The past 45 days have been interesting. For some reason, I ended up with a bum right leg. I suspect part of the reasonn is my persistent meralgia paresthetica (pinched nerve) in my thigh, but that doesn't explain the knee and calf pain. Sitting is painful. Walking is painful. Standing is painful. Driving is excruciating because of the pressure on the back of the thigh from sitting. Lyng down does help a little.
When you live alone, there's nobody to fetch and carry for you. Nobody to bring you a glass of water or cook your dinner or drive to the grocery store. So resting the leg is difficult--thus the borrowed crutches and the standing saddle stool (more on the stool, below).
Never one to rush into things, I thought I'd take a wait and see attitude and let Mother Nature do some healing. Apparently Mother Nature was on vacation, because she totally ignored me, and the pain got so bad that I'm now on crutches. I also bought one of those standing saddle stools, and I zoom all around the house in it, which has helped take the weight off my bad leg. These stools are designed with a seat that looks like an English saddle, so that when you sit in them, your legs hang down from the hips, not from the knees. This takes pressure off the back of the thighs and keeps the hips in a more open position.
I have an appointment with the doc in a few days to get a diagnosis and to see if they can get me back to normal. In the meantime, just call me "gimp."
