"if you dare (or care)"

So, how does one raise money for the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge if you can't actually run the marathon? Hmm, that's a tough one. 2006 was my first DFMC Boston Marathon. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was very happy with my time, fundraising, and first Boston experience. I participated with the patient partner program, running on behalf of Jonathan, a twelve year old boy with Leukeumia. Well, here we are in 2008 and I can't run this one. Just can't physically do it. Oh, I'm on the team. I've done a bunch of long training runs. But my neurologist, orthopedist, and neurosurgeon all think it's not a good idea. Why? Two blown disks. L3-L4 and L2-L3.

Ever wonder what all that pounding on the pavement can do to you?
Take a look:

That grey blog in the middle of the spine (where it looks curiously out of place), that's a ruptured disk pushing against the left nerve root. Right now, my problem is muscle weakness in the left leg. But it didn't start that way.

When you have a really bad disk problem the pain is, well, pretty severe. Health providers like to ask you to put pain on a 10 point scale. For the first couple of days I called it a 9, when I rate a 10 as muscle being ripped off your bone by a scalpel with no anesthetic. Ouch.

These are the pain medications (just pain, mind you) that I went through in the first 4 weeks:

They just brought it from a 9 to a 7 or so.

If it doesn't get better by itself, then the next step is surgery. But before surgery, we tried a neural block. That's when they put a syringe into your back, right up next to your nerve, and put in some nice steroids to reduce inflamation. This is what it looks like to get one:

See that straight thing coming out of the vertebrae on the left side? That's the needle. Pretty cool. Oh yeah, if you want to, you can look up at the screen and watch the whole thing happening in real time. Very cool. (Thank God I'm done with kids.. imagine how much radiation that is blowing through you to get that movie).

So, what's the worst part about the injury? The pain? Nah, I just couldn't walk for 3 weeks. The loss of muscle strength? Definitely not cool. But, no, the toughest part is not being able to get out with the rest of the team for track and the long runs. Not having that anticipation leading up to Boston. That's what sucks.

But then again, it ain't cancer.Everything in perspective, man.

Maybe I should send out some pictures for my next fundraiser?

--Martin

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=225656&lis=1&kntae225656=EC4A16A28B2A403B8AB4B6A5D850539B&supId=102569206