Continuing the Cycle
Day 0 (Weds): Hit calf with bike pedal. Calf: "I hate you. Also, screw walking forever."
Day 1 (Thurs): Calf: "I still hate you. And walking. A lot." Lut drives me to and from work. My leg mainly hurts when my foot flexes upwards, especially while straight. So I limp around the workplace, sometimes taking half-steps so my injured leg is never behind the good one, and sometimes swinging my injured leg with the foot sideways so it doesn't have to bend when behind me. Also, when it's inactive for a while it hurts more to move it, so I jiggle my leg at my desk to keep it from going stiff. No real bruising, to my surprise.
Day 2 (Fri): Calf: "Still hate." I (mostly) joke about biking to work. Lut drives me again. Limp is improved significantly.
Day 3 (Sat): Calf: "I haven't forgotten. Or forgiven." Limp down to 'minor inconvenience', but I am still walking slowly. When we go to gaming, I opt to have Trask drive us the few hundred yards to get fast food instead of walking like I normally would.
Day 4 (Sun): Calf: "Okay, I might forgive you yet. MIGHT." Limp still minor inconvenience, but I figure on biking to work tomorrow.
Day 5 (Mon): Calf: "You know what? Changed my mind. SO MUCH HATE." I wake up with my foot able to flex normally and I can walk almost normally, but my shin aches. What? Bike to work anyway. By noon, the rear of my calf, inside of leg, and shin are all bruised and swollen. The front of my leg is chartreuse. The side of my foot, which has not so much has twinged at any point previous or even now, is livid purple. Left leg looks visibly and significantly larger than right from swelling.
Coworker: "Maybe you should keep that elevated. Do you want an ice pack?"
Coworker #2: "Maybe you should have someone look at that."
Keep leg elevated. It is uncomfortable and vaguely achy a lot of the time now, instead of just when I am walking. Supports weight fine, doesn't hurt -more- to walk, just ... annoying. Leave work a little earlier than usual. Bike home. Calf: "I actually feel better on the bike than I have at any other time today." Me: "You know what? I HATE YOU TOO."
Lut: "Have you thought about having someone look at that?"
Me: "ARRRGHH YES I HAVE I DON'T WANT TO SPEND THREE HOURS AND $500 IN AN ER SO THEY CAN TELL ME I HAVE A BRUISE."
Lut: "... maybe you could call your doctor?"
Me: "HAH IT TAKES SIX WEEKS TO GET AN APPOINTMENT WITH A PCP IN AMERICA ARE YOU CRAZY?"
Lut: "... um ... howabout you just call your doctor's office and ask anyway? Meanwhile I am going to be hiding in the office with the cat."
Call doctor's office. It's 4:58. Leave message on machine.
Me: "Dammit, I really want to whinge about this on LJ but I am just going to get 83 comments on how it might be broken or a blood clot or a ripped tendon or cancer and I need to go see a doctor RIGHT NOW."
Day 6 (Tues): Calf: "Hahahaha I am not done with you YET!" About the same as previous day. Drive to work (I have an hour of off-site training today so would be driving anyway). Keep leg elevated.
Coworker #3: "Maybe you should have someone look at that." Me: SNAP GROWL. 10:30AM: doctor's office calls me back. "Would you like an appointment today?" Me:"... yes?" "You can see the nurse practitioner at 1:10." Me: "Okay thanks wow I owe Lut even more of an apology."
Nurse-practitioner: "You have a bruise."
Me: "HAH I KNEW IT."
Nurse-practitioner explains that deep-tissue bruises take a long time to show up and the bruising pattern is normal and nothing indicates a blood clot or a fracture. "You can have it x-rayed if you really want." Me: "I don't. Can I start biking again? Do I need to baby it if it's just a bruise?" NP: "You can resume all normal activities for as long as your leg can tolerate it." Me: "WOOHOO YES BIKING TONIGHT!"
Calf: "Hey, I'm still all swollen and bruised here."
Me: "TOUGH LUCK YOU BIG BABY. Time to quit whining and leg up!"
Bike a slow 9 miles. Ahhhhh. Calf not giving me any trouble to speak of.
Day 7 (Weds): Calf: "oh poor me I'm all stiff and -- " Me: "Yeah whatever no one cares. I am done listening to you." Bike to work.
