So here we go. A short update to all of you at the same time.

Can’t remember when I first felt pain in my leg. I recall a painful massage a year and a half ago, and I think that was the first time a felt the lump. I’ve tried everything, physical therapy, massages, baths with Epsom salt, heat, cold… nothing really worked. I tried to stay off my feet, rest from running but it really didn’t make it better. I started to get wobbly and fall when I was running. My foot dropped a bit when I got tired and my hill runs got complicated. I finally saw a doctor that sent me to a neurosurgeon and did a long MRI 6 weeks ago and many more MRIs and EMGs after that. My diffuse leg pain that I thought was overuse, oldladyrities, stress fracture, pinched nerve, etc. was a pretty large nerve tumor that grew around the nerve and cut off the function. My foot started to hurt really badly and the last month has been a long wait to get this treated.

I had surgery today. With no expectations at all. The plan was to get in there and check it out, remove as much as they could without damaging the nerve and then close it up. And then radiation to shrink it when the scar was healed. Not touching the nerve so the foot would drop since that is not fixable. And I still have a lot of runs and rides to do. And a life to live.

My alarm was set at 4am. It almost felt like I was headed out for a run this morning. Sweatpants, tank top, running shirt and my fastest running shoes. Fast as lightning, red as fire. And lucky socks!

It took hours before I finally got ready. I got hooked up, squeezed, poked, and warmed up. I am a breakfast person. If I run at 5 in morning I still eat breakfast before. I started to see bagels, bananas, smell coffee, yogurt and crunchy topping. But I got a whole lot of yummy stuff in my IV. They had me wrapped up in an air blanket hooked to a reversed vacuum. All smiles and happy faces. And the show was about to start.

The excellent surgeon showed up and looked all happy and well rested. I’ve seen him a few times now and felt really happy to see a familiar face. He said he changed his game plan a bit during the past days and wanted me to stay awake for a while and wiggle my toes while trying to separate the tumor from the nerve. He thought that would give him a better chance to separate the nerve from the tumor with out any damage. He said see you in a few hours to Brjann and then we rolled away. What an amazing room. TV screens and a huge microscope hanging over the bed. And it all started. I was hooked up and somehow got all involved in my numbers on the screen. It was like a super amazing Garmin. The anesthesiologist must have been so annoyed with me and probably wanted me to sleep after millions of questions in a mix of English/Swedish/sleep talk. I got instructions to wiggle my toes, curl the big toe, move my foot… and it went on forever. And after a little while the pain got unbearable. It felt like I was on my way flying through the roof, sweating, freezing, heart rate raising, blood pressure dropping, curling my toe and trying to not kick the guys around the table. All smiling faces and nice voices and I tried the best I could. I took a peek at the big screen and saw the whole thing opened up. Amazing. They let me sleep after 3 hours and I woke up in a different room with a new smiling face beside my bed. Apparently I woke up as soon as they rolled me out and told them I was ready to go home. An easy 2 hour surgery that turned into a 4 hour session. Then the ice eating started and I asked for a Sprite and got a Shasta Twist. I started crying. I wanted a Diet Sprite. Very mature. I checked it to an amazing place this morning and got gold star treatment all day. Couldn’t ask for better care. 

I am back home and haven’t moved from my corner since I sat down. Skyped with mom and dad and slept the rest of the day. And I think this will be my spot for a few days. Leg is up, crutches waiting beside me and I’ve had dinner. Life is pretty good at the moment and I am waiting for my leg to wake up, it’s still sound asleep minding it’s own business.

Thanks for all the nice comments and get well thoughts.

xoxo

//Lotten