On a personal note …

Another challenge ahead for me.

Saturday I felt my left calf trying to cramp. Now, I haven’t had a leg cramp in years, so, to say the least, I was surprised and a little concerned. When trying to walk, I experienced some pain in my calf and foot. That night I noticed my calf was swollen and the back of the calf had a hot-spot about the size of a half-dollar. As I tried to massage the area of the cramp, it was painful to the touch.

Sunday morning I could hardly walk. My left calf and foot hurt with every step. The more pressure I put on the front of the foot (ball and toes) the more pain I experienced. Yet, being the exercise nut I am, I did my short routine. The more I exercised the legs, the better it felt. When I was through with my routine, the leg felt pretty good. When I checked the calf that evening, it was more swollen and painful to the touch.

Monday morning … the pain was even worse and the half-dollar size spot on the calf was hot and very painful to the touch. My wonderful wife told me to call the doctor.

That afternoon, I saw my doctor who immediately sent me over for an ultrasound. The actual ultrasound was very uncomfortable … the position I was in and not being able to move caused neck cramps and back spasms. They checked me from the hip to the ankle, several times. The technician found a blood clot in the vein and the backup of blood was about five inches long (leading down the leg).

Back to the doctor I went and he gave me the bad news. Blood Thinner! He also said because the pills take a week or two to kick in, I had to have twice a day injections in the stomach for seven to ten days with regular visits to the doctor to test my blood. Worse of all, because I am less than mobile, I need to stay on the drug for six months.

As we analyzed the possible reason for the clot, it appears it probably was probably caused by my writing for long periods of time without taking a break. For the last ten months I have been writing several hours a day without moving. I remember days were I sat typing for four hours straight without a break. Okay, I admit it, that was not too smart of me.

Well, today is day two of another adventure in my life. Needless to say, I won’t be sitting for more than two hours at a time again.
 

Don’t Forget to Vote!

For those of my readers in the United States, I am asking that you make an effort to vote today. It doesn’t matter who you vote for; what matters is that you vote.

This is projected to be another close election, so every vote counts and you can make a difference.