My Medical Mystery

So many of you have inquired about my injuries and why I've been spending so much time at the doctor. I guess it's about time for an explanation, so here's the short and sweet version:

In May of last year, I began training for a half-marathon again (I hadn't trained for a few months,) and I guess I just turned up the volume too quickly on my mileage. Had some pain in my knee and was told to take it easy for awhile. My doctor told me it was most likely just runners knee and it should heal up with rest. So I iced it, elevated it, and ate Ibuprofen like it was candy. After about a month and a half it had still not gone anywhere, so my Doc suggested physical therapy. My physical therapist had me doing some quad-strengthening exercises, nothing intense. But with these exercises came unbelievable pain and inflammation in my foot. (This is what has every doctor scratching their heads.)

It's been 8 months and the pain has not lifted - actually it progresses slowly over time, and has made it to my lower back as well. I'm doing physical therapy for my back, and it helps, but that's coming to a stand still as they are hesitating to continue until they know for sure what's going on between my knee and foot. (They have more of those quad strengthening exercises for me, which still have me writhing in pain for a few days after doing them.)

Long story short, I've had MRIs on my foot and back, as well as an EMG to rule out anything nerve related. The latest test was an ultrasound of my entire leg by a Vascular Surgeon - who could only shrug. I've seen just about every doctor - and referral after referral I get passed along from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist...and the cycle continues. Meanwhile, it's driving me crazy not being able to do much of anything exercise-wise. So I keep going to doctor after doctor, because I have to hope that eventually I will find someone who will know or will find out. *Sigh*

It's been quite a circus act, but I'm keeping my chin up. :) If you know how to solve this medical misery mystery, please don't hesitate to share. Thanks all for your support during all of this. It's helped more than you know.