Tales of My Leg

Two Fridays ago, my left calf started hurting for no reason whatsoever. I Jazzercised on Wednesday -- but not strenuously enough to cause injury. It was just a constant, dull ache that was there whether I was moving, sitting or lying down. Of course, my first thought was that I had a big giant blood clot in my leg caused by my birth control pills. This was not helped by the fact that my leg constantly felt like it was falling asleep.

I fretted for the weekend, then scheduled an appointment with my doctor. The appointment was on Tuesday, which was the beginning of our second snowpacalypse. I slid my way on icy roads to my appointment. She wanted to rule out a blood clot, so she had me go to Riverside for a Doppler ultrasound. She also took blood to rule out a vitamin deficiency.

The Ultrasound

Again, I slid my way to the hospital for the ultrasound. As I was waiting, I decided that being an ultrasound technician wouldn't be a bad career. Some cute elderly men walked around with a coffee cart and cookies that they offered for free. Everyone seemed nice and friendly. (No one seemed intent on telling workers that they lacked poise and were unprofessional.) Plus, the employees get to wear what looked like pajamas.

I changed my mind when I actually got my ultrasound. I don't understand how they can see anything on the screen. It was a bunch of weird swirls. It looked like an abstract painting! It was just like having an ultrasound for your girlie parts only it was on your leg. They rub goop on your leg and wave a wand over it. The technician didn't see any clots, so she decided to listen to the blood flow of my leg. Apparently, my blood flow sounds like a whale song. Luckily, no clots!

The Vitamins

The doctor has me taking Aleve twice a day for a week in case the pain is being caused by a muscle problem. If it doesn't get better, I have to see an orthopedic doctor, which screams sensible shoes to me.

The nurse called on Friday with the results of my bloodwork. I'm low in iron (shocker - I'm ALWAYS low in iron), Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D. I have to take a B-12 supplement AND a multi-vitamin with iron. I also have to take a pill with a super high Vitamin D dose once a week for three months, then be checked again.

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It's a little embarrassing to have a vitamin deficiency. I'm certainly not missing too many meals and I eat cereal for breakfast most days.

Apparently, Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D deficiencies cause pain in extremities, numbness and tingling. On top of that, an eye twitch is a symptom of a Vitamin B-12 deficiency -- I've had an eye twitch for two months and just figured I was super stressed.

Hopefully, all these vitamins and the Aleve will make my leg feel better. (It still hurts.) I REALLY don't want to go to an orthopedic doctor!