OK, I'll preface this post by saying I'm rather down and seeing the world through crap colored glasses right now.
I've been considering my options and admittedly looking at all of them in their worst possible light but from that perspective none of them seem all that great. Here are the choices:
- Option 1: Hope that my back and sciatica continue to really hurt so I can have surgery on September 2nd.
- On the plus side, the success rate is high and the recurrence rate is low. This stands a good chance of resolving it once and for all.
- On the minus side, that means six weeks of pain, then surgery, then recovery.
- That's a pretty impressive set of drawbacks! Seriously, I don't want to be overly whiny but I'm really in a considerable amount of pain 24/7. I only sleep for an hour or so at a time before I hurt so badly I wake up. Six weeks is a long time. I've got assorted pain meds but I don't tolerate them well and don't enjoy throwing up as much as I used to.
- Option 2: Hope that my back heals between now and either my pre-operative visit (Aug 6) or the date for the surgery. If this is the case, they won't do surgery.
- On the plus side, no surgery and gradually decreasing pain with resulting increase in function
- On the minus side, let's face it - I've been down this path. OK, I'll admit I could have done MORE core strengthening but the fact is I was fairly religious about it so it seems pretty unlikely that with an increase in core work I'm suddenly going to be doing PR's on Mount Ventoux without any negative after effects
- So it's possible, perhaps even likely, that if I continue to do longer/hard brevets my back will crap out.
- This puts me on the repeat schedule I outlined in a previous post where it's 4-6 months of a significant amount of pain that MIGHT conclude with my having surgery but might also resolve itself in exactly the same way.
- So the most pessimistic view of this is:
- I gradually increase miles/intensity
- Next year I do my normal ramp up of a brevet series followed by one or more 1200K's somewhere in the world or perhaps an SR600K
- My back craps out
- 5 months from then I MIGHT have surgery or it resolves itself. In either case, I'll have blown another 5 months of my life
- Option 3: Just give it up. Assume my back eventually recovers and resign myself to JRA rides of 200K or less at a relaxed pace.
- Plus: no surgery, gradually decreasing pain, might never have a problem with my back again
- Minus: I'll never see the friends I've made doing brevets again (at least the non-local ones). Also, I'll miss the challenge of doing long brevets. I count these two minuses as a significant reduction in quality of life.
I rode for a long time (almost 30 years) before I did my first brevet so I know there's a lot of cycling to be done outside of randonneuring. That doesn't mean I'm ready to give it up but given the above choices that might be the end that's in store for me.
But right now I'm going to go with option 1. Although hurting for six more weeks, surgery and then however long to recover doesn't sound all that great, the possibility of resolving the issue once and for all seems to me to be worth it in the end.
Stay tuned!
