Mom to the Screaming Masses

So, Let's Recap

in 2009, I tore my gastrocnemius muscle in my right calf. It's the shorter muscle - the one that runs on the inside of your leg. It starts about midpoint up on your calf. I tore it doing banded sprint runs at my gym.

I aggravated it by ignoring it and walking on it for ten days. Well, no. I didn't walk on it. I pulled that leg behind me every where I went, and when the pain became so acute I couldn't stand it, I started crying and was asked to leave work. I wasn't to come back until I was better. I went to a very very good sports ortho in the area - it helps when you know people, I'm a firm believer in that - and was given crutches and a walking boot and told to sit on my rump and do nothing for a long, long time. 

I wore that boot for over five months. I went to PT forever and ever and ever and rehab and it was mostly better. When I started running to earn my black belt, it crapped out on me and I ended up having to ditch the running. Well, no. I *could* run, but it was a slow and pitiful thing and, also, somewhat discomfortable.

Now it is 2012. And my leg STILL HURTS. ALL THE TIME.

It's not an acute pain. It's a constant, dull, nagging pain. I liken it to the feeling you have in your muscle right before it spasms into a cramp. My leg always feels as if it needs a good stretch - but that doesn't help. I stretch every day. I warm up slow. I don't jump. I don't run. I get massages. I wear compression sleeves. I roll it out with a foam roller. I leave my right foot on the ground ALWAYS while in Zumba. I wear really good and supportive shoes and stop when it hurts.

If I walk further than about 4 miles, the pain becomes more acute and goes down to my achilles. I can feel a dull ache every minute of the day, and even doing something as stupid as driving - I can feel it cramp just from pushing the pedal for a long time.

I feel like I'm 197 years old with the most babied leg in the history of legs. See also - I feel like a poser, because I don't limp and so most people don't think that there's anything wrong. It's affected my cardio and my weight and my mental state. Even if I could afford to go back to boxing, I probably wouldn't because I can't stand in kick stance (on your toes) for that long now - it's too painful. And I loves me some boxing.

About a month ago, I started having random, out of nowhere, muscle spasms. It's kinda like a party trick - I can look at my leg when it's happening and see the muscle quivering. I ramped up my calcium/magnesium/potassium intake, but it kept on happening.

Today, I went back to sports ortho. It appears that the original tear is either not fully healed, or, more likely, has reintroduced itself to my leg. It may have decided to bring a few friends along for the fun - as in, there may be a few smaller tears hanging out in there as well.

I am so pissed.

I have an MRI scheduled for next week. (Which, hello, I almost cancelled, because it's going to be more than $2000 !!!!!!) My husband told me to get it done - he's tired of hearing me complain about my leg. I'M tired of hearing my complain about my leg. EVERYONE is tired of hearing me complain about my leg.

After that, we decide. I have three options:

1. Have surgery, which would entail cutting the muscle and reattaching it. Would probably be *very* successful. Would definitely be *very* painful. Would take a lot of healing time. 
2. Undergo an experimental procedure called PRP that has a decent success rate in this type of case. Would be very painful. Not as painful as surgery and has a quicker recovery time. Would not be covered by insurance probably. 
3. Do nothing and continue in discomfort forever, and maybe one day have a total and full tear that would decide the entire matter for me.

Gee. I don't have any idea which of those situations is better.

The Issue with The Stomach

I have this one kid. Child X. I've referred to each of my kids at one point in time or another as Child X.

Child X has had a stomach ache for close to a year. Child X has lots of anxiety, and so we all (a couple of doctors + parents = a team in my book) considered that it was a nervous condition and worked on behaviour mods.

Didn't help.

We took lactose out of the diet. Didn't seem to help, as in the stomach aches still continued, but oddly enough, grew worse when we reintroduced the lactose - so out it stayed and the stomach still hurt. Child X burped and burped and burped.

Child X had such a tough year at school with bullying and educational issues that I was just certain it was a emotional issue. Child X blew through two industrial size bottles of Tums.

Run, Run, as Slow as You Can

I can always be caught when I'm running.

February 2009, I tore my gastrocnemius muscle. It was an almost complete tear and I was offered surgery to repair it. I chose to avoid surgery and instead wore a walking boot for 4 months. I went to physical therapy for months and eventually made a full recovery. I've had very little trouble with that leg since then. I ran an 8K race in March of this year, finishing it in 57ish minutes. So, maybe 11 minute miles. Nothing to write home about, but, hey. What can you do.

I remember the sports orthopedist telling me that I'd probably never run fast or long distance again, but I figured that I've done one half marathon and several 8-10k's, so I don't have anything to prove and I was fine with that.

In May, I realized that I'd be in the black belt rotation for the upcoming year. I knew the requirements were tough. 60 push ups, 110 sit ups in 2 minutes, 4 endurance rounds, run 2 miles in less than 17 minutes. That run right there would be my Achilles' heel. I knew that, and so I started running in earnest then. I kept the runs to 1 mile, choosing to focus on cutting the time down. i ran a couple of times a week in May, June, July and August.

7 Things You Should Know About This Week

1 - It is physically possible for 7 people in one family to get the double ended stomach flu and a last one to remain standing, still in good health, and irritable because he cannot go the the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper OR play baseball in the backyard with Daddy. Yes. Even Daddy was down. (And Mommy.)

