In light of the should I bail? thread posted lately, I have this situation right now.
Kona is 11 weeks away. i have trained really well to this point, and have logged some big miles after qualifying in NZ. I have a pretty big base.
Last Tuesday after a long run I couldn’t walk. It turns out that I have either sacroilitis (inflammation of the sacroiliac joint) or some sensitivity in my facet joints in my spine way down there.
Apparently both conditions are ‘point and shoot’ and can be fixed pretty easily, with a fair (90%) chance of total success.
The problem is that I have no medical insurance and the doctor concerned only treats at a Private hospital. Hence this problem will cost about AU $1000 - $2000 to fix.
On top of that, there are all the costs of the race, which are plenty.
I know for sure that I will be paying interest for a while on my credit card if I go through with this.
I am fortunate today to live a financially comfortable life…things are good, I have nice things. Most of the fact that I am today comfortable is the fact that I hace never ever finaced a toy…if I needed to buy a bike on a credit card, I waited another six months and paid cash. I have never paid for a dime of any IM race on a credit card that would hold a balance for more than 48 hours till I was able to get to the internet and pay it off…I wont pay interest…period.
BUT!!!
This is the big show man…you made it. You are a the top…can you get this medical deal, recover, qualify again and go next year? Is that a desire? Have you done Kona in the past?
If you have done Kona in the past this to me is a no brainer…go get fixed, forget Kona this year. If this you think is your one shot…go…put it on credit…go…do it…you can live our dreams. I WOULD no question go into debt to go to Kona if I was to qualify. No question. Well, unless I was hurt, needed medical this or that and knew I would have a good chance to qualify again next year…
I probably didn’t make the clear. It will go away on its own…but not in time to do the work required for Kona. I can make it go away quickly (i.e. this week) via medical help, but it will cost me.
I have never paid a cent of interest on my credit card, but this is a grand or two I did not budget for.
I have done Kona before, but not when I have done this sort of base training. I should be able to smack my best time there (9:32) provided I can get to the line…but it’s a matter of financial priorities. On it’s own, this is no big deal, but with everything else…wah wah wah. I should just get over it and fork out the bucks I suppose.
If I qualified and had never been previously nor thought it would work out next year, I would mortgage my left nut and get my sack fixed to go to Kona. (I know where the sac joint is but couldn’t resist
The majority of the people on here reside in the most indebted country in the world so I think I know what the answer will be. But you have no doubt buried enough money on the race already with entry fee etc. so you may as well burn some more if you have the means to pay it back quickly afterwards.
You might be wasting your money with that doctor. There is usually not a “quick fix” for those type of injuries. They are overuse injuries which took time to develope and will take time to heal. With rest you can fix it for free. Whatever treatment they are pushing has a good chance of not working.
How do I know? Well I don’t know your specifics so I don’t know for sure, but I am a doctor and have had the type of injury you described. I tried a few quick fixes, none of which worked. Only laying off fixed the problem. I also see and diagnose many of the local triathletes and runners on a regular basis. Quick fixes almost never work for overuse injuries. They do work to make money for the doctor or chiropracter.
Always try rest first. It’s free, non invasive, won’t cause harm, and usually works if given a chance and enough time.
R10R; Unfortunetly you and many of your “Credit Card Free” freinds are missing out on FREE MONEY. There is nothing wrong/sinister/ or evil with CC. No need to rush home to pay off a charge. Take advantage of the free 23 days of use and payit off each month when do.
If you can make 6% annual interest, thats .5% / month. so every $1000 is $5 in your pocket. My CC are atleast $2000 so thats $10 * 12 months – $120 per year they pay me to use there money, Gee thats nice of them.
wait a second… what do they want to do that cost that musch money??? As a DC and ART doc, I treat those conditions for cheaper than that. What have you tried so far?
I agree with slick, at least in my own case with an s-i problem. It first surfaced late in 2001 and bugged me periodically until June '03 when a comprehensive bike fit (Fit Werx) cured about 93% of the problem. At its worst, I would feel very uncomfortable at anywhere from 25-45 minutes into a ride; many of my rides were punctuated with pelvic-thrusting stretches standing on my pedals (these actually worked quite well).
But we’re all different, and my expereince is very unlikely to be the same as yours. I’m 56 now, so unless you’re an older guy I would figure that your condition might improve more quickly than did mine. I’ll also say that I have a sports doctor, a chiropractor, and an A.R.T. practitioner, all of whom are terrific ---- and none of them were able to affect a positive change in my s-i. Time eventually worked, but the big improvement came from the bike fit. Like a regular prostate exam, a periodic tweak of your bike fit is a good thing, and it’s relatively inexpensive - so maybe start there.
My s-i problem only affected me on the bike, and if that’s the case with you then you should definitely consider Kona. The stretch I mentioned above only involves standing on your pedals and arching your lower back so that your pelvis is right up at the stem. For me, I could feel the relief almost instantly…although frequent repetition was required. 112 miles would make for a lot of stretching, and standing on the pedals on the windy Kona course might not the be the best way to ride, but it might be workable. At IMLP last year I maybe did just six of those stretches, down from probably 40 of them at Atomicman half in '02…and at Mooseman 1/2 in June - none. Time WILL work with this. Good luck!!
That just sounds fishy - the Dr. or practitioner that is charging mucho $ to treat it? It’s not surgery, but an injection of some sort and that should not cost $1,000+. Nothing is guaranteed and if he told you it was a “sure fix”, well I’m skeptical. Is there some other Dr. that you can go to? They’ll probably prescribe good ole Rest & Relaxation something no Triathlete wants to hear - especially with you and Kona coming up. But at least get a 2nd opinion.
How long did it take for your sacroiliac joint to heal? Weeks or months? And during that time could you at least swim? That should give D.W. an idea of the time he’d need to take off and make a decision from there.
You don’t want to hear this but it was about 10 months. i was able to swim and bike but i couldn’t run. I had overstressed it pretty bad before i finally got off it. if you caught yours earlier you probably will recover a lot quicker but overuse injuries typically take longer than you think to get better.
Concerning CC’s… I use mine and pay the balance off every month… Its a great tool for tracking spending and I have a neat plan that works with my Hilton timeshare… I never never pay for plane tickets or overnight hotels for my races thanks to the massive amount of points I accrue each month…
If it is just injections then I would do it and get a second job to pay for it… if it is more than that I would not go.
