Mar 20, 2009

the belly of the muscle

last night i was getting my groove on in dance class and had a freak accident ripping my calf muscle. the name of the muscle is the gastrocnemius, the large and bulky muscle in the back. the doctors tend to call it the "gastroc" in conversation, which of course sounds much cooler. i like to think they are really saying "gastROCK!"

the injury is in the belly of the muscle, which also just sounds ridiculous. but yeah, right in the middle where all the magic happens, that's where i tore it. the upshot: i'll be crutchin' around for about a week, and after a weekend of icing the muscle, avoiding weight on it, and generally acting protective, i'll switch to heat and start some gentle stretching. by gentle stretching i mean, flexing and pointing my toes. after i can do that well and without a problem, i can start standing on a stair with just my toes and use gravity and resistance to work the muscles more.

i am really not patient enough to be a good patient. however, i could get used to the white-glove-five-star-hand-servant treatment i'm lucky enough to get from nate. this alone helps me want to treat myself better. this much effort and energy into assuring i rest up and do right by myself from someone else would be such a shame to waste. i was even loaned ninja pillow this afternoon - he's been watching over me as i rest and nap and stay out of trouble.

here's my not-so-secret secret: i am pissed off. it's the first day of spring for crying out loud. it's beautiful and glorious and i want to be riding my bike, and i want to be enjoying the blue sky and the fresh breeze in the air with a spring in my step. my step is decidedly unspringy right now. leaden is more like it. certainly there are so many worse things that could have happened, involving long term rehabilitation and physical therapy, even surgery. so all in all, i'm not doing too shabbily. so when i feel a bit bummed i just think about the belly of my muscle and how seriously dumb that sounds, and it makes me crack a smile.

plus, i am totally going to enjoy the crap out of the rest of this year. once i have two working legs i'll be walking and springing and skipping and biking and street-funking and yogaing all over this piece. so just watch out. i will seriously gastROCK all over 2009, so don't say i didn't warn you. in the meantime, can you hand me the remote so i can watch my programs?

(p.s. - next time i post here i'll show y'all a picture of the awesome needlepoint that miss dirtyboots sent me. handmade! quite a saucy renaissance woman, that clare.)

1 comment:

katygirl said...

On an unrelated note, if I should ever magically become the fourth Beastie Boy, my MC name would be Gas-Rock! Because I am both gassy and rocking.

(speedy recovery to the pookiest pook who ever pooked. xoxok)