Rip torn
June 25, 2010emily 1 Comment »No, not the actor (though isn’t that a great name?). At the dog park last night, I took a funny step as I threw the ball for Luke and heard a “pop, pop” in my calf muscle. I was in instant pain. My first thought was that I’d ripped my Achilles tendon. My high school boyfriend did that playing racquetball. When it happened, he could move his foot up and down, but the calf muscle wouldn’t move. Remembering that, I moved my foot up and down. The calf muscle responded just fine. I tried to walk: instant, crippling pain. I hobbled over to a chair and tried to stretch out the muscle. I could stretch it just fine but when I tried to walk again, I nearly collapsed from the pain. I got myself home as fast as I could and went to the emergency room. Where I waited. And waited. And waited. I don’t mind telling you that I was happy I wasn’t experiencing an actual emergency. Like, I don’t know, ebola. The waiting room was packed. A guy walked in after me with his pinky finger at a right angle from the rest of his hand and was told to go sit down. A man came in later in terrible pain, so much pain that he thought he was going to vomit. They gave him a plastic bin and told him to go sit down. This wasn’t looking good. When I found out that another woman (in a wheelchair and hooked up to an iv) had been waiting for four hours, I decided enough was enough. I went home, got an ice pack, and went to bed. At the doctor’s office this morning, I was sure I’d torn some minor tendon. I’d need surgery, at least. But luck was on my side: I have a tear my calf muscle. Two weeks of rest, crutches for the first time in my life, and pain medication, and I should be good as new!
Posted on August 3rd, 2010 at 6:27 am
[...] to stay in bed and let others take care of me. I get restless, irritable, and impatient. So when I tore my calf muscle five weeks ago, I sensed there might be trouble. My doctor told me to stay off of my leg for two [...]