After my run yesterday, I continued to have quite a bit of abdominal/lower back pain throughout the evening. It's a little better today, but still there. I have seen several doctors about this. First my GP, then my sports medicine doctor, and now the GI specialist. When I initially saw my sports medicine doctor Dr. Weidenbener (hereafter "Dr. W"), he agreed my problem was probably pregnancy-related. He's the one who hooked me up with Kent. He scheduled me for a 3-week follow-up, and that was today.
Initially, I didn't know if I should even go. I thought maybe I should wait until the colonoscopy. But, at the last minute, I decided to go. Rowan and I arrived there about 12:55 and my appointment was at 1:00. The parking lot was EMPTY. I've never seen it that way. I sort of thought that was strange, but went in anyway. The waiting room was also empty, and the secretary gave me a very strange look. I told her who I was and that I was here to see Dr. W. She told me that my appointment had been at 10:45, not 1:00. And that the doctors don't see patients after noon on Fridays. Great. Perfect. Then she told me to hang on a second. She left and came back to tell me that he was still there dictating and that he'd see me. So I got right in.
Dr. W and I go way back. He's taken care of me a lot. We don't always agree about my training, but he's always tried to help me. What's more, he understands my mentality. He knows that I get very anxious and that I suffer from catastrophic thinking. When I saw him today, he was all smiles. He commented on how cute Rowan is (and who can blame him), and said "So, are you feeling better?" I had to tell him that, while I initially had a ton of relief from seeing Kent, the problem now seemed worse. That it radiates around my back, between my shoulders, to the front of my left shoulder, and that it occurs with rest. He was very surprised, as most people who see Kent get 100% better (and I still might). He examined me. He palpated my liver and it was VERY tender. Then we just talked. I vented my frustration. He said that, if the colonoscopy is normal, we need to do a CT of the chest. That's the one area we haven't investigated and it's possible that I'm getting referred pain from there, particularly since it's sometimes so intense right under the ribs. There is a very, very, VERY small possibility that I could have something like a thoracic aortic aneurysm--but why all the sudden? It would have to be congenital, as I don't have hypertension. He also mentioned that the left shoulder pain is classic for diaphragm injury/irritation. And the liver is right underneath it. Could there be something going on there? I know that Kent has focused on those areas a lot.
His final diagnosis was: "I have no idea." But he promises we'll find out. He promised that before I could start crying and saying "I'll never run again!" as he probably expected. "It might take time, but we'll find out. And we'll fix it."
He is going on vacation next week and said that he'll do some searching online to see what he can come up with. He also wants my colonoscopy results faxed to his nurse, who can relay them to him while he's on vacation. If my GI doesn't order the chest CT, he will (from New Mexico, where he'll be skiing). And he thinks I should continue to see Kent. And I agree--I don't think I should stop until he can't find anything.
I have 12 miles tomorrow and 17 on Sunday. Not worried about pace at all. Just need to survive the miles.
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