Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Charlie Horse!

So it was EARLY Tuesday morning. I was sleeping peacefully...And then suddenly, I wasn't. At first, I thought that my right leg was being gnawed on by a shark(no doubt, a thought influenced by it being Shark Week and all)...But that was silly...An alligator was much more likely, being that we don't live on the beach.

As things came a little more into focus, I realized that I had a charlie horse in my right calf.The thing that I love about charlie horses(especially the ones that wake me up) is that it almost always feels like my leg is going to snap in two. Now, consciously, and sanely, I know that it is most likely not possible(or is it?), but that's still what it feels like, and I still imagine it happening, and that is no good.

I finished imagining my leg being Theismanned( he was an NFL quarterback for the Washington Redskins who had his leg broken on the field by Lawrence Taylor of the Giants. It made my leg ache when I first saw it{and the 1000 times that ABC reran it during the game}, and it makes it ache now when I think about it.) and I did what I had been told will help with a charlie horse, I extend my foot in the "other direction", and it forces the muscle to relax(I think- for whatever reason it works). The other thing I have been told to do was put my foot flat on a cool surface, but being that I am, in the words of one Jame Gumm aka John Grant aka Jack Gordon, "A great big fat person", the thought of getting out of bed and hopping on one leg to the bathroom to place my foot on a cool surface did not seem like a wise choice.

Plus, the re-angling of my foot did work, and I was able to get out of bed and get to the shower. Though for the rest of the morning, my leg would twitch, and I would be sure that it was gonna lock up again. Thankfully, it did not.

I complained about it on Facebook, and my sister told me that it could be a calcium deficiency, so I am now taking a calcium supplement, and we'll see if that ends the early morning gator attacks. I'll keep you informed.

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