I notice that at times, I have more guts than brains…and for those of us with compromised body parts, there are times when brains are more valuable than guts. Recently, I learned this the hard way, and although I am not sure of the cause of the problem, I recently wound up in the Emergency Room of the hospital for the first time since my ileostomy. The good news is that it had nothing to do with my ostomy or intestines, and thank goodness, I am fine. So here is my story…

My left hip was radiating pain that I have never experienced, even though I was a long-distance runner for years, and certainly tweaked it many times. This was clearly different, and the pain was making itself more and more known over the days that followed the onset. So, the question, and the reason I am blogging about this is because I have two theories as to the cause of this injury. The first is that, as you well know from other posts, like so many of us, I suffer from severe leg cramps/muscle spasms, and they can awaken a sleeping bull. A few nights ago, one of these awakened me and I assume I twisted and contorted in my sleep, in order to deal with the contracting muscles in my feet and calf muscle.

Of course, since you know my protocol, you know I swigged Diet Tonic Water and Leg Cramp pills by Hyland, applied Thera Worx with pressure, and eventually, made my way to the pickle juice, which seemed to be just what I needed. I fell back to sleep, and that was that. Or was it?

The other reason may be that I was moving a box from my kitchen to my car for donation, and always protecting my stoma from potential hernia, may have rested too heavily upon my groin/hip. Or it may have even been a combination. Either way, I was hurting, and believe me, to go to the Emergency Room in the covid-era, I was hurting.

It was determined that I might have either a hairline or stress fracture, or a blood clot, based on the level and area that the pain was radiating, and x-ray, c-t scan and Doppler ultrasound were ordered.  I was in the Emergency Room for 6 hours, but by the time I left, I knew I did not have a fracture or clot. Thank goodness for the ability to find this out in one visit. Since things move at a much slower pace than I like, I reminded myself how fortunate I was to even be able to walk out of the ER, knowledge in hand. The diagnosis was tendon and/or ligament injury and inflammation, all of which was treated with Toradol, Tylenol and a lidocaine patch.

No exercise for a few days is difficult for me, but the ability to heal without any further intervention is a true gift, and I am eternally grateful. The message I want to share is that having vulnerable areas of our body require commitment to be mindful. If, in fact, I twisted while responding to a muscle spasm, I can only hope to not do it again. If, however, I injured myself while lifting something too heavy for my petite size, that is on me to NOT do that again. Not only do I need to protect my stoma, but my other parts, as well. Perhaps the same for you!

 

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