Monday was a WEIRD day...

Monday was such a strange day. Paul and I both needed to go to Patient First, which is an urgent care center near our house. We went for two completely different reasons right after work.

Paul's reason: He needed HARD drugs.

My reason: I thought I had a blood clot in my leg!

Spoiler: Paul did not get the drugs he desired. I did not have a blood clot.

Let me tell you Paul's situation first before we get into my drama. His shoulder has been hurting for months, even though he rests it. Whenever he eases back into lifting weights again, it bothers him. A couple weeks ago, his doctor at OIP gave him a cortisone shot, but it didn't help. So he got an MRI and it looks like he has tendonosis in his shoulder. The doctor thinks a cortisone shot would help and that the first one may not have been in the right place. So on Monday afternoon, Paul got his second cortisone shot.

About a half hour later he was in SEVERE pain! His first shot didn't hurt but this one really did. Paul is no sissy when it comes to pain. After brain surgery, he was only taking extra strength Tylenol! So he's not a crybaby about pain! When he tells me something hurts, I know it HURTS.

He called OIP but he couldn't get a hold of the doctor and the secretary wasn't picking up. Over the counter pain meds were not taking the edge off.

I picked him up right after work and took him to Patient First because he needed something for the pain. I told him I didn't think they were going to prescribe him what he wanted (Vicodin or something similar), but they would possibly be able to talk to someone at OIP faster than he could get a hold of them, and maybe then OIP would call in a prescription for something stronger.

Well, Patient First did call OIP but Paul didn't get pain meds. He did get a sling. Womp. Womp. (The sling helped a little.)

I feel really bad for Paul because I know he is not a sissy when it comes to pain. I made sure to take care of him and not make him do any housework Monday night! On Tuesday, his shoulder felt mostly better as long as he didn't move it. I really hope the pain is totally gone soon and that the cortisone shot worked.

Now, my drama.

For the past two weeks, whenever I kneel on the ground or do a stretch which requires leg flexion, it feels like a section of skin on the lateral side of my lower leg is stretching. It is a really weird feeling. It doesn't hurt, it just feels stretchy! 

This is the spot:

On Monday afternoon I was kneeling and crawling around on the floor at work because I was making a sign for the show my 3rd and 4th graders are doing next week. That area of my leg started to feel weird... I want to say it felt numb, but I could feel it, so it wasn't numb. It was strange. It also felt a little puffy and swollen.

I went straight to Google because I wondered if it had anything to do with vericose veins. My legs are really pale right now so you can see lots of blue veins. I thought maybe something was wrong with them. Well of course when you Google veins the first thing that comes up is a BLOOD CLOT!

I marched right up to the school nurse and I was really flipping out because when she touched the area it felt weird. Again, it didn't hurt, it was just puffy and sort of numb. The nurse determined that it was most likely not a blood clot since she felt a pulse below the area that was bothering me. She mentioned it could be something that had to do with the nerves in my leg or my back and recommended I get it checked out.

Sometimes I can really freak myself out. The last time I got really freaked out was when I was at the salon getting my hair dyed. I was afraid I was going to have an allergic reaction to the dye and my throat would close up. I really worked myself up over that, and I was really working myself up about this weird feeling in my leg. I got hot and my heart raced.

Once we got to Patient First, I was a little more relaxed because I figured if I collapsed from a blood clot, they'd be able to take care of me. (I don't even know what happens to you when you have a blood clot, I just assume you collapse. That sounds dramatic enough, right?)

They measured and weighed me (I always ask not to see the number on the scale). They also took my blood pressure, but I warned them I was really anxious so it might be high. It was 136/74. My pulse was 83. I was worked up. (For instance, I just sat down for my lunch after teaching a class and my pulse is 66.)

Then it was time to wait for the doctor. Once he came in and I told him what was going on, he quickly determined it was not a blood clot and most likely a nerve issue. My discharge papers said "lesion of lateral popliteal nerve on lower left limb".

Of course when I got home I had to figure out what a nerve lesion was...

"A nerve lesion is an injury which affects one of the nerves in the body. These lesions can be caused by a wide variety of situations and medical conditions, and they can cause an assortment of symptoms. Treatment for the lesions depends on locating the lesion and determining its cause, and it may not always be possible for a doctor to deliver a good prognosis for a patient with nerve lesions.

In a complete nerve lesion, the nerve is so damaged that signals cannot pass across it. This damage may be permanent in nature. Partial lesions involve partial damage to the nerve which causes an interruption in the nerve's function. Partial lesions are more likely to have a positive outcome, because it is possible for the body to adapt to the physical change."

The doctor told me to take NSAIDs for the next couple days to see if that calms the nerve. I'm not going to do the stretches where I flex my leg or kneel on the floor at work anymore! Hopefully things get better in the next few days, if not, I will follow up with my family doctor.

**Update: On Tuesday my leg was not as "numb" as it was Monday. I really think all the kneeling on the floor aggravated it! I'm trying not to do that and I'm trying not to cross my legs.**

BUT THERE'S MORE DRAMA TO TELL YOU! And you will just have to check back tomorrow to read about that because this post is getting quite long as it is!

Have you ever had nerve issues?
How about a blood clot!?