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My No Knee Pain Run & Crazy Phone Story

Hi friends.

Run
I ran outside yesterday for 32 minutes! That is a PR for me and even more of an accomplishment is the fact that I had NO knee pain the entire time — or after! My hip didn’t hurt during the run either, although that one did act up when I was walking to dinner later on. But I am SO excited that my knee felt fine the entire time! This is the first time I ever ran outside where it didn’t hurt. About a month and a half ago, after a failed run, I told the boy that I decided running is not for me. I would not try it again, my body can’t handle it. I’m glad I didn’t listen to myself and tried again!

I hope this leads to longer runs in the future. But I will not rush into anything. That was my old mistake! My plan is to run outside once a week — no more. Every week, if I feel no pain and no weakness in my lungs, I will increase my time. Last week I ran for 25 minutes, this week was 32 minutes. Maybe next week will be 40 minutes. Gradual. If I start incorporating spinning back into my routine, I will not do that more than once a week as well. Because really, when I overtrain and injure myself, I can’t do either!

My once concern during my run was my heart rate. I wore my HRM and as soon as I started my run — and keep in mind I run slower than you probably walk — my HR jumped to 170. If there was a slight uphill, it would reach 198. Throughout the run, it remained between 175 and 188. This is even higher than my HR during the most intense spin classes. And it stayed high the entire time. Which is part of the reason I felt so beat after 32 minutes. My knee felt fine but my lungs did not!

I expressed my concern to the boy, who is a doctor, and he explained to me that it was a very hot day and that it is not at all abnormal to have such a high HR during even the slowest of runs. And then I did what we tend to do here in blogland — I compared myself to other bloggers. “Well this girl lives in a hot climate where it is always very hot and HERS never gets this high,” and “This girl lives close to us and hers never gets above 175!” The boy reminded me that everyone is different, that people who live in a warmer climate are more used to running in these temps, we all weigh differently and we all have different cardiovascular ability. You can’t compare!

And then I felt better. And happy, because I RAN FOR 32 MINUTES WITH NO KNEE PAIN! I can’t wait to tell my PT on Thursday, at our final session (for my shoulder though). More on shoulder PT this week!

Running cartoon

Phone
Two weekends ago I brought my phone into the Verizon store. I signed in and waited an hour for my turn on the technical assistance line. When my turn finally arrived, I explained to the technician that every time I press the 1 button, a 2 comes up! He told me that my warranty had expired so he couldn’t replace the phone. “What about insurance?” I asked, having paid $4.99 a month for the last 2 years to protect this phone. “Insurance doesn’t cover software,” he explained. I later found out that it was not at ALL a software problem, which you’d think someone in TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE would know. Anyway, he told me I needed to leave my phone there for 45 minutes while he upgrades the software, which might fix the problem. Again, I later found out this was a ridiculous statement as it was NOT a software issue.

I left my phone there and exactly 45 minutes later I returned. I approached the technical assistance guy and he was busy helping someone else. Eventually he looked at me and told me the software upgrade didn’t work (duh) and there was nothing more he could do. I told him I was eligible for an upgrade in a few weeks, could he just move that date up and I would upgrade on the spot? He said no. I told him I need the 1 button! He said he was busy helping someone else and if I want to sign in again and wait for my turn (another hour) he could talk to me more.

I left.

I waited an hour to speak to him the first time, and 45 minutes for him to do something to my phone that was unrelated to the problem. I was NOT waiting another hour! WTF.

I decided I would make do with no 1 button until I was eligible for upgrade. I wasn’t planning on upgrading yet, I wanted to wait until there was a phone I really wanted, but what can you do? I needed a phone. During the week I was talking to my cousin about my problem and she told me that they absolutely lied to me. She went through a similar experience at Verizon with her warranty-expired phone, and they replaced it for her. She explained to me that if their product is defective, they HAVE to replace it. Regardless of warranty or insurance or anything. They sold me a defective product, it is their problem to deal with. She told me she would come with me to the Verizon store that week and make sure it worked out right.

On July 4, the boy and I made a stop at my apartment and since we were by the Verizon store near me, we decided to go in. I figured it wouldn’t be a madhouse like the other one, and when we walked in we were the only ones there! I went to Technical assistance and the girl told me the same thing as the guy at the other store. She said there is nothing she can do. Then I explained to her that I am eligible for an upgrade in a couple weeks, can I just get my upgrade discount early? She said no. I confirmed again, asking if there is any way at all she can allow me to upgrade early. What is the difference if I do it now or then? My phone is broken now! She said no, I could deal without a 1 button if it’s only a couple weeks.

