Saturday I was out running some local single track. It was a beautiful day out there and I was feeling good so I decided to run for about two hours. An hour and a half in, I tried on a root and before I knew it, I slammed to the ground landing on a root with my right rib cage. Ouch! It knocked the wind out of me and left me a little stunned. After feeling around to see if I broke anything I decided to continue my run. As I ran, my ribs hurt pretty bad and felt like something was loose in there. I walked a little poking at them and found a spot that really hurt. Tried to run again holding my ribs with my left hand, but it wasn't happening. Walked the half mile back to my car holding my ribs deciding whether or not I should drive to the ER or go home and shower first. I'm a guy, so yea, I drove home.
My view from the ground
After showering I decided to consult Dr. Google. The good doc said I bruised or broke a rib and the treatment was the same. Rest, anti-inflammatory and pain meds. I don't like taking drugs so I just went about my business. Sunday after having my morning coffee I started thinking that flying on Monday might not be a good idea if I had something worse than what I self diagnosed. Once I started looking at how late the urgent care place was open I figured that meant I just need to go get it over with. After a few X-rays and some painful probing, the doc said he didn't see anything broken but cartalidge doesn't show up on x-ray so something could be broken. He said I would know in a week, if it's bruised ribs, it will be better. If something is broken, it will still hurt pretty bad. He said I could resume normal activity, including running, if I could stand the pain. After lunch I decided to give running a try. Made it five steps and walked home holding my ribs. My pain level went from a three to an eight on the first step.
Tuesday my ribs were still about a three on the pain scale until dinner. Sitting through a three and a half hour business dinner, my ribs started barking. I didn't tell our customers about it, or my co-workers except for a couple guys that work for me. I was getting close to telling our customers and excusing myself early, but I stuck through it. That night in the hotel, I woke up about midnight and couldn't find a position I was comfortable enough to sleep. Eventually, I got up at 4 am and went to the front desk and bought a couple Aleve, which helped. Wednesday I had my pain med prescription faxed to Cleveland and I picked that up along with a bottle of Aleve on my way to another business dinner. Wednesday evening I took Aleve, but felt good enough to skip the pain pills. So far so good on avoiding taking the pain pills.
I'm five days in and still hurting. We'll know for sure Saturday when I try to run. Hope I'm better before my fishing trip in a few weeks. I'm the motor man in out boat and the thought of pull starting the engine a hundred times a day hurts. My best friend just might have to learn to drive a boat :-)
Soon to be view while fishing
Posted with Blogsy
15 comments:
I laughed about you going home to shower first bc you're a guy. A couple years ago I dislocated my thumb right at the beginning of a mountain bike ride. Not realizing it was dislocated, I rode for the next hour and a half, then waited til after work the next day to go to the dr. Dumb.
Maybe you ought to try a nice brisk hike Saturday and call it good?
Have you officially checked off all the body parts now that have been injured? Gawww, I hope it heals up quickly - that rib crap is zero fun (I pulled a rib muscle a couple times, owie). If you're only on Aleve instead of pain pills, I think that calls for an all-out sprint come Saturday. At least in my world :). Hope you're feeling better soon, though cuz that lake looks like heaven on earth and I'd be super bummed if I couldn't go because of a stupid rib. I'd just have to have the rib removed and get on with the relaxation (though honestly, finishing is the last thing relaxing in my world ;)).
This sounds awful! I hope it heals soon and you can enjoy your fishing trip. It isn't just guys. When I sprained my ankle I went about my business and ignored it for days. I still wish I'd gone to the ER right away. I went to the doctor when I got home a few days later but I don't think he knew what he was talking about. (said I could run in a few days) It still isn't right although certainly tons better. Good luck with it. And I also NEVER take pain pills. Hate them.
With all the grilling you do, ribs make sense. Hopefully it's just bruising and nothing broken.
Owww, I hope you are feeling better soon
The only ribs I wanna hear about on this blog are ones on the grill. I sure hope nothing's broken, your pain subsides soon and you can enjoy that beautiful lake!
When I broke ribs, it took about 2 weeks to realize the pain was less. Feel better soon.
awwww, when i saw "ribs", i hoped we were cooking them ;)))
the fishing view is better but the view from the ground isn't bad either!! hehe
all that dangerous excercise, i'd stick to fishing!!
How's the pain coming along? Hope you're getting better and better. This totally sucks.
OUCH! That sounds painful.
On a side note, I'm trying to figure out how I've lost your blog along the way? Have you changed it?
I use to run trail races all the time and my hands and knees would take the worst of it when I would trip on a root and go slamming into the ground or a tree.
Oh no!!!!! Sorry to hear this. Hopefully you'll see some improvement soon. :(
((( gentle hug )))
Oh my...ribs are so hard to deal with while healing because any pounding you feel there! I really hope you heal fast and can at least continue to enjoy your trips and fun things planned!
I think I would go home and take a showere too...hey, ya never know right?
thinking of you and hoping to hear good news soon!!
Relating to the statue- I assume a quarter at a yard sale because we have so many of the things around here and they have all recently started.
I'm so sorry to hear that. Urgh. I never knew how 'not serious' a broken rib could be until I became a trail runner. For some reason, I always imagined you'd be laid up in a hospital bed with a broken rib. Nope, you can still do marathons, albeit slowly.
Ribs are a super painful injury site-and hard to heal, I have heard. Hope you are doing a lot better 2 weeks after the injury so that you can have a FUN time out fishing with your buddies! The lake looks AWESOME.
Post a Comment