Skip to main content

Prescription

I woke up on Monday morning convinced the doctor was going to tell me to go out for a slow two mile jog to begin my re-entry into running. What I got instead was a rude awakening.

I headed to the Dr. first thing in the morning. When I got there, Dr. B. squeezed my leg, poked at my bone and watched my face for wincing. What he got instead was a big fat smile because I had no pain at all. He looked at me and said, with a big smile, that I could start my reentry to running plan. I got giddy with excitement and then he reappeared with the plan! The plan did NOT tell me to go out and run; here is what it said instead... Take a ten minute walk, after two days of walking for ten minutes with no pain, take a twenty minute walk and repeat for two days...

I thought, OK, I guess I can handle that, and I kept reading. The plan then told me to use the elliptical for 20-40 minutes a day for 2 weeks... insert tears here... What the heck does this plan have to do with running!!!

The doc could see the troubled look on my face and started explaining the process of bone healing. I hung my head as he explained this healing process and the remainder of the reentry plan. He made a couple of modifications to the plan, cutting the elliptical to 1 week and sent me on my way, with a VERY stern warning to call if I had any pain.

After the appointment I fled the office and started wondering how I was going cross the finish line of the Chicago Marathon this fall. I started thinking about life, in general. Why do things have to break!!! I could get all melodramatic here and say that everything we love breaks, at least for a short period of time. But then I realize there is good news to follow up that melodramatic statement, and that is everything can be fixed. When it is a broken piece of china, we glue it back together. When it is a broken relationship, we communicate more. When it is a broken car, we take the car to the shop. When we are sick, we go to the doctor. In all of these instances, we diagnose the problem and determine the course of action that will best fix everything. We then begin down the path to fix the problem with the hopes that the path we choose is the right one. It is like getting a prescription and then taking the medicine to cure the cold.

I called the person I was supposed to run with that evening and told him the bad news. He was so kind and still met up with me for a bike ride, and little did I know he had the intention of taking my ten minute walk with me. I rode, he ran, we talked and then walked, and I talked some more. During this 'workout' I had the realization that my reentry plan was basically my prescription. What do most people do when they get a prescription? They take it and they get better. I need to approach the reentry plan and use it as my prescription, do my daily homework, and in about 30 days I will be fixed!!!

Now for a song. This is a favorite of mine by Coldplay! One of my nephews told me it is too sad but I find it to be extremely hopeful! There is always a path that will guide you 'home'!!!



Comments

  1. A prescription. So true! You are doing a great job following it and I am glad I got to do one of the rides with you this week! You'll be back before you know it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. A prescription. An excellent way to look at it and so true. Take your medicine and heal. We'll be running together again soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All in a Day's Work

I don't even know how to begin this post... Several months ago, my sister had this bright idea to do her first half iron distance triathlon. I have always wanted to do one so I told her if she did it I would do it too. Next thing I know I was clicking register now on the registration page of the Highcliff Triathlon in Wisconsin. You can read about some of the reactions I received when I announced to various friends that I was going to do this race here . Over the months my friends have taken on the challenge of being supportive and cheering me on along the way. This was no easy feat as I was on the training roller coaster. As the day approached, I thought about all of the possible things that could go wrong and right. I had visions of myself standing on the side of the bike course with a flat tire, me holding on to a lifeguard boat, dreams about wearing clown shoes for the run, and on and on... I also day dreamed about the finish line, what it might look like, who would be the...

I Have Multiple Sclerosis

One of my favorite bike rides ever! I have debated whether I was going to make this public for quite some time, however there really aren't any significant reasons why I wouldn't share. It hasn't impacted my life dramatically, and if I'm lucky, it never will. I also don't want to be a poster child, nor do I require or want any special treatment simply because I have MS. The thing is, I know more and more people who are impacted significantly by this disease and I feel compelled to help the cause. So for one purpose only, I am outing myself. Here's the brief story. Two years ago my tongue went numb, my arm went numb and I though I slept funny or had a mini stroke. I brushed it off as sleeping funny day after day, after day. Then my eye started twitching, among other symptoms. I decided I was simply crazy... After a while all of these symptoms became so infuriating so I went to the doctor. While at the doctor, he chalked it up to stress, but after a closer ...

On the Other Side of 2009!

Hello 2010!!! I promised myself no New Year's Resolutions for 2010. What I decided to do instead was write a list of 100 things I would like to accomplish in 2010, and I discovered something very interesting. About 6 years ago I was an AmeriCorps VISTA member in Maine and I had the good fortune of participating in training sessions with the most amazing facilitator. Not only did I get to participate in her sessions but on one of her visits to Maine I had the great pleasure of picking her up from the airport and spending a lot of time with her preparing for our training. We did an activity during the training that included writing down various goals (large or small, service related or personal) and identify which overall category they fit in when we look at our life as a whole. Some examples could be the following: Goal: pay bills on time Category: Finance Goal: Exercise more Category: Health I don't really remember all of the instructions from this exercise but what I do rememb...