Out of Commission

I've been really proud of myself lately. I joined Curves 3 weeks ago and have been going regularly every week with a friend from church. In fact, I've lost 10lbs since I've joined! Which is the news I got so excited about when I fell....

At Curves, there are 10 hydraulic workout machines that each works a different muscle group. But in between each machine is a "resting square", which is a 2x2 square that sits about an inch off the floor. I always start on one of these squares, running in place, to get my heart rate going. Well yesterday, I began running in place as Abby (Curves instructor) was checking my weight progress. When she told me I had lost 10lbs since I joined, I hooped and hollered, and more than likely waved my arms in the air. While doing so, I wasn't paying attention to where I was on the square, and my right foot slipped off unexpectedly. I immediately lost my balance, and fell down on my left side, hitting my right knee on the square on my way down. Once the fall was complete, I was sore, but having had this happen *multiple* times, I just rolled on my back, laughed out loud, and waited for the immediate pain to dull before getting up. Abby noticed my elbow was bleeding from carpet burn, so she left to get me a band-aid for that. Shawna (my friend from church) sat next to me, just shaking her head at my clumsiness and laughing with me as we joked about my clumsiness.

A few minutes later, Shawna attempted to pull me up into a sitting position, when I realized something was terribly wrong with my left hip. I could not sit in a 90 degree position, without being in excruciating pain. Then I realized I couldn't move my left leg at all...not to turn over, not to sit up, not to bend. I began to get scared, afraid I had popped my hip out of socket. However, I didn't want to alarm Abby. So I laid back down, and when Abby wasn't around, I whispered to Shawna that something was seriously wrong. She asked me if I wanted her to call her husband to come help, and I said yes. So she went outside to call him, while I continued to try and convince Abby I was fine. If I was laying straight, I wasn't in pain. So that's the way I stayed....trying to keep a smile/laugh going the whole time. Shawna's husband, Eric, showed up 5 minutes later and started asking me questions about my pain. He concluded that it wasn't my hip, but seemed to be my hamstring instead.

Eric and Abby helped me to my feet, which is when I then realized it was, in fact, not my hip. But once on my feet, I was unable to put my weight on my left foot at all. So using Eric as a support, he got me to Shawna's car, and they took me to their house. I called Chris and my parents to tell them what happened. My dad told me that according to my description, my hamstring had been pulled on "level 3"...the worst that can be done without ripping it. There was concern that I had ripped it, but that idea was ruled out when we could not find a knot on the back of my leg.

Chris called a medic from church, who said I needed to ice it for 24hrs, then put heat on it for a few days afterward. Needing pain medication was an understatement, and I was worried about how I was going to make it through a night of sleep without being able to move my leg! Going to the bathroom was not possible, as the back of my thigh was so swollen, I was unable to bend it at my rear. Fun stuff, that was!

Fortunately, the pain meds did their job, and I was able to sleep pretty well throughout the night. I have kept ice on it constantly, although the swelling doesn't seem to have gone down much. Here's the comical part. Apparently, due to the large amount of pain that pulling my hamstring has caused, I failed to realize how badly I had injured my right knee. Today, I decided to get in the shower, as I HATE feeling gross and unclean when physically limited. When I was in the shower, I looked down to see that my knee was....well...HUGE....and pretty ugly. I was kinda shocked. I knew it was a little sore...but good grief!! I had Shawna take pictures of it after I got out of the shower. In the left picture, the huge lump at the top is NOT my knee....but the swollen part of my leg under and to the left of my knee. My kneecap is actually the red circle/scar from a previous fall (yeah...it happens a lot :) ). To the right, is a picture looking straight down on the bruise/swollen part of my leg. Again, the knee cap is actually the small circle on the bottom left of my leg.

So yay for time off work! Too bad I had to pull my hamstring to get time off, though! Pray that I heal quickly and that this doesn't keep me down for too long!