Sick.

I am, that is.  And not in the good, cool kids kinda way.  I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and a fever.  It got worse overnight and I pretty much felt awful all day today.  No more fever, but a stuffy/runny nose and a headache.  I think I got it from Rowan.

No running today, so I don't have anything to report there.  The most interesting thing I have to say is that I've consumed an embarrassingly excessive number of Tim's homemade chocolate chip cookies since last night.  I was feeling bad after my run didn't go well yesterday evening, so he made them.  I'm sick today, so he made them again.  They are my emotional crutch, apparently.

I can say that my belly pain is slightly better today, and definitely different.  It is much more focused in my lower back/ribs.  I still feel it in my belly, but I'm a lot more aware of it near my lower ribs and in my back.  I guess that's good.  I see Dr. Russell tomorrow and am hoping for an MRI to be ordered.  I'm going to point blank ask for one, so Lord help him if he doesn't want me to have one.  I know that MRIs are expensive.  I know insurance companies hate them.  But, in some cases, they're needed.  All the doctors agree that I have a soft tissue problem going on.  The CT and other tests ruled out anything structural or functional (as far as organs go).  All the doctors agree that it's very complicated (and interesting).  Some have conceded that it seems resistant to treatment (I emphatically concur).  An MRI is a scan that can show very detailed images of soft tissue like the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and even the visceral covering of organs.  In other words, all the things we're dealing with here.  It picks up inflammation, tissue strain, adhesions, among other things.  They usually cannot show trigger points (which is not necessary in my case, as we can feel them), but will often pick up the inflammation caused by them.  Hello...I want one! 

I want one for two reasons.  Wait, no, three reasons.  1.  It's pretty much the only thing we haven't done.  Might as well go all the way.  2.  I know that I have a diagnosis of MPS, but I am not fully convinced that that is the only thing causing my pain.  Seriously, something is very wrong with my body right now.  I want to rule out anything else (such as actual organ-organ or organ-muscle adhesions that would need to be lysed surgically).  3.  We need a road map.  For the injections and the therapy I'll be getting at the chiro, it would be nice to have some guidance.  I have a really hard time locating precisely where the pain is, especially when I'm not running.  Not only is it diffuse, but it moves.  This movement indicates that a lot of it has to be referred pain.  Injecting/treating the referred pain areas will do nothing in terms of clearing up the problem.  We have to find the source of all the trouble.  MRIs are exceptionally good at this.  When I had my groin strain back in 2009, after not making much progress with treatments, Dr. Murer ordered an MRI.  That let him see exactly where the strain was.  It turned out not to be my adductor at all, but rather a tiny muscle known as the obturator internus.  Completely changed my course of treatment and prognosis (that's a hard one to heal).

Tim is going with me to the chiropractor.  I'm now to the point that I have to have someone (Tim, my mom, or my brother) go with me to these appointments.  I'm friggin' fragile.  I simply cannot and will not go alone.  Someone has to be there just in case they don't believe me.  Of course they all do at this point, but this has been so traumatic and drawn out that if someone even hinted that I wasn't believed or that there's no hope for me, I might lose it.  Tim is also very aware of where the pain shows up, how it shows up, etc. (poor guy).  He can find the spots with his hands.  I need him to do this to show them where they are.  Did I mention I also made him draw all over me with a Sharpie?  Immediately after my run last night, I quickly found all the areas that were hurting or that I could remember hurting badly during it.  I made him draw X's there.  Amelia watched all this and didn't even flinch.  She took a picture for me in case the Sharpie wore off.  You can see that issue has penetrated and affected my entire family.  "It's going to hurt if they poke you in all those places, mom."  "Yeah, I know."  "But it would be worth it."  Love that girl.

After the chiro appointment, I'm going to do something I haven't done in a REALLY long time.  I'm going trail running.  Wes, dad, Tim, Scott, Emily (I think), and maybe some others are going out to Morgan Monroe for 12 or 13 miles.  I'll probably have my butt handed to me, as they are pretty technical trails.  It's okay, though...I could use the distraction.  20 on tap for Sunday.