedule and hope I’m able to get back to it soon.

But enough about me….how about those Seahawks!?!?!?