Things I Miss: Feeling Fine

I can’t remember the last time my body felt OK. At 24, that’s not a statement I’m content living with, but it’s the truth. And I’m not sure what to do about it.

Today is my 19th and final physical therapy session for my medial epicondylitis. The tingles in my arm and hand are about 95 percent gone, and the pain has centralized in my upper back/shoulder/neck area, which I’m told is the natural progression of the nerve healing.

I can only hope I’m doing things at work to promote that healing, and not falling back into old habits that will make this a recurring habit. I try to make a conscious effort to get out of my chair (the fancy schmancy $500 ergonomic SwingSeat I bought myself) at least once an hour and to stretch/relax in the chair more frequently within each hour.

I still think my body rejects the notion of an 8-hour workday, but I’m doing everything possible to help it endure. In addition to the chair, I bought a touchpad and split wrist rests to keep mouse use and reaching of my right hand/arm to a minimum.

But until I’m able to get a 10-minute massage for every hour of work, I’m probably just going to have to learn to suck it up. I’m hardy the first person working an office job.

Unfortunately, inactivity injuries are no longer my greatest concern. I now have what I think is a stress fracture in my left foot. I’ll know more next Thursday when I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled. But I’ve checked my symptoms against the Google results, and I’m pretty confident in my diagnosis.

I first felt it last Thursday after my run on the treadmill. It felt like a bruise on the top of my foot. But it lingered, and it still hasn’t gone away. It feels like there’s a little air balloon expanding inside my foot. It’s constantly a nuisance, and that nuisance becomes increasingly uncomfortable when I stand on it and painful when I walk on it.

My money is on stress fracture, especially after learning that you’re supposed to get new running shoes every 300-400 miles. I’ve had mine since sophomore year of college, which roughly equates to 1,500 miles, +/- a couple hundred miles. In any case, I need new shoes. But first, I need my foot to heal.

The pain of the injury is annoying, but the fact that I can’t run/play basketball is worse. Hopefully I’ll find out next week what my recovery time will be, and what I can do, if anything, to stay in shape in the meantime.

Last and least on the Matt injury list is my thumb. I sliced it yesterday with an apple cutter. Fun stuff.

So, that’s my ailment update for the month of May. Check back soon for whatever’s going wrong with me next. I do like to complain, and so, yes, I realize my situation could be a lot worse than being uncomfortable at work and a sore foot. Still, what I wouldn’t do to lie down for a 100-hour nap in a healing bed. Of course, that would probably be ruled a coma, (Thanks, Dane Cook.)

Coma, yoga, something, I’d just like to wake up someday soon and feel perfect. And if that’s not possible, I’ll settle for a Lakers championship. Print this post