My Blessing in Disguise

The disc between my 4^th and 5^th lumbar vertebrae herniated on April 2^nd, 2008.  This bulging disc pressed on the L4 nerve and sciatic pain radiated down my right leg. And this is the story of how my injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I was lifting a heavy tub of almonds in a confined space at work and knew I had injured myself.  Little did I know how badly, until the pain set in the next day.  I continued trying to work but it was even painful to just walk.  Nevertheless the following Saturday I tried running with Runners Edge from the Aurora store of Runners Roost.  My effort ended within the first mile and I walked back to the Roost in tears, realizing that running was impossible.  For me this was devastating, as I was registered to run the Boston Marathon in less than three weeks, having paid for plane tickets and all.

During my convalescence I discovered that my injury was not unusual.  I learned that there were many runners in the club that had suffered back injuries, some worse than mine. During the four months of healing that followed I received much encouragement from several fellow runners including Jim Lynch, Vince DeCroce and Ellen Bagnato, all of whom have dealt with debilitating pain.  Indeed, I was shocked to find so many who had suffered greatly and yet had come back to run races again.  Each one of them deserved a medal for overcoming despair with hope in their eventual recovery.  It seemed common place for so many runners to go through these torments.  In dawned on my sensitive ego that I was not special; that there was lots of pain out there; that I wasn’t the only one in purgatory; that I had to accept it and get on with life.

But there were times when I couldn’t get out of bed without excruciating pain, and I laid there in my tears, laughing at the same time because I couldn’t believe my condition was so hopeless.  And then the startling realization set in that there were countless others in the world -  burn victims, those crushed in earthquake rubble and the victims of war to name a few, who suffered far more and far longer than I. No medals for them, none for me either.

The person who stood by me throughout this whole ordeal was my running companion and girlfriend, Nita.    I remember her driving me to the doctor’s office while I was writhing in agony, and sleeping with me on the floor because a mattress stressed my back.  She shared my disappointment when the first steroid shot to my spine didn’t work, and rejoiced when the second shot administered on May 23^rd. did work, with gradual lessening of the pain to follow. Nita correctly declared that I would be up and running with her as before. She maintained a positive mental attitude throughout my recovery.

I was fortunate not to require surgery.  Workers comp insurance paid for all my physical therapy, pain counseling , biofeedback and doctor’s appointments, as well as passes to the rec center where I continued to stay in shape with aquatic exercises, then swimming, and working out with weights.  I even started biking and extended walking.

Finally in August I began to make my first tentative running steps.  By September I was running again a le carte with the club - but no races this year for sure.  However, there was a more immediate goal that was fast approaching: to trek with Nita in Nepal to the Annapurna Base Camp in November.  Months before my injury we had planned this trip and the plane tickets had been purchased. Steve Warfel, my physical therapist, was confident I could do this demanding adventure as well as race again.  That autumn Nita and I would spend weekends hiking in the mountains and biking on the Highline Canal trail near her home.  We were both getting in great shape.  I even paced Nita in the last 8 miles of the Denver Marathon that October.

In November I was bursting with pride as I sent Steve a postcard from Kathmandu declaring that I had successfully met my first recovery goal: trekking near the roof of the world with my woman.

By the spring of 2009 I was running well, but cautiously.  I entered the Running of the Green, a race in which I had busted my butt in March, 2008, the month before my accident, placing 2^nd in my age group. Now I was under strict orders from Nita to take it slow and easy, which I did, not winning any medals but proudly finishing without pain and thrilled to be in a race again!

You know, this injury proved to be a blessing in disguise.  Before the injury I had occasional bouts with sciatica on my right side when my bulging disc would come too close to the nerve.  When I finally ruptured that disc, it pressed on the nerve relentlessly forcing me to stop everything I was doing and focus on rehabilitation.  Not being able to work gave me more time to spend with Nita, and our relationship rapidly deepened in a way that may not have been possible without this injury. In time, with a lot of therapy, the disc slowly withdrew from the nerve and my healing was completed.  Then the pain was gone, and I felt stronger and more confident than ever, no longer having that troublesome, reoccurring sciatica.

Back with Runners Edge I trained for the Boston again.  I had qualified at Kansas City in October, 2007, and so had a fortunate, second chance to race in 2009.  It’s funny the way events play themselves out.  In 2008 if I had not injured myself, I would have run the Boston alone.  But now in 2009, I felt stronger than before, like I had a brand new spine, and enjoyed the pleasure of running with Nita too!

She and I had “the talk” many times about whether to run separately or together.  We finally decided to run this marathon together from start to finish over each and every timing mat as a celebration of our special relationship and love of running.  And that we did, crossing the finish line as one, holding up our hands in triumph!