Sunday after the race I hobbled around a grocery store for foods, repacked my drop bags and threw away any extra foods, read a book a while in the truck while the hotel room was prepped, then finally got into the room for a much needed shower.
I was surprised when I peeled my compression socks off to find my right calf looking bruised! The inner calf from midway into ankle, then up under knee on lateral. The swelling was amazing too, mostly lower calf and the skin was very firm to touch. The pain wasn't terrible yet and mobility was limited but still OK.(That all changed later!). I was surprised by the bruising, in some spots the skin was so red it looked like a sunburn.
To my surprise I didn't sleep that afternoon, instead put my feet up on bed and watched parts of a L&O SVU marathon -- my first TV watching since maybe February. Boooooo-ring. Also had books but had trouble keeping my eyes focused. I don't think I slept, wanted to but couldn't.
Pain and mobility were slowly getting worse, not surprisingly, and by the end of the night (when L&O became a Star Wars marathon (no wonder I don't miss television) and I had had as much food and drink as I could handle. Finally getting sleepy, and talked to parents for a bit. My voice was hoarse, I wasn't thinking too clearly, and I was barely moving around. The most frustrating thing was leaving the remote or my pen on the other side of the king-sized bed, and having to crawl/roll over to get it! Haha!Overnight when I'd get up to pee my right ankle/calf was getting progressively worse. Thankfully I realized that the desk chair had wheels, so I'd park that along the bed and wheel myself around. It loosened up if I used it, but oooooh that hurt to do. And I wanted to rest it.
Monday morning the pain and bruising were still remarkable and I asked Dr Google. Anterior compartment syndrome, maybe. Worried about the drive home, I texted EC to see if any big red flags came out. I didn't expect I diagnosis, more that I needed to talk it out with someone. She mentioned DVT as an alternative option. Eeek! So my plans for the drive were to stop every hour to rest, put my feet up, buy instant ice like TH suggested, and nap if needed. To hold me to this, I let Mom, Sis, and TH know what I was doing. As the morning went by I was able to hobble better and better, but still hobbling. I left the hotel around 9am, didn't get to outer STL until 5pm! I did nap once or twice, and when I felt doozy I pulled over quickly. So good job there, holding to goal.
Some groceries, get the dog, get home, unpack, dinner.
Tuesday: The bruising is gone!? But the swelling and pain still really bad. To my surprise nothing else really hurt, or at least it didn't hurt relative to the right leg. I wore pajamas to lab, was told a few times that I "didn't look good", did mostly computer work with a fuzzy brain, and had the usual hot/cold, tired/awake, hungry/nauseated, wanna-talk/lemme-lone, flip/flops I get post race :)
I was in the break room when another DOVS doc walks in and hears me talking to MikeC about the race and leg. Doc says "sounds like that could be a blood clot" and thankfully told me about the Ortho Injury Clinic. Once my half day at work was done, I headed home to give the dog a break, then headed out there to see what I could learn. Last think I wanted to do was get back in the truck!
I fully realized how bad it would sound to say "my leg hurts, I just ran 100 miles", and it was funny to see the reactions. Diagnosis: There is mild chronic appearing cortical thickening of the distal fibular shaft anteriorly. No discrete fracture is seen. There is soft tissue swelling around the leg. In short, stress fracture!
How does it feel? My foot, ankle, and lower calf are swollen up like a sausage. It feels like there is a tight band around my lower calf. I can't dorsiflex much at all, but rotation is OK. If I step on an incline like a curb or step it FUCKING HURTS all they way up to the knee along the lateral muscles. There is a painful dull, sometimes sharp, ache in the inner lower leg at almost all times. Sleeping with it elevated is a challenge, I'm trying to keep my foot from flopping and needing to be restretched each morning but sleep is not coming easy yet.
Wednesday. About the same. The mild back/hip pain is mostly gone, I haven't mentioned that as it wasn't a major thing. Oh and my hip flexors -- also fine?! Tired, but fine. I hate having to drive to work. I felt fuzzy in the morning hours but my head cleared up and the afternoon was OK. Hobbly, but OK. Pain similar.
Thursday. Happily missed the group run (oddly so did many other) and also happily the swelling in my foot is much reduced. I have metatarsels and ankle bones again! Helps that my body's post-race "flush" mechanism kicked in overnight and I'm more like my usual veiny self again. Went to the imaging library to get copies of the xrays and mailed them out to peeps. Still hurts to walk, similar and only somewhat improved. Trying to be more diligent about elevating and icing at work. Trying....
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