New doc, same story

Wednesday I went to a new doctor to get a second opinion. I think at first he thought my pain was psychosomatic! I'm really so healthy in every other way - great labs, great bone density, good muscle strength, etc. I shouldn't have a bone injury - and I was referred by a psychologist!
One of my friends at work is a child psychologist and I put her name down as a referral - only because I wanted to give her credit for sending the doctor (an old friend of hers) business, and maybe get some preferential treatment (hey, I'll take all the special favors I can get). I had to explain that it was a personal referral, not a professional one!
But any question of psychosomatics was dispelled by an x-ray: the back of my femur is again showing calcified build-up and edema. It's probably a severe stress reaction or multiple stress fractures (the area is about 2" long!).

This is a high quality replication of my xrays. On the left is my first injury xray - the first time I hurt this bone, it was a sharp break with a sharp jutting bone growth at the site. On the right is a current picture of my femur. It's a long, broad area of edema and swelling on the bone. The bone growth is almost completely posterior. I hope you enjoy my super technical drawing. 

The theories:
1. I didn't allow it to heal enough the first time, and stress distributed to adjacent bone when the site of the original fracture was stressed.
2. The first fracture healed, but I have some anatomical/gait anomaly that caused it to almost immediately occur again.

If it's #1, shame on me, I'm a bad runner.
If it's #2, I'm done with running. And the only way to find out is to rehab it and try again.

So, I'm doing a two-pronged approach: I'm completing calcitonin therapy to speed healing of the bone in case it's scenario #1, and I'm doing PT to strengthen auxiliary muscles and stretch tight hamstrings and adductors in case it's scenario #2.

If neither works I'm out of here. I'm just tired of being in pain all the time and ready to feel whole again.

Hitting Healdsburg again and a few hours in SF

We really liked Healdsburg, so we went back for our last full day of vacation. We went to Preston Vineyards, bought a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread, and sat in their grounds for the entire afternoon. It was lovely!

The next day we flew out, but we had a few hours in San Francisco first. Naturally it was raining. But we did some sightseeing anyway at Lookout Point, then got crab sandwiches at Fisherman's Wharf.

Verdict: we made the right choice with a relaxed vacation in Sonoma. A vacation just to the city would have been too much to do, and not enough time sitting around with a glass of wine!

Sonoma Square and Petaluma

Vacation day three: Sonoma square and Petaluma.
Do you like small parks with assorted ducks and crowded benches? Olde Tymey general stores trying hard to evoke your childhood in the 50's? Overpriced boutiques with lots of tacky country signs that say, "It's ok to wine a little" on them? Restaurants still open by dint of reputation only (Girl and the fig - I'm looking at you, maker of overcooked omelet with separated cheese!)? Middle-America, middle-age chains like Chicos? Then Sonoma Square is for you!
Yeah, skip it. Waste of time. It could be any park in any retirement city.

Petaluma would go on the "skip it" list for me, too, but we went there because David wanted to visit Leo Leporte's podcast studio. Sometimes I let the kid do what he wants.

Nerd husband. He's so cute. 

We did two walking tours of Petaluma, visited the museum in the library, walked on the river, got ice cream, and browsed a used books store. Petaluma is supposed to be charming and old-fashioned with cute Victorian homes. Color me unimpressed. It's not ugly, but I live in New Orleans, which has quaint and quirky architecture in the worst parts of town and gorgeous mansions throughout the Garden District. But besides that, I've lived other places with Victorian pasts, like New London, CT and surrounding areas. There are many more examples of classic Victorians in cities like New London (our house had a turret - my bedroom was in it!) and servant's quarters with back stairs leading to them). So, Petaluma just seemed like an average town that chose not to tear down its older buildings.
Two notable stops in Petaluma: Lala's for ice cream (the area is a big dairy producer) and Copperfield books. I bought a short autobiographical book called "Hostage to War" for $3 in the used book section. The author was a child in Russia during WWII and endured starvation and German work camps. Sadly, she returned home to Russia to find an equally oppressive Stalinist state! The book was a fascinating read. I read it aloud to David during a picnic the next day.
But don't drive to Petaluma for it. I'm sure there was only one copy.

The coast and redwoods

Where was I, before my niece butted in and was born, all cute and distracting and stuff? Oh yes, vacation recapping.
My favorite day of vacation:
Exploring Bodega bay...

The breathtaking beaches...

The redwoods. We climbed to the top of the mountain in Armstrong redwood park; it was great fun but I was only wearing flip flops and David was persuaded that we were lost the whole time.

There is no way a photo can convey the majesty of these trees. By far the highlight of the trip!

I have a niece!

And she looks like a sno-cone all swaddled up! I can't wait to visit her and kiss those round, pink cheeks!

A second opinion

I still haven't been running. My left leg still aches (although, really, it aches all the time - no exercise, lots of running, squats, standing, sitting - everything throbs). But before I really nail the coffin shut, I am getting a second opinion. I generally like my sports medicine guy. I saw him for an annoying "shin splint" that turned out to be a totally healed stress fracture by the time I got in to see him. I saw him for osteitis pubis, which never went away, and I saw him for the femoral stress fracture of this spring. He's nice. But what I've noticed about him is that he generally prescribes total rest, followed by a rather rapid comeback. I need a deeper look at what's actually going on and plan for staying in shape and coming back safely. Maybe that's more a PT thing. I don't know. I just think I need another look.
The last thing I got from my current doctor was a perplexed, "You're perfectly healthy!"
But I'm not. If I was I wouldn't be waking in the middle of the night, leg aching dully. Also, I'd be at track tonight, rather than sitting at my computer eating chocolate chips forlornly.

Mapping our route

Barrel tasting

Now. Moving on! A little vacation!
We stayed in Santa Rosa (cheap, central) and the first day we did some downtown depot district shopping, by which I mean thrifting. I bought a fabulous gold necklace.

Then we drove up to Healdsburg to visit some vineyards, picnic in the square, and do a cave tour. We finished the afternoon with food and wine pairings, then had a tapas dinner at Chalkboard (delicious; way too much food - so hard to get tapas right!). Then, because we are old people, we went to sleep way early. Yay vacation! Next...the coast and the redwoods.

A wormy homecoming

David and I returned from vacation to a perfectly revolting homecoming. Our flight arrived at midnight, and I groped my way into the kitchen and pulled on the light. Horrors! The room filled with fluttering moths - 15 or 20 - and several fat, disgusting larvae crawled sluggishly up the walls. I opened the kitchen cabinet and saw tell-tale webby tangles in the corner. Infested! Two weeks before we left I'd purchased a large bag of organic pinto beans. It was clearly the culprit, as it was full of moths, larvae, and nests. Some other food was slightly affected as well, but it didn't matter to me if it was as clean as a whistle. Everything into an outdoor trash! 

Then I spent today scrubbing, bleaching, and applying vinegar. Now we have nothing to eat, but I'm scared to store anything in the kitchen! 

I've never had actual moths and certainly never larvae in the kitchen, but I remember my all-organic mom throwing our oatmeal, beans, and flour into the freezer when she first brought it home. I usually do the same with any organic food I purchase, but I forgot to do so with the beans. Now we're paying for it big time. 

And now, some unrelated phone pictures before I get myself together enough to download real photos:

California scenery is so dramatic! 

Lunch at a vineyard

Taken from the window of a moving car

It was harvest

Sun in our eyes, mountains behind us