Had a strain in left calf partway through cross-country season. Mostly tried to baby it, and get through the rest of the season, but ended up ramping mileage down and basically bagging it. That December ramped up intensity for indoor track and it got noticeably tighter and more tender. Kept pushing until midway through indoors, when I got a POP as I tried to accelerate for the last 400 of a mile race. The bus ride home was excruciating, and it was swollen for several days. I ended up redshirting outdoors, and needed a good 6 weeks before I was off crutches and anywhere near low-mileage training again. I opted to not have surgery which worked out ok for me.
I was able to ramp mileage up slowly that spring and summer, and went into the fall with a solid base of 80-90 mpw, which by most D1 standards was inadequate, but given I wasn't able to walk 6-7 months prior, I felt good about.
It has never been the same. I essentially moved from being a mid-distance guy with range up to 10k to being a 5k/10k guy who occasionally ran a 3k. I couldn't put the intensive training sessions in without aggravating it, but I seemed to tolerate mileage ok.
My advice is to do everything you can to take care of the thing. Above and beyond very acute, focused stretching exercises (proactive and reactive), use any opportunity you can for barefoot running, do work on unstable conditions to build strength and stability in your lower leg (supporting your calf), and don't ever stop massaging / managing the scar tissue. It'll always be there, and the more you can stay on top of it, the less likely you are to get an eventual flair up.
I did end up getting a minor strain in my opposite calf about 10 years later, and ironically it's the one that flairs up anytime my mileage exceeds 30 mph. Maybe I never paid enough attention to it when it happened, but while I can manage the older strain, the newer strain just comes back with a vengeance.
Good luck--I wouldn't wish this on anyone who enjoys running.