Normal

Despite what my mother said about being special, I am apparently normal.  Very normal.  (Too normal?)

I've gotten the results back from the initial rounds of blood work and bone scans for the clinical trial.   My bone density, although slightly below average, is within a normal range.  My calcium, normal.  My BMI, normal.  My kidneys and liver, normal.  My body fat percentage, normal.  Pretty much, straight across the board things look as they should.  Not that I'm disappointed with those results at all.  Just means, stay the course.

To tell you the truth, I was a little surprised that the body fat percentage.  I had had it measured 2.5 years ago, and it's pretty much the same.  Although I'm definitely more active now than I was then, I've still put on my "winter coat" this year, as I do every year.  The good news is I should still be in a healthy range when racing season comes along.

The scans of the print outs of the scans don't really do much justice to the Dexa.  As far as I can tell, they are showing bone, lean and fat.  Who knew I had such a fat head?  (Don't answer that.) 

Fun fact:  My left side is fatter than my right, both in absolute terms and percentage-wise. 

I have one more dexa scan at the end of the study, so it will be interesting to compare the results.

One more thing.  Full disclosure:  I am getting paid to participate.  There will be $200 if I complete the study.

Guinea pig

Shin update.  I saw the specialist, I had an MRI, I have what's called a "stress reaction," which I'm told is swelling in the bone and a precursor to a stress fracture.  Treating it like a stress fracture was the right thing to do, and it's what I continue to do.  I've got about 2.5 more weeks before I go back to the doc to hopefully be cleared to run again.

A few weeks back I got an email about a clinical study looking for women with stress fractures.  They're studying the utility of an osteoporosis drug in speeding the recovery process.  I was intrigued.  I mean, I like the possibility of it speeding my recovery, and it's science.  SCIENCE!  But, it's also an experiment in which I am the guinea pig.

I talked it over with Paul and my coach.  We discussed the risks.  I brought it up with my friend who works at a biotech and does lots of work with clinical study results.  She asked around and found that the drug has had good results in the 12 years it's been on the market for osteoporosis and very few, and manageable, side effects.  So... I signed up.  After all, it's SCIENCE!

As part of the trial, I got to get a full body dexa scan to measure bone density and body composition as well as   another scan that involved many letters that looks at the mineral content of my bones as well.  I'll get to see the outputs of these scans, soon.  The downside is that the drug has to be taken daily, and it's an injection.  I was a little trepidatious, but it's not bad.  The needle seems even smaller than an acupuncture needle.  And, honestly, I do painful stuff to my body everyday.  Hello, eyebrow plucking!

It's been a week, and so far so good.  No side effects, and my shin is feeling 100%.  Here's to hoping I'm one of the lucky guinea pigs.