Doctor Miracle

In November 2010, I started having these shooting pains running from my left butt down the side of my left leg.  I finally saw a doctor in December who diagnosed me with sciatica, which for me, is a symptom caused by lower back problems and compression and irritation of my left sciatic nerve.  The pain was intense and constant.  I would feel it when I stood, sat, moved or stayed still.  The pain was worse when I sat down or got up.  My doctor prescribed me some happy pills (aka super strong pain killers).  They certainly helped, although in reality, the pills simply masked the pain temporarily and did not fix the real problem.  Then, Sam’s awesome brother-in-law Shannon offered to work on my leg.   Shannon and his wife Mary (Sam’s sister) runs Body Reform, a multi-prong physical therapy clinic that offers innovative techniques to eliminate unnecessary pain and strengthen the core, among other things.  They are incredibly talented and I was so happy to have Shannon take a look at my leg.  After working on my leg for an hour, I felt so much better.  I definitely needed that, especially with no pills!!  (Thanks Shannon!)

In January, I developed a new problem.  My left calf started to tighten while I was riding to the point that it was often on the verge of cramping.  It got progressively worse as I rode more and longer distances.  As you can imagine, this was also very painful.  Up until then, I felt the sciatica was manageable and I wasn’t terribly alarmed yet.  But with the calf cramp, I started having genuine concerns about whether I could physically do AIDS/LifeCycle given all the pain I was having.  I was afraid of letting down my supporters, Sam and myself.

I gave Jaime, the manager at I.Martin, a call.  I thought maybe the calf cramp could easily be resolved by a minor adjustment to my bike.  Jaime offered two suggestions.  First, I should work on improving my nutrition by increasing my potassium intake, specifically by drinking lots of coconut water before, during and after a ride.  Second, I should go see Dr. Ira Schneider (better known to friends as just “Dr. Ira”), a chiropractor who’s a supporter of AIDS/LifeCycle and a former AIDS/LifeCycle rider himself.  I also asked Shifting Gears leader Beth and she said that Dr. Ira is the only person she would refer me to and that she cannot say enough about how amazing he is.  I trust Jaime and Beth with their advice and decided to give Dr. Ira a call.  I mean, at this point, it really couldn’t hurt (no pun intended).

So I went to see Dr. Ira, who was the nicest guy ever.  He made me feel so comfortable, answered all my questions and very quickly isolated all my problems to a couple of areas in my lower back.  He said that my lower back was inflamed and my hip was misaligned.  He started me on this heat/pulse therapy that helped relax my muscles and release endorphins.  He also cracked my back.  After my session, I immediately felt better.  He sent me home to do some core exercises to build my abdominal strength, which in turn will help strengthen my back.  I went back to see Dr. Ira a couple of times and I am happy to say that my sciatica and calf cramp have dramatically subsided.  It’s too early to say whether I’m completely cured, but Dr. Ira has certainly been an incredible help.  I’m now very hopeful that I can continue my training and do the ride in June pain-free.  (Thanks Dr. Ira!)