I remember the moment it happened.  My body was turning and I felt a snap in my upper leg.  Time stopped for a moment as I twisted to the ground.  As I pulled myself up from the floor, the pain was alternatively in my hip, lower back and groin.  Ouch.  A whistle blew and the drill was over.  As a basketball coach for middle-school girls, the effort of playing in their rotation was obviously a bit too much.  The old body was not meant to go man-on-man with sixth grade girls in free court play.

Injuries of the older body are a great deal different from when you are actively playing sports as a youth.  The body reacts differently.  However it might be characterized, I feared I had become a delicate flower and I was not liking it

The diagnosis was a groin tear on the right side and I was advised to cease all physical activity for at least six months.  Silly, I thought and I resisted.  But six months later, the pain was still there.  Again, I was told to halt most physical activity and let the injury heal.

It was a full year before I began regular physical therapy.  And then I heard the words, T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N, which in many ways is strangely akin to the Medieval torture rack.  Lay face down and the machine slowly pulls the body apart.  But even that was not enough.  “I’m referring you to a non-surgical pain specialist,” Dr. Jen said.  “You see, you have scar tissue on top of your scar tissue and I think an evaluation would help.”

“Scar tissue on top of scar tissue” – the phrase echoed in my head.

Noooooooooooooo.

That right side thing again.    I scarred the scars.  It was a dreadful thought.  Already I was envisioning the first visit to the so-called “non-surgical pain specialist” to explain the current injury on top of the old injury.  If history is my guide, the specialists usually got unnecessarily caught up in the first injury (burn) at the expense of any current injury.  “So, how did this happen?  How many surgeries were involved?  How many graft sites?  Do you have heat or cold insensitivity now?”  At first, it’s fun to be a novelty but that quickly devolves into being an ongoing curiosity, which is not so much fun.

In any event, the visit with the pain specialist is next week.  I’ll let you know how it goes.