So, About That Injury

 Hopefully, we all remember The Injury, which I think began a downward spiral for my mood. 

(No, faithful reader, I'm not being dramatic.  I really do feel that way.  I adore working out, especially my Muay Thai and Capoeira classes, and having those abruptly yanked from me, plus no ability to walk for stress relief, plus being in constant - and I do mean constant - pain, as well as no ability to sleep due to the (did I mention?) pain, and my entire family and rest of my life falling to hell - well, that's where I am.) 

I tossed in the towel and went to the doctor today. I was, I'll admit, afraid to go.  I really didn't want to hear that anything was wrong. I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up with my leg back the way it was two weeks ago.  But, it wasn't getting better and so I went.  I was, uh, shocked to actually look at my leg - I had no idea, until I sat for the x ray and nurse pointed it out to me, that back of my entire leg, from the knee down past the ankle, is black, blue, green and yellow.  And swollen.  So, so swollen.  Almost double the size of my other calf.

I have a Medial Gastrocnemius tear - or a few.  I tore the calf muscle, as well as the accompanying tendon(s) - not certain how many, as I was (hello!) not listening. And what I thought was a large muscle cramp last month was actually the same injury, but being that I didn't know I'd harmed the muscle, I went back on it too early and that led to this (much worse) injury.  It's a condition called Tennis Leg, which is TOTALLY hysterical, given the fact that I hate tennis.   Want to read more about it, as well as see a picture of my FANTASTIC new accessories?  Look below the fold!

Here it is, from one of the gazillions of websites I've been studying today:

Tennis leg is similar to an Achilles tendon injury. At the time of injury, players experience searing pain or a tearing sensation in the calf as a plantar flexed foot (up on the toes) moves to dorsiflexion (raised toes while resting on the heel); the player may actually feel a "pop" as the gastrocnemius muscle tears.

Pain is instantaneous; as soon as the bleeding starts, the gastrocnemius goes into spasm, causing intense pain. Players may move after the injury, but once they stop, the gastrocnemius tightens up; the foot plantar flexes and the player can no longer put their heel down or bear weight without pain.

The injury may be characterized by a bulge, and is painful to the touch. The pain is always located on the medial (inside) side. Ecchymosis, or bruising, extends to the ankle and foot in about half of the cases; more severe cases have bruising apparent after the first few days along with swelling and distention.

I'm off work for a minimum of two weeks, and out of all lower body work for, oh, at least a month.

Comments

[amy]

I think it is so important to listen to our body, especially when we do not want to! I am so sorry you are dealing with this. I can only imagine how frustrating it is. I will pray for you to heal well and quickly!

[Philippa]

OMG!!!!

Well...thanks be to GOD you went to the doctor! What a PERFECT opportunity to get the chillin' (aka children) to have to pick up the slack of, dare I say it...

CHORES.

And to think, you have the perfect disciplinary tool at your finger tips...actually two of them.

CRUTCHES!!

Woooo-hoooo!

Get better and teach necessary homemaking/home caring skills.

(((Gentle hugs!)))

[Annika]

Oof. I'm so glad you went, and I hope your time off can actually be time OFF, time to figure stuff out, time to REST.

[Kai]

Oh sucko!!! At least you are finally on the mend and the way to the END of the pain!!

[Jill]

oh my gosh!!! I'm so glad you went to the doctor. I hope you're feeling better really soon.

[Maureen]

That sounds so freakin' painful - I'm so, so sorry! Not going to try to find a silver lining for you right now - just want to offer support! Hang in there!!!!!

[Headless Mom]

Two weeks. Lovely!

Take the time to rest, read, and DIRECT TRAFFIC. Doctor's order!

[Monica Bertone]

Ouch! I hope you feel better soon.

[mary]

shoot two weeks off work! At least you get THAT girl! Sucks!!!

I lol'd about the canes/tools....:)

[T with Honey]

Yikes! That's more serious that I figured it would be. Now the only problem is sitting still and letting it heal. I'm pretty sure that you're the kind of person that will have enough resting by the end of the weekend.

[Liz in Seattle]

Um, that's not exactly a cute little black shoe, is it? I agree with Philippa...swinging crutches can get the point across. Hang in there, kiddo, and DO NOT overdo it (harumph!).

[Nicki]

Oh, ouch! But, better to go and get it taken care of now then to keep fighting through the pain. I can kind of relate to the pain, (I tore my ACL.Gah, that was fun) but I think you have possibly one of the more impressive injuries I have ever heard of. *grin* Definitely follow their treatment plan for you, and, on a lesson learned the hard way bit of advice, make sure you are using the crutches correctly or it can be oh so painful. Make sure and take full advantage of this time to heal and rest up, and I hope you are feeling better soon.

[J from Ireland]

Oh my God, you poor thing. Time to really take good care of yourself. Best wishes.

[Elizabeth]

But what about the pain? Does the boot support it enough to help? Did you get pharmaceuticals for sleeping? DD had a very painful injury last month and until that pain was fixed she couldn't concentrate on anything. I hope you are feeling better - at least physically, and the rest to follow.

[Carmen Staicer]

Meds? Oh, yes.

Vicodin.

ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............

[Anita]

OUCH! Sending you lots of healing hugs.

[Kathy B in West Texas]

OH no! That's not good!

I'll be praying for you for a fast healing, and please pray for me as I have to undergo a uterine biopsy next Wed morning!

Take care!

[Anne-Marie]

OMG, I'm so sorry. It sounds awful and I've had my share of knee injuries. Mend quickly and well and take time for yourself. You deserve it.

[beth s]

Ouch, sorry to hear it is so bad. But, do BELIEVE the doctors about no0t going back to martial arts too soon. I sprained my foot around thanksgiving (a dumb karate move gone bad with too much messing around) very badly. I was told to stay off it and use the crutches for at least 2 weeks. Dumb me decided a week later to go to class anyway (the painkillers worked well so it didn't hurt too much). 5 minutes of warm-up (with the crutches) and I was DONE for another couple months. Couldn't even hobble around. And I am just now getting back to full workouts with jumping. So, take it easy! I know you'll miss class but a month now is better than many months if you mess it up worse.

[kathy]

That sounds horribly painful.I can't function well when I have a minor headache. How did You stand it? Hoping and praying for a quick and uncomplicated recovery for You.

[ggroszek]

Last time I had pain like that in my calf, to include swelling down to my toes, turned out to be a blood clot, and the next ten days in VA beach general. But yours sounds so much worse, I'm glad you didn't have to spend hospital time. Rest up girl.

[Marie]

Carmen, So glad you went to the doctor. Hoping for a quick recovery. Geez that sounds painful. ((HUGS))

[paige]

Oh ouch! I was wondering from your description. A few years ago my husband, a serious cyclist, had the exact same injury. It was very painful and pretty gruesome. He's got HUGE legs and the swelling made his calf massive.

His recovery was slow but uneventful, and if I could give you any advice on it, I'd say just don't push your recovery, take it very slow. This is one injury you don't want to aggravate!

We feel your pain down here in SWVA!

[susan]

Sending you lots of good wishes for a speedy recovery!

[kyoot]

I'm sending prayers and healing thoughts your way. What a mess. I didn't realized until I read the medical terms and the words "blood" that it was as bad as this. Heal up, don't over work yourself, do what it takes to heal. You have to look after you.
hugs!