Angry and annoyed, I went back to the boy who was standing at another counter talking to sales people.  I started mumbling about how angry I was and how I was switching to AT&T and how this is ridiculous and on and on and on. After a couple minutes of my grumbling, they asked me what was wrong. I gave them my phone and explained again about the 1 button. The guy played around for a few minutes and told me that not only is my 1 button gone, but my entire touch screen was shot as well.

I was thrilled. First, because I had suspected more was not right with the phone (I haven’t been able to scroll in quite some time and it just didn’t seem as usable as it used to) and second because he recognized and acknowledged the real problem, something no one in Technical assistance there was able to do! He told me it was not at ALL a software problem and he couldn’t believe that guy said it was. He said the screen was dead, that was it.

He explained my options to me, which was this: Pay $50 to have my phone replaced or UPGRADE EARLY using my $50 upgrade credit! After all the arguing I had trying to get them to let me upgrade early and this guy can do it with no problem? GRRR!

But I was happy. I won! I got what I asked for and I would get $50 off any new phone! Most of the phones sucked. And then I saw the BlackBerry Curve.

I had been toying with the idea of a BlackBerry for awhile, but because of money issues I didn’t think much of it. Every now and then I would think about how much I would benefit from being organized, like the time I forgot to go to jury duty in May (oops). But I know the data plan is more expensive, and the phone itself is expensive, and do I really need it? And I heard rumors that the iPhone might be coming to Verizon in 2010, so I wanted to wait around for that. But here I was with a broken phone and a $50 credit. In front of me was a BlackBerry that was on sale for $49.99.

IT WAS FREE!!!! A free BlackBerry! I know that a new one — and better and cooler from what I heard — is coming out next week. But that wouldn’t be free. And whatever the new and better features are, I’m sure I don’t actually NEED them. Not enough to justify the price — no matter what the price is, it wouldn’t be FREE! And my last phone was the brand new original cool version of its kind (LG Voyager) and I do know that after I got it, better versions came out. So really, you can never win! And this one is FREE!

And the data plan? Only $10 a month more than my current one, although the insurance is a few dollars more a month so that will add up. But that’s OK. So I got it! It is light pink and it has a light pink case and it is so pretty. At first I didn’t want pink but the Verizon guy and the boy convinced me to first get the pink phone and then the pink case on top of it, and I am happy I did!

It was SO hard at first! I didn’t have any idea how to do anything. And the keyboard is much more difficult to type on than my last phone’s was. I was a pro at fast texting on my old phone. But it all started making sense. It began to click. The more I played around, the better I understood it all. The guy at the store told me it would take about 5 days, but here I am 48 hours later and I think I get it pretty well! And I seem to know it better than some of my friends who have had theirs for months. 🙂

BlackBerry Curve Pink

I have been loving talking to Melanie (and now Jen!) on BBM. Wow, that makes chatting so easy and quick! I can’t wait for the boy to get the new one (as he most likely will) so we can BBM all the time! And I installed Google Talk and Facebook and downloaded a ringtone. Whenever I get a new phone, I treat myself to one ringtone purchase (yes, I know you can do it for free on the BlackBerry but I didn’t feel like going through lots of steps). So every time you call me, I will hear Shake Me Like a Monkey Baby. Every time it rings I am so caught off guard! I felt very cool on the shuttle this morning to the subway when I busted out the BlackBerry. Very, very cool.

And it has only been 2 days and I already don’t know how I ever lived without it.

Gotta run now, but I will be back tomorrow to talk about my 4th of July on the Hudson! With pictures! And as I said, information about my shoulder physical therapy.

Woo! Federer!

Doctor Versus Physical Therapist

When my knee MRI back in May showed bursitis and patellafemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), my doctor sent me off to physical therapy. The physical therapist was thorough and wonderful, as she assessed my condition and the contributing factors. She was able to fully understand why my knee hurts — all the components that worked together to cause my injury; my pelvis, my feet, my butt, my leg strength, the way I sit, etc. Based on what she learned, she took me through a series of exercises twice a week to get myself better and pain free.

She had me try out spin; she had me try out running. Then it was time for my follow up visit with my doctor.

Last week, I went to the doctor and he examined my knee. He said he still felt the bursitis and the PFPS and recommended continuing physical therapy. He also recommended that I see a podiatrist and get fitted for an orthotic insert for my shoes. He said this will help with my alignment problems, as my alignment is a major contributor to my knee pain.

I was very worried. Orthotics cost hundreds of dollars! Hundreds of dollars that I don’t have, given the amount of doctor visits, tests, prescriptions, other treatments that I am partially responsible for. And in addition to the $500 a month that I pay to even HAVE medical insurance.

