How Do I Spell Relief?

N-o S-u-r-g-e-r-y. . . . .

About 2 weeks ago I noticed some numbness around my right knee. I figured I tweaked something running and decided to just watch it. Well it didn't go away and I noticed my beautiful, hard-earned varicose veins were right in that area too. My mom had terrible veins and I know it's genetic so I figured the worst. Of course I googled until I thought I might throw up and concluded my options were not great and it would surely affect my summer running.

All of this has bad timing. In 3 weeks I turn 35. This has me a little down. So did 30. I think a Festivus is in order. Don't get me wrong--I feel fantastic and am in the best shape of my life. But lots of stuff starts to come up when you're 35. Like mammograms and calcium supplements and veins.

My doctor confirmed she thought it was the veins and sent me to the Vascular Center. I was relieved they could take me right away because everyone now knows how I obsess over things. I had basically come to the conclusion that they would be amputating my leg and wasn't that running thing kind of fun while it lasted?

The vascular doctor asked me to lay out what happened. He looked puzzled and asked "do they hurt" I said nope. He frowned and took a look. Asked if any of it hurt when he pressed. Nope. He said bluntly: it's not your veins. If you have bad veins in need of surgery they hurt. Numbness alone is not a symptom of bad veins. So I asked what's up??? And I also began to wonder if my doctor who is a "DO" is a DO because she couldn't get into MD med school. . . .

He felt around my femoral nerve area (near the groin) and wanted to know if anything hurt. The last spot he palpated hurt a little--not bad--but also not like just pressure. He said sometimes runners get a compacted femoral nerve which can lead to numbness in the leg and knee area. If I develop a radiating pain, come back. He'll give it a steroid injection and I'll be on my way. In the meantime, he said happy running and no worries.

I was stunned. And then giddy. To celebrate I ran a nice 6 in 60:00 on the tm. It felt good. And now I can stop teasing Grace about going to Target to pick me out a new leg.