TitaniumJohnny: The Crash and Journey Back to Running – PT 5

Soon, I was sitting in Dr. Perkins’ office. After new x-rays, he looked them over with me. He said he didn’t think I had a non-healing fracture. Instead, he thought the healing had just slowed down because my body was trying to fix all my fractures at once. To be sure, he ordered blood tests and a new CT scan. I went straight to the lab for blood work and then for the CT scan. I was set to see him again in two weeks to find out if I needed another leg surgery. During this time, I kept up with my physical and occupational therapy, working hard to walk more and stand longer with my walker. By January, I was able to stop using it.

The day of my follow-up with Dr. Perkins arrived. As I waited in the exam room, I found myself talking to my leg, saying, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be ok.” When Dr. Perkins came in, we greeted each other, and he went over my results. My blood work looked good, with markers moving in the right direction. Then came the CT scan results. He said, “NO surgery needed. You’re healing.” I was overjoyed. He showed me the scan, pointing out that the bone was forming a callus. This callus forms around the break and then fills in where bone is missing. Once the fracture heals, the body will absorb the callus. I asked how soon I could start running. He said, “You can do whatever you want as long as you can handle it. You don’t have to worry about the hardware failing.” He scheduled a follow-up visit for one year after my accident to check my progress.

With the go-ahead from Dr. Perkins, I started trying to run in February, 8 months after my accident. My best speed was just over 3 mph. I’d jog for 5 to 10 feet, then walk. That was all I could manage without falling. I kept at it, doing this over and over. I managed to get in 3 runs a week through February without any problems. In March, I was able to do my walk-jog routine 4-5 times a week, averaging close to 3.6 mph. The bone pain was intense. The more I pushed, the more it hurt, but each week the pain eased up a bit, letting me push a little more. My running friends were very supportive and ran with me. Before I knew it, I had signed up for a 5k in April, the Art Car IPA 5k. My goal was to run the whole way without falling, which I almost did. I had to walk about 100 meters to rest from the bone pain. I pushed hard, and my best pace was 14:52 per mile (about 4mph). I was thrilled!

After finishing the 5k, my new goal was to run the entire distance of my next race without falling and to set a personal record. I kept pushing, dealing with more pain. I also started trying to run longer distances. My longest run of the week was now up to 4 miles, though I usually had to walk the last half-mile. How long I could run or if I needed a day off depended on how swollen my leg was. The swelling varied based on how long I was on my feet during the day. If the swelling was bad, I’d take naproxen if wearing a compression sock didn’t help enough. Before I knew it, it was June and time for my follow-up visit with Dr. Perkins, my orthopedic surgeon.

At my visit with Dr. Perkins, I got a new x-ray of my leg. It showed that the bone had healed, but the alignment was 5 degrees off. This is at the outer limit of normal and can cause pain on the inner side of the knee. I told him how I was doing and that I didn’t have any such pain. He said, “Great, but if it does start hurting, you’ll need surgery to fix it. But I don’t think that will happen in your case, given how well you’re doing.” Of course, I had to ask what that surgery would involve. He said they’d have to remove all the hardware, re-break the leg, put the hardware on the outside, and I’d be out of action for a year while it healed. I’m so glad that’s not happening.

But Wait There’s More In The Next Installment:
Next Race | 4th of July | How did it go?

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