Stress-Partment-Fracture-Syndrome?

I had waited FOUR whole weeks for yesterday's appointment - it conveniently coincided with the only "real' snow storm Massachusetts has seen this winter. I was willing to borrow a snow plow to drive to this appointment, there was no way in hell I was missing it.

There was also no way in hell I wasn't going to run before my appointment "just in case". I ran for well over an hour yesterday morning, and ironically had a fantastic run. Moving on.

I got into Boston pretty early, just as the flakes were starting to fly.

It wasn't until I got past these doors that I started getting nervous. This guy held the keys to my short-term running future. And potentially the scalpel that will give me those speedy running legs I've been working so hard to attain. Yikes.

I'll spare you the nitty gritty details, but this is how things shook down:

• I do not have a "classic case" of exertional compartment syndrome. My pressures are abnormally elevated at rest, but do not soar super sky high above that abnormal post-exercise. Those numbers go up, but not exponentially. 
• Even with this being the case, at the time we were speaking in his office, he was confident in the surgery, and offered me a 80% success rate. It's not 100%, but it's also not Mohegan Sun odds. I was willing to roll the dice with 80%. Bring it. 
• He asked me to do a routine x-ray before I left, to make sure their weren't any tumors, etc in my lower leg before I head for surgery. Once the x-ray was done, he told me to schedule my surgery and go on my merry way. 

You didn't think it was going to be THAT simple, did you? I was navigating my way out of Boston, in the snow, when the office calls my phone. I answer, it's Dr. Theodore himself. Shit. He says "I just reviewed your x-ray, and there is a 'significant' stress fracture in your tibia. This is fascinating!". Listen Doc, I don't want "fascinating", I want "fixed". 

The Man himself thinks that the stress fracture (by the way, how much of a rockstar I am that I have been running DOUBLE DIGIT runs through a stress fracture - roar.) may be elevating the pressure in the compartment, and perhaps if the stress fracture heals, and I have no pain running, I could avoid surgery because the symptoms of compartment syndrome will be substantially reduced. Of course, it's all "theory" at this point. 

Next step at this point is an MRI on the 15th - he said that we'll speak 2 days after the MRI to discuss the results. We're currently keeping the 5/3/12 surgery date on the calendar, until further evaluation. 

Take-Aways:

• I'm frustrated - I went into this appointment thinking I would FINALLY have a plan to end this. It didn't happen. 
• I'm stressed out - what if I get sent into another 6 month cycle that looks like this:
• MRI - let stress fracture heal - try to run again - no pain - 6 months goes by - compartment syndrome flares up again - re-do pressure test (#&(*$^) - looking at surgery again, but now it's 2013. 
• I feel pretty strongly that these compartment syndrome symptoms (say THAT 5 times fast) existed long before the stress fracture took place (which I'm pinpointing to have been  January, when I literally couldn't run more than 5 minutes without debilitating pain). However, I understand his point of "not skipping steps". 

It's a lot to digest, and right now, I'm trying not to look past the March 15th date. Once I have the results of the MRI, I'll have more information, and can outline a plan. I still have a firm surgery date on the calendar, and it's not going anywhere unless I say so. 

That's where everything stands as of today. Thanks for all the kind words and support, I appreciate it!

Happy Training!