Ups and Downs - Running, Biking, and Some Pain in Between

Hey all, sorry I've been away for so long... The past 3 weeks have been quite scary, as my left leg has felt like the Compartment Syndrome was back and rearing its ugly head even stronger than before.  The right leg, however, has been doing swimmingly, and has felt great (Interesting, due to the fact that for the majority of my recovery, the right leg lagged behind the left - moral of the story: Recovery is a fucking roller coaster).  There would be a constant sort of burn/pain in my left outer shin/ankle, and going up steps would exacerbate it (although interestingly enough, jogging and biking kind of made it feel better?  Anyone have any idea what the that could be?)

The surgeons and physical therapists both claimed that it is simply too early to tell if what I am feeling is an indication of the compartment syndrome coming back and the fasciotomy being a failure.  I am currently about 10 weeks post-op, and they say I need another 2-3 to see where I'm at.   My physical therapist even claims it might be due to weak peroneals in my left leg.  Either way, I am happy to say that there has been a steady improvement over the last 4 days with regards to the left leg, and now the symptoms are just a sort of constant burning sensation over the left shin/ left foot area, but are not exacerbated by activity.  I sincerely hope it is just the pains of getting better, but we shall see. 

In terms of activity, I am alternating days of running about a mile and biking about 7 miles.  While running, my legs feel pretty good, although I've noticed that there is an imbalance strength wise between my right and left leg (right leg is much stronger), and thus I have been instructed to go to a chiropractor to make sure my alignment isn't out of whack and throwing off my form completely.  Appt. is on Wednesday, and hopefully I'll update everyone on what's going on.

Compartment Syndrome Blog - Let's Get To The Bottom Of This (Pre-op, Post-op, Fasciotomy Details)

Wow...where to begin. The last year has probably been the most frustrating physically I have ever encountered, and it's entirely possible that it all stemmed from one condition; Exertional Compartment Syndrome. When I was first told I might have the condition bilaterally, I did what most people looking for answers do - went on the internet and attempted to find out as much about the condition as possible. It was quite disheartening, though, when I slowly realized that this was still a rare (if not rare, then at least under diagnosed) syndrome, and there was a significant dearth of helpful information on the subject.

Basically, I felt that the exertional CS content on the web consisted of two different but equally flawed sources of information: 1. Summaries about the condition on sites like wikipedia, mayo clinic, emedicine etc. that would give the standard physiological background, list of symptoms, and then treatment options. Many sites would actually claim (incorrectly) that most cases of CS could be resolved non-invasively through PT and the like.

The second source of incomplete information were sites like runners forum.

These, in my opinion, were more helpful than the standard info sites, but still lacked the specificity and detail that I would have liked to see in order to more accurately assess my options.

There were, however, a couple blogs about the entire process, and it was these that I found the most helpful, as one could actually see if progress was made post-surgery (and if so, what exercises/PT was instrumental to the progress), or if complications arose.

Unfortunately, though, I found comprehensive CS blogs few and far between, so I promised myself that after surgery I would try to blog my progress, and in the process, maybe allow a couple readers (if there will be any) to glean a little more information about it, and also, possibly attract fellow post-op CS patients who could share any nuggets of information they deem helpful. I got my surgery yesterday, and my first blog post will merely just detail the last year of my life as pertaining to CS, and then I will provide periodic updates, which will be as detailed as possible about my recovery.

A lot of stretching is done after surgery!

But what I feel is of paramount importance is for this really to be interactive. Even if I detail every thing about my CS process, that is still only one experience; what will make this blog truly helpful is if people who have had any sort of CS ordeal to detail their respective challenges and successes in DETAIL. Don't be afraid that by going into too much detail you will begin to bore readers. Believe me, people who have made the effort to come to a site like this want all the information they can get.

Much love to all,

John