Post Op

I don't normally re-post so soon, but I wanted to do a quick update on the surgery.

I went in to St Joe's late Monday morning to get my hernia issue resolved. This was the first time I've had something like this, so was a little nervous about the general anesthetic and how things would go. Also the area of the surgery - so close to 'the boys' meant I knew I'd be in for some pain on the other side.

Good news. Everything went smoothly. The surgery lasted about an hour. I don't remember falling asleep - no counting back from 10 to 1. One minute I was on the operating table getting myself comfortable, and the next I was in the recovery room coming round. It was only the existence of a 2 inch sealed cut in my abdomen that confirmed I'd actually had the procedure.

The nurses were wonderful - both before and after the operation. While I gripe about the insurance that I have, this was one time where I believe I got amazing service. I haven't received the bill yet (I'm pretty sure I owe $600 for the co-pay), so maybe that will temper things a little, but for now I'm very happy with everything.

A few hours later I was allowed to leave. To help with the pain they left an anesthetic drip attached to the surgery site, which would dispense pain killer constantly for 48 hours. They also gave me a hefty prescription of vicodin. I doubt I'll use it all, so maybe I can seek out Dr House and see if he'll give me a good price for the rest ? :) That first evening it wasn't too bad, but yesterday, despite the drugs, the pain was pretty intense. Today I take out the drip tube. According to my surgeon, this is likely to be the worst day and then things improve.

I'm planning on working from home for most of this week. Fortunately I have a job that allows me to be as productive from home as in the office. The doctor wants me to walk a little each day - which I am - but being able to avoid squeezing in and out of the car with a commute, and other work related movement, is definitely a blessing.

This weekend I'll go and support a number of my friends who are running the Colfax Full and Half Marathons - an event I'd planned on doing myself until I got the achilles tendonitis.

Hopefully this was the low point. With my hernia fixed and my AT on the mend - things should now be on an upward swing. It does make me realize that we shouldn't take things for granted. Through March I had run close to 800 miles, and was seriously thinking that 3,000+ for the year was realistic. Now it looks like I'll run less than 50 in April and May combined, with more than half of those being the Boston Marathon.

Clearly everything can change very quickly...

Surgery...

My achilles tendonitis has continued to hamper me. 3 weeks after Boston and it's still 'not right'. I've completed a total of 1 mile in running since the race itself. That a test a few weeks ago to see if it was improving. It wasn't. I've tried to keep some semblance of cardio by using the elliptical. While I don't feel any achilles pain while I do that, I've got a feeling it isn't allowing things to heal as quickly as they would otherwise.

Still - that's the least of my concerns at the moment. The week after Boston I went to watch the Cherry Creek Sneak. A local 5 mile race that before my injury woes I'd have expected to have run as well. I started getting some fairly severe pains in my groin while I was there. It went away later in the day, so I put it down to a one off oddity and forgot about it. The following Friday night the same thing happened again. When I got home I took a look and saw that I had a bulge in my lower abdomen that coincided with the area of the pain. The internet is a wonderful thing. Within a few minutes I'd self diagnosed myself with an inguinal hernia.

First thing last Monday I visited the doctor who confirmed the verdict. A referral to a surgeon on Wednesday and he explained the options. More than a quarter of men get this at some point in their lives, and it's not something that will go away by itself. The causes can be every day activities, but in my case it's likely it was the additional core strengthening I'd been doing while I couldn't run. Sit ups and weights had pushed things over the edge (or through the abdominal muscle...). Either way, the only option was surgery.

Timing wise, it's not bad. Since I'm already out with my achilles I figured I should try to get it taken care of as quickly as possible, so here we are just a week after the doctor confirmed the diagnosis and I'm waiting to head into the hospital in 3 hours to get the surgery.

It was good to know that a number of other runners from the Boston boards on the Runners World Forums have had the same issue and have had full recoveries. Most had the same surgical option that I'm getting - the 'mesh' approach - where they cut open the lower abdomen and insert a mesh over the connective tissue, and then basically sew you back up. The mesh strengthens the muscles and prevents the hernia from pushing through in the future. It's going to be painful. I'll be trying to work from home for most of the week, and will have a tube drip inserted with pain killer for the first few days.

I'm expecting recovery time to be about a month. The doctor said no impact sports (he means running and not football !) for 2 weeks, although I can attempt to use the elliptical or stationary bike if I feel up to it. Then after that he says I can do whatever my pain threshold allows.

I've decided to take a complete 2 week break to hopefully allow my achilles to heal once and for all, and then will start the elliptical or bike again. My goal is to start slowly running in early June which will mark 18 weeks to go before Chicago.

After 3 great months of running to start the year, things have definitely not gone the way I'd planned. However, I'm viewing this surgery as a blessing in disguise - forcing me to rest completely for a few weeks and allowing me to get back on track in time for my next marathon.

Fingers crossed...