I can’t say if it was watching the Olympics or the fact that my jeans are getting tight, but it would seem that the torture has begun again.

Last June I had a mole removed from the top of my foot.  It was a benign nuisance that had been removed once before, but had grown back. The dermatologist swiftly cut it off, sent it to the lab, put a small band-aid on my foot and sent me on my way.  She said she would call me with the results.  Two weeks later she called to tell me that it was, in fact benign, but it would continue to return if I didn’t have it all removed.  So, in August, I had what was supposed to be a very MINOR procedure done at the dermatologist’s office to make sure that it would never return again.  It took quite a bit longer than she expected to get it all and while we were talking I asked her if I would have to stop running for a few days.  The look of horror on her face told me YES before she even uttered her response.  In my defense I told her I hadn’t stopped running with the last procedure  and other than the fact that it was still oozing a little bit 2 months later it hadn’t bothered me.  She was still staring at me so I also told her I had run a half marathon 6 days after the last procedure just to show her I was obviously tougher than her usual patient. Sometimes I give too much information when I am nervous.

She stopped what she was doing, looked me square in the eyes and said,

She reiterated her orders upon finishing the procedure and told me to return in two weeks to have the stitches removed.  She said we would discuss my activity level at that appointment.  I followed her orders for the next 48 hours which wasn’t difficult because it HURT.  Then on the third day we were going to Denver to tailgate and watch a football game.  Not the wisest move I have ever made.  My foot swelled up, throbbed and continued bleeding for days.  At two weeks she removed the stitches and told me to NOT RUN until it healed.

Two weeks later I found myself back in her office because not only was it not healing, but half of the incision had split open.  I know you are probably thinking that I wasn’t following directions, but I was, in fact, being very careful.  My foot was still bleeding and I was terrified it was going to get infected.  At this point, it was the end of September and my options were to have them open it up and re-stitch it or let it heal.  I opted for the latter and continued to clean and bandage it for another 4 weeks.  It was sometime in late October before I returned to even walking a few miles per day and it still continued to ooze for weeks.

Now, it has been 6 months since that minor little procedure and I while I have been walking for months I have not run or worked out at all.  Last week, I finally bit the workout bullet and started over with the running and weights.  It was brutal and actually still is because I think my body mistakenly thought it had retired.  Given how I feel l think most of my muscles up and moved to Florida sometime around Thanksgiving.  Starting over feels like you have been hit by a bus while you have the flu.  It’s awful, which is why it has taken me so long to get started again.  I mean who wants to feel that way?

The good news is that it is a “hurts so good” kind of pain and it’s a new beginning and it’s forward motion.

Sunshine & Sarcasm,

Lowi & G