Torn Calf Muscle

On May 3rd I was playing futsol (indoor soccer) with the stake women and I was playing defense.  I kicked the ball and stepped backwards and felt like someone had thrown a baseball at my leg.  I kept turning around looking for the culprit and quickly realized there was no one behind me and the pain was coming from inside my leg.

I couldn't walk and others started noticing I was in pain so a timeout was called and I hopped over to the chairs on the side.  It felt like the worst charlie horse ever and I couldn't calm down.  One of my teammates helped me to relax but I couldn't find a comfortable position.  They called Justin and he came quickly to get me and left the kids home alone (Mikey was asleep).  I had to have help out to the car and we decided a doctor visit was in order due to the amount of pain I was in.  I called my neighbor Sarah and she ran over and took care of our kids for us.  I was so grateful for her help.

We went to the Instacare by Syracuse High School and the wait for about a half hour.  I had Justin get the wheelchair to get me inside and I still couldn't find a position that didn't hurt like crazy.  I saw the doctor and he ruled out an Achilles tendon injury and deduced that I had torn my gastroc calf muscle.  He said the recovery time was about 3 weeks and the likelihood that it happens again is really high unfortunately.  No surgery required, just rest and allow it to heal on it's own.  They tried to fit me with a cam walker walking boot but it hurt too much so they gave me crutches, a prescription for pain, a muscle relaxer, and an anti inflammatory.  He told me to use crutches for a week and then try and walk after that.  The entire visit Justin kept making jokes.  I guess that's how he handles worry and seeing his wife in pain, lol.  I got home and tried to settle in but was in so much pain.  Justin had to go get my meds and I didn't get to bed until 11 PM.  I didn't really fall asleep until around 2 AM with so much anxiety running through me.

The medication worked so well that my pain went down considerably during the night and in the morning I wasn't in very much pain.  The doc said the next day would be very painful with several muscle spasms but that wasn't the case for me.  He also said my leg would turn black and blue but it didn't started bruising til a week later.  I used crutches for about 3 days and then started hobbling around on my own, it was just easier and not painful if I didn't put too much weight on my right leg.

I rested all weekend and let my husband take care of the kids and allowed ward members to bring meals in, it was so nice and relaxing!   I canceled all of my plans for that weekend and just stayed home to heal.

On Monday my Mom came to help and she slept over and over the next 3 days I had some help from women in my ward.  They would come and help get lunch on the table and get Mikey down for a nap so that I didn't have to work so hard. 

I didn't end up driving for 12 days and finally tried to drive on Tuesday, May 15th.  I only drove a mile to Walmart and went grocery shopping very slowly.  Each day since then I have gotten better and better and now I don't walk with too much of a limp.  In another week or so, I think I'll be walking normally again and look forward to my other strained leg muscles to heal and feel better.  Because I have been limping, the muscle below my calf has become strained and hurts also.  When I wrapped my leg, it helped the lower leg muscles but then my upper leg muscles and butt muscles started to ache, I just couldn't win!

Anyway, as hard as it is to get injured, it sure is nice to have everyone take care of you and give you extra love and attention.  I got to sleep through the night for over a week because I couldn't get around very well.  I started to not even hear my kids wake up in the night, wow, what a nice feeling.  Since my injury occurred a week and half before Mother's Day, I felt like I was receiving Mother's Day treatment for 10 days instead of just 1.  On Mother's Day, Justin still treated me like Gold, he's the best.