2- Blue Gatorade is actually really good when you are dehydrated. Especially if it's cold.

3 - Lemon Propel is still my very favorite, though.

4 -My washing machine has not stopped running in 72 hours. God Bless Frigidaire.

5 - Mackenzie has a knack for words. "This place smells like death and despair." Truer words were never spoken.

6 - It is possible to vomit so violently that you do, indeed, puke blood. I would have never believed it had I not seen it.

7 - When you are sick, and your family is sick, your entire world shrinks down to absolutely nothing. You go from one to another, wiping mouths and dispensing gatorade, and never spare a look to your twtter feed, your facebook wall or your email.

I still think we need new carpet. Especially now.

Share with me - what was the worst that your family was ever sick? Cuz for me, this was the worst. Seven of us laid up in various spots in the house, for three days. Worse than when my daughter was hospitalized for dehydration. Worse than the 5 months of rotating strep. Worse than just about anything I've ever seen.

And Allegra just asked if she's had the Chicken pox vaccine, because two days ago, she shared a straw with a girl who today has the chicken pox.

I couldn't make this stuff up IF I TRIED.

P.S. - Check out Scrutiny, where you can win a free dinner for your family and get an extra $25 on a PASS card for your teen!

Did You Ever Wonder Why Grocery Stores Have Customers at Midnight?

It's for people buying LYSOL.

Let me back up. This is a long one, so you'd better make sure you pee AND get another cup of coffee before you go below the fold.

Yesterday, the phone rang. It was the school nurse, telling me that Emma had a headache. It was 2:30 - she'd just hold her in the office until 3:00 dismissal. I wasn't alarmed - Emma has a history of headaches, doesn't always wear her glasses when reading. and her classroom is really loud. The school has a note for motrin, and the nurse is competent and familiar with my child. I arrived at school and grabbed my daughter, who admittedly did look a little pale and iffy - but by the time we got home, she'd bounded back beautifully.

Looks can be deceiving.

I'll Take EBV for $500, Alex

A couple of weeks ago, Allegra asked if she could go to NY with her girlfriend. Said girlfriend was attending a family reunion and wanted to bring a friend, so she asked if Allegra could come along and while they were in NY, they'd do some shopping. I gave my permission.

I didn't talk to her much over the course of those four or so days. When she came back, she was really tired.

She's always tired. ALWAYS. This is a child that can sleep and sleep and then get up and sleep some more. She has a habit of staying up late, and she just could sleep all day. So when she came home tired, I didn't think much of it. Teenage girls, staying up late, talking, chatting - it's only natural she was tired. Yes?

As a bit of history, she's the one in the family who always gets sick as well. One of the other kids might bring home a cold - for Allegra, it morphs into bronchitis at least once a year. She's my kid who had pneumonia. She does not eat well, does not like to take vitamins, loves junk food with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. She stays up late and then wonders why she's tired. She has no resistance and is a run down pile of goo a lot of the time.

Typical teen.

VCD

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The first time that she fell to the field gasping for breath during a game was scary. The second time, I wasn't there, so it bothered me in a less visceral way. After all, what you can't see isn't nearly as off putting as what is right in your face. It scared her, though, and when we went for her checkup with the allergist, I discussed it. We both thought it was asthma - she had difficulty breathing, and when I gave her the albuterol it seemed to help. But the allergist had a different thought.

VCD. Vocal Chord Dysfunction. Go to Occupational Therapy, meet with a Speech Pathologist, teach the kid to breathe.

HUH?

Food Allergy Week Celebration. Maybe. Possibly. Sort Of.

It seems like everything has a "week". Food Allergy Week is May 9-15, and it's always in the back of my mind. Never more so than this year.

When Gabriel was a baby, he had RSV several times. He also had these odd groups of random hives. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason - he'd just break out in hives. The doctor told me to give him Bendadryl. We went to a party when he was about 15 months old and he crawled around on the floor, and when I picked him up he was happy enough, but his entire body was one big welt.

Out

You remember that today was Carmen's surgery, right?

She asked that I pop on over here for a quick visit to update you all on her status. So, Here I am! I got a note from her moments ago: out of surgery, still groggy from the anesthesia, and it was a little more involved than they thought. But still, she's out and ok. (More details? I have none and they are not mine to dish out either. I'm sure she'll share more when she's ready.)

Oh. Who am I? Headless Mom, nice to meet you! (Has anyone ever given you the keys to their blog? For some reason it has been incredibly nerve wracking for me. I hope that I make her proud. Or something like that. Or at least not make her so embarrassed that she deletes this immediately. Heh.)

Anyway, since she's given me the reigns I'm going to take a little liberty here and ask that you all leave her a message of encouragement. Her recovery shouldn't be too bad, but it will be so nice for her to have some lovely words to read over the next few days while she gets her strength back. Thanks!

PS-If you happen to be one of the 7 other people that live in Carmen's house? Could you give her a hug for me and let her know that all's well over in the blog direction? Thanks!

To Carmen, REST! I know that you don't rest well, but take care of yourself. (Insert your mother's voice here.)

Bye all! (I'll be updating for Carmen if she needs/wants me to. Don't hold it against her...)

Wednesday

Wednesday I'm having surgery. 

Boys, look away from this post, ok? Pretty please and thanks in advance. I appreciate it. 

Ladies, please to come below the fold and give a girl some advice.