It’s bad news…

These were the words that KK Whatsapped me three weeks ago after seeing the sports doctor. He had been in agony since July with a gnawing pain in his thigh which would not go away.

Needling and massaging by the physiotherapist, to more massaging and prodding by a chiropractor, and then more elbowing from yet another physiotherapist but the pain lingered on. He followed a strict regime of icing, heating and foam rolling daily. Nothing helped.

It was only after a final recommendation of X-rays and MRI scans that he found the answer.

It was bad news. A fractured femur.

Don’t even ask how because he doesn’t know. It just happened. Similar to how his pelvis cracked two years ago. It’s no wonder the pain didn’t go away.

The really bad news? No running. No jogging. No walking. No swimming. No gym. Not even a parkrun. He has been instructed to rest. It was only 5 months ago that he ran Comrades and had already set his sights on next year’s race.

Right now, it’s uncertain how long recovery will take but he knows that he won’t be running Otter, Kaapsehoop, Dischem, Pick ‘n Pay (his favourite marathon), or even Two Oceans. Will he be out for Comrades?

The smile I’m used to seeing on his face has disappeared…

In trying to find answers to why this happened, we consulted with an endocrinologist. Maybe there is a deficiency somewhere? Maybe things aren’t ‘gelling’ inside his body? Could be an over-active or under-active something…

The good news (?) is that there’s a possibility that the medication he was talking for the low bone density / pelvis fracture issue actually caused him to fracture his femur. One main precaution of taking Fosavance is … wait for it… fractures of the femur! The endocrinologist dismissed Fosavance as a ‘drug from the dark ages’. Google it and the first page of search results are all lawsuits against the manufacturers of Fosavance for femur fractures! Crazy!

So now we wait for the results of the blood tests and in the meantime, KK’s focused on other hobbies to keep his mind busy. And by other hobbies I mean Cookie Jam because let’s face it, runners don’t have any other hobbies! There’s a lesson in here somewhere, I know.

Running makes KK happy. So what do you say to a runner who can’t run?