How I Got My Life Back - Part 3

In June of this year, I drove out of state for a weekend visit with my parents. One morning while I was out there, I went for a three-mile jog. It wasn't a strenuous workout, and the distance was a shorter than my typical training runs at the time. 

Nevertheless, shortly after I stopped running, my knee started to hurt. This wasn't the same knee pain that I described in Part 1. It felt different, and it was on the other leg. 

I decided to take some time off from running. A week later, I sailed through a five-mile run around my neighborhood. I felt great. There was no pain at all while I was running. But an hour or two later - BAM! It hit me, and it was worse than before.

I realized that this was a serious injury. It was going to take some time to heal. I didn't run at all for two months, and the knee was sore that whole time. Walking down stairs was quite painful. Stooping down to pick something up made me see stars. Finally in August, I tried to run again, but the pain was still there. I decided to give it one more month of rest.

By mid-September, I hadn't run for three months. I was feeling sore and out of shape. Little did I know that things were about to get worse.

I tried to run one more time in September, but the pain persisted. By now, I was quite concerned. Usually two months is enough time to heal a running injury. I had been idle for three months, yet saw no improvement.

A few days later, I woke up with considerable pain in my lower back. It was hard to do anything comfortably. It took a major effort to sit up from the bed or to lie back down. Walking was very painful; tentative "baby steps" were about all that I could manage. Sitting at the computer was difficult. It took a tremendous amount of determination just to get through the work day.

So, to summarize my situation in late September -

Despite three months of inactivity, my knee was still very sore. My back was in so much pain that I could barely walk. I was under extreme pressure at the office and working long hours to appease a difficult boss. I had things going on in my personal life that demanded considerable time and attention every day. And then, out of the blue, some other personal situation blew up unexpectedly for totally bullshit reasons. There was even a weekend in there where, despite all of the pain that I was experiencing, I had to help someone move.

It was a lot to cope with, and I was fast approaching a breaking point. I knew that I needed help. And I knew whom I needed to call. I just needed to find his number.

(to be continued)

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