I went to my PT that evening and told her about the conversation with my doctor. As soon as I said the word “orthotic” she immediately began shaking her head.“Bad idea?” I asked. The PT explained that I don’t NEED it. I would if my alignment problems were coming from my feet — but in my case, my alignment is off because of my pelvis. It was clear to her during every assessment and exercise she had me to. She had absolutely no doubt that foot orthotics would not help at all, would be an extreme waste of money, and would likely make my knee problems WORSE. And you remember the letter my PT wrote to my doctor — she obviously understands my condition.

Of course, I was happy. That is what I wanted to hear! But then I started getting annoyed… and then angry at my doctor. Why would he send me off — without checking to see if I NEEDED it — to another doctor for something I don’t need that costs a few hundred dollars!? (I need an interrobang symbol in here) Why not first find out if it would be worth it? It has been suggested to me that since I am not a surgical candidate, I am now a waste of his time and he doesn’t want to be bothered with me, so he was sending me off to someone else. But I think it is less cut and dry than that. I think he was doing what he thought was the next step according to his script. I don’t think he took the time to ask or wonder about the cause of my alignment issues. Not his problem. Furthermore, I went there complaining of shoulder pain much worse than my knee, and he didn’t even examine my shoulder — just wrote another prescription for more physical therapy. I am sure PT will have a much clearer understanding of my shoulder problem, regardless of the MRI, based on her actually… um… examining it.

Uhhhh.

Fight

Round 1: Doctor Versus Physical Therapist
Winner – Physical Therapist

Have I mentioned how frustrated I am that doctor’s don’t CARE?

I am getting an MRI for my shoulder tomorrow and should have answers later this week. I was trying to find out how many PT visits I have left for 2009 and came across some roadblocks (ie, stupid insurance company):

1. Depending on how many visits I have left for 2009, I was not sure if I should go for knee, shoulder or both
2. I couldn’t get a clear answer on how many I have left

I was extremely frustrated by the fact that I didn’t know how many sessions I have left. I have called my insurance numerous times. My PT place has called my insurance numerous times. We were both given completely different answers.

Here is the story. I get 20 physical therapy visits a year with my insurance. I went to PT at the beginning of the year for my shoulder, 6 times. I went to PT for my knee 12 times. That would leave me with 2 visits left — not enough to do shoulder again, just enough to wrap up knee. Sounds simple, right?

When I called my insurance to confirm, they told me that a bunch of my PT visits were charged as Occupational Therapy (OT). I get a separate 20 OT visits in addition to my 20 PT visits. Because of that, I have more PT visits left than I realized.

I called my PT place to tell them this. They called my insurance. Three times — and were told that it is all combined, I definitely only have 20 visits total a year. I called my insurance three times as well. The first two times I was given incorrect and OT-ridden information. The final time I finally got my answers.

Whoever pulled that OT information was wrong. Each PT is billed by name. Their name is associated with what they do. The charges can’t be split between two services if the therapist is certified to do only one of those services. I called the billing department of both PT offices and was told an OT bill was impossible.

After extensively going over every single date with a very nice woman on the phone on my third phone call, I  finally received my answer — I have 2 visits left. I had asked her to go over every PT visit I had this year. She did so and never once mentioned anything about OT. I trust her. Why everyone that works at the insurance company has different answers to the same questions is beyond me. I don’t understand anything about health care in this country; every time I think something can’t confound me more, it does. Like the time I had to pay $320 for a prescription. When I already pay $500/mo for health insurance. Anyway…

As we went through each date, it was finally clear that I went to PT 18 times this year (although we hung up thinking 17 — when I go through my notes it seems to be 18. I will stick with that). Therefore, I have two visits left. My plan for the next two visits (not yet discussed with my PT) is as follows:

This week – No visit (wait until shoulder MRI  results arrive)
Next week – Contingent upon shoulder MRI results, either — one hour evaluation of shoulder or regular knee PT
Following week – Contingent upon shoulder MRI results, either shoulder PT session to learn exercises for home or regular knee PT

I think that is a good plan! Let’s all hope I don’t get into some kind of accident and need serious PT this year because, well, I’m out of visits! And the year is not even halfway over.

As for my doctor? I haven’t told him I barely have any visits left. I’m not sure what he will advise going forward to get better, but I will be going there in a couple weeks and I will take it from there. Hopefully he won’t send me off to another expensive service that I don’t need. At least this time, I have a great PT I can ask — one who knows what she is doing and cares about my health. Which is more than I can say for my doctor.

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