Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Because Even When It's Not About Diabetes, D Is Like: Look What I Can Do!

It’s been an interesting couple of days involving lots of cursing and me hobbling around on crutches after tearing my right quad muscle on Sunday afternoon. 

 It happened after a workout, near my car. I was turned a weird way, my boot got caught in the sidewalk, I twisted, heard a loud pop, landed on my left hip (which was fine,) and my right thigh felt like it was on fire. 
It hurt like hell and I screamed the word F^CK  in secession and at a rapid fire pace! 
I have a high tolerance for pain and I knew I was in trouble when I put my right foot on the gas peddle and screamed, because while my foot felt fine, it seriously felt like some one was slicing my thigh. 
I called my friend, she came to where I was parked and drove me to the ER.  

The Annoying News: It hurts when I stand up; when I sit down, when I unexpectedly flex my leg or move it wrong. 
I'm not nor have I ever been a contortionist, so the whole "elevating my thigh above my heart while icing," was excruciatingly comical. 

I can’t move the quad past certain points and holding my right ankle in a quad stretch is impossible.

When it first happened, every time I tried to lift my thigh, it felt like 50 lb weight was attached to it - now it feels like a 25 lb weight.

Sidebar: I didn't realize how low to the ground my toilet was until Sunday night. 
And I never realized how low to the ground many cars are until Sunday night or how much you have to stretch your quad to get in to a high vehicle. 
And it was less than pleasant when I realized that you used your quad muscle to shut the car door, put on your socks, not to mention your pants and shoes. 
So yeah, GOOD TO KNOW. 

The Good News: It’s fixable and the pain is much better than it was on Sunday, and much more tolerable today than it was yesterday. I can drive, 
I'm using the crutches less and less - which is what the Ortho demands and I agree. USE IT OR LOSE IT.
PT (Physical Therapy,) officially starts on Friday - and unofficially started yesterday when myOrtho showed me some quad stretches to do in a chair or while standing.  
I’m traveling a lot in the next couple of weeks, so if you see me in real life, - I’ll be doing PT exercises mid conversation - and I will most likely curse like a sailor  when I stand up and or sit down. 

How does a torn quad muscle relate to diabetes? 
Technically, tearing my muscle had nothing to do with diabetes - but diabetes still managed to come front center and shout: Look what I can do!
And then I was like: SHUT UP DIABETES, this isn't about you!!
Pre 'pop goes the muscle' and post workout (thank you decreased temp basal rate,) my blood sugar was 120. 
I was happy with that. 

When I arrived at the ER 25 minutes later and checked it again, my blood sugar had shot to 172, then 200, and stayed between 200 and 202 for several hours.  
I knew the adrenaline was causing the increase and I didn’t worry about it, but it was interesting to see it play out. 
My blood pressure also shot up because of the adrenaline and the pain - that upset me. 
The ER staff was less than thrilled, and they continued to watch it. 
Luckily for me it went down by the time they were giving me my exit paperwork. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about not being able to do daily cardio, I am. 
But I’ve also decided that I will workout like a boss in PT - and walking will also be a part of of the PT, hence part of my cardio.
And I know the PT will hurt - not thrilled about that. But I also know that if I don’t do it, I will suffer later - so yep, I'm going to do it.


Shit happens in all of our lives, diabetes or not - and we pick ourselves up by our bootstraps, even if it hurts like a bitch and we are less then steady on our feet. 

We do what we must and "we get by with a little help from our friends." 
Friends who keep us steady, dry our tears, force/go with us to the ER, drive us to the pharmacy and make us laugh and smile - And we keep forging ahead with gusto. 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wishing you a quick recovery!!!

Colleen said...

Sorry to read about your fall and your pain and just... yuck.
Hope your up and about and pain free very soon.

Unknown said...

Oh Man! What a bummer. I wish you a quick recovery K2.