Good things are coming...
Happy New Year!
Good things are coming… they have to be!
My New Year didn’t exactly start out as I had hoped. It came and went without pomp, circumstance or any celebration at all. This is how I prefer spending the last night of the year - I prefer to be home. I’ve never been one to embrace the whole New Year’s Eve hooplah.
December 31 started out no differently than any other year except for a weird pain behind my knee that presented itself when I got out of bed. It felt as though I had pulled a ligament or something. I decided to hit my spin class so that I could end the year on a good note. That afternoon the pain started to intensify and by 9:00 pm that night I put myself to bed with ice packs, a heating pad and a jarful of Motrin. Morning couldn’t come soon enough. I was worried as I knew that calf pain was not something to ignore. After popping 3 motrin my pain level diminished to a 5 (out of 10) and I somehow managed to get a couple of hours of sleep after we had crossed into the new decade.
By 9:00, and after having pooped 4 Motrin, I managed to hobble down the stairs and into the car. My daughter drove me to a walk-in affiliated with a local hospital. I was seen quite quickly and while they suspected I had a Baker’s Cyst, they did worry about DVT (deep vein thrombosis) which has very similar symptoms and can be fatal. I was sent over to the ER where I had been pre-registered.
Despite being a slow day in Emergency I was there for over 4 hours as I waited to get an ultrasound and waited some more for my results. In the end it was confirmed that I indeed had a Baker’s Cyst that measured to be about 3 cm. I was told to apply ice, wrap the area in a compress and stay on a high dose of ibuprofen.
I had been given a pair of crutches at the walk-in which was a Godsend as I have no idea how I would have managed without them. Any movement - even the slightest - was beyond excruciating I worried about getting in and out of the car and then climbing the flight up to my apartment.
The cyst itself isn’t really a big deal. It can cause pain. Many people have it without knowing they do. I believe this was me. My doctor told me that she believes that my cyst burst and that was likely the cause of the intense pain. After doing some research I have to think that’s exactly what happened. I wondered if my spinning on New Year’s Eve morning may have caused the cyst to burst, or whether it would have done so on its own.
I was grateful to have been home and without plans. Grateful to not have been traveling and ruined anyone’s celebratory plans.
Five days later and I am still recovering. I am in MUCH better shape and can get around with a minor limp and minor pain. I have to watch my activity level and keep my leg raised for as long as possible. It will be a while before I’m fully active and back on my feet. This isn’t how I intended to start the New Year but I will have to make the best of it.
I was ready to dive into the New Year head first. To take it by storm… and that didn’t happen and five days in I’m still waiting for that start. I have to believe that good things are indeed coming. As I sit in bed with my leg elevated and as I write this entry, I’m thinking and plotting out my intentions for the year.
So let’s raise our glasses and toast to all the good things coming our way this year!