Walking 40:00 [1] 1.0 mi (40:01 / mi)
shoes: R-Reebok White/Gray/Red
TNT VF edition. Even saw Dasha running away, but we left before anyone was back. (Angelica & I both walked due to illness/injury, and then left quickly due to rain falling on the kids.)
While looking at the "Shoes" button which I haven't seen in a while, I noticed that my newest running shoes showed up in late October, about 5 weeks before the latest injury. I have stuck with them as walking shoes ever since. Just in case they may have somehow been involved in the injury, they have been jailed indefinitely.
Pain: Mostly pressure annoyance, not much burning. Angelica remembers this too from one of her similar injuries. What I am calling pressure annoyance could also be described as the feeling that something that is not a part of my body is jammed slightly inside or right on the surface of the skin, just above the TBI. Annoying, but more tolerable than the burning.
I wonder if the transition from burning to pressure-annoyance* is due to the fact that I stopped doing deep tissue massage about two weeks ago. Perhaps the deep tissue massage was keeping the hamstring in a perpetual state of not quite healing (burning), but the stopping of massage has allowed the scar tissue to get harder, thus feeling more like a foreign body (scar-pressure?) than a burning thing?
BTW, I visited Doctor Hopper today - based on an appt. made 4 weeks ago that I decided to keep for another opinion. We had a good discussion for about half an hour - Val Amoss (the good PT in the same building) even stopped by to listen for about half the appointment.
*On my visit to Doc. Hopper today, he didn't think there was much meaning to the burning vs. the pressure change, although I didn't think of the potential relationship to me stopping of the deep-tissue-work until after the appt.
On a few other fronts - yeah, I could maybe do an ultrasound guide cortisone shot, or maybe (less recommended, but possible) try prolotheraphy, or maybe (experimental) try some "growth factor" thing.
Less radical would be trying some ultrasound or ionotophoresis. Although the latter is considered relatively useless for such a deep injury. (Although I'm thin, so maybe it could help?)
Anyway, before I do any of that, I'll see Doc. Mc Shane again, but before I go there, back to the Hopper story.
One of the other things Hopper recommended was for me to see Doc. Mc Shane. I hadn't told him I'd seen Mc Shane last Friday, because I wanted a totally independent discussion - and I never did let me know that. I told him I already have an appointment with McShane, but the tense usage was probably wrong... Sorry Doc. Hopper - hope you understand my desire for your independent opinion.
Anyway, he suggested that Doc. McShane could do an ultrasound, and possible a cortisone shot right then if he thought it would help. Plus, Doc Hopper apparently interned with or in some other way trained under Doc McShane, and thought highly of him. Others apparently did too, because McShane could go out on his own and start a new practice.
So at this point, McShane is the new expert. And speaking of that expert, I had my MRI (of the lower back - why not the TBI?) yesterday morning, and haven't heard from McShane yet - I called to late this evenign (5:15pm)_ so I'll try again tomorrow.
At this point I think I've hit 1/3 of a H. (Who'll figure out this reference?)
Strength 12:00 [1]
Long PT, at 10pm - no other PT today. I've got to do that more regularly... E.g. get up early tomorrow and go the gym, because I'll join AJ & Oriana to watch the kindergarten graduation tomorrow. (Where AJ pseudo-graduates from Pre-K to Kindergarten.)
All but the ham. machine. Leg feeling pretty solid. Ham. rolloff ball gave minor hamstring muscle pains, but more like normal workout pains than anything at the TBI. Seems valuable.