howdy

IF there is a god, (s)he/it seems to prefer that Vortex and I never meet. We had planned to hang out for food & drinks last Thursday when something unexpected came up.

On Tuesday, my lower left leg swelled up like a balloon and hurt like hell to walk on - so I did the only sensible thing - called a taxi and went to the nearest emergency room. Living alone I've learned to take care of myself, and I'm pretty glad I didn't do the typical guy thing and just ignore it. The calf muscle itself had been painful for a few days, but when the whole lower leg got huge - I wanted an expert opinion.

The good news is that it wasn't a clot. But I spent 4 nights in the hospital being poked, prodded, imaged and tested just to confirm it. In the end, the doctors are still puzzled. But at present I'm home - continuing my treatment and hobbling around on crutches for at least another week or two. The treatment consists of bringing the swelling down by keeping my leg elevated and wrapped in a wet towel with a heating pad. It's got a pretty ugly bruise now, from the pooled fluids that are slowly draining. I'm not quite morbid enough to post a pic here. Sorry.

Bottom line is - looks like I'll be fine. And I had such a lovely time eating hospital food and just lying around for days. I think a shower is gonna feel really good tonight.

EDIT It sure did!