Day 1 (Thurs): Calf: "I still hate you. And walking. A lot." Lut drives me to and from work. My leg mainly hurts when my foot flexes upwards, especially while straight. So I limp around the workplace, sometimes taking half-steps so my injured leg is never behind the good one, and sometimes swinging my injured leg with the foot sideways so it doesn't have to bend when behind me. Also, when it's inactive for a while it hurts more to move it, so I jiggle my leg at my desk to keep it from going stiff. No real bruising, to my surprise.
Day 2 (Fri): Calf: "Still hate." I (mostly) joke about biking to work. Lut drives me again. Limp is improved significantly.
Day 3 (Sat): Calf: "I haven't forgotten. Or forgiven." Limp down to 'minor inconvenience', but I am still walking slowly. When we go to gaming, I opt to have Trask drive us the few hundred yards to get fast food instead of walking like I normally would.
Day 4 (Sun): Calf: "Okay, I might forgive you yet. MIGHT." Limp still minor inconvenience, but I figure on biking to work tomorrow.
Day 5 (Mon): Calf: "You know what? Changed my mind. SO MUCH HATE." I wake up with my foot able to flex normally and I can walk almost normally, but my shin aches. What? Bike to work anyway. By noon, the rear of my calf, inside of leg, and shin are all bruised and swollen. The front of my leg is chartreuse. The side of my foot, which has not so much has twinged at any point previous or even now, is livid purple. Left leg looks visibly and significantly larger than right from swelling.
Coworker: "Maybe you should keep that elevated. Do you want an ice pack?"
Coworker #2: "Maybe you should have someone look at that."
Keep leg elevated. It is uncomfortable and vaguely achy a lot of the time now, instead of just when I am walking. Supports weight fine, doesn't hurt -more- to walk, just ... annoying. Leave work a little earlier than usual. Bike home. Calf: "I actually feel better on the bike than I have at any other time today." Me: "You know what? I HATE YOU TOO."
Lut: "Have you thought about having someone look at that?"
Me: "ARRRGHH YES I HAVE I DON'T WANT TO SPEND THREE HOURS AND $500 IN AN ER SO THEY CAN TELL ME I HAVE A BRUISE."
Lut: "... maybe you could call your doctor?"
Me: "HAH IT TAKES SIX WEEKS TO GET AN APPOINTMENT WITH A PCP IN AMERICA ARE YOU CRAZY?"
Lut: "... um ... howabout you just call your doctor's office and ask anyway? Meanwhile I am going to be hiding in the office with the cat."
Call doctor's office. It's 4:58. Leave message on machine.
Me: "Dammit, I really want to whinge about this on LJ but I am just going to get 83 comments on how it might be broken or a blood clot or a ripped tendon or cancer and I need to go see a doctor RIGHT NOW."
Day 6 (Tues): Calf: "Hahahaha I am not done with you YET!" About the same as previous day. Drive to work (I have an hour of off-site training today so would be driving anyway). Keep leg elevated.
Coworker #3: "Maybe you should have someone look at that." Me: SNAP GROWL. 10:30AM: doctor's office calls me back. "Would you like an appointment today?" Me:"... yes?" "You can see the nurse practitioner at 1:10." Me: "Okay thanks wow I owe Lut even more of an apology."
Nurse-practitioner: "You have a bruise."
Me: "HAH I KNEW IT."
Nurse-practitioner explains that deep-tissue bruises take a long time to show up and the bruising pattern is normal and nothing indicates a blood clot or a fracture. "You can have it x-rayed if you really want." Me: "I don't. Can I start biking again? Do I need to baby it if it's just a bruise?" NP: "You can resume all normal activities for as long as your leg can tolerate it." Me: "WOOHOO YES BIKING TONIGHT!"
Calf: "Hey, I'm still all swollen and bruised here."
Me: "TOUGH LUCK YOU BIG BABY. Time to quit whining and leg up!"
Bike a slow 9 miles. Ahhhhh. Calf not giving me any trouble to speak of.
Day 7 (Weds): Calf: "oh poor me I'm all stiff and -- " Me: "Yeah whatever no one cares. I am done listening to you." Bike to work.