Life is Good.

I love that football season is back.  I love Sundays, sitting around watching the Colts (and the Broncos and the Giants, but not the Patriots) with my kids, following the fantasy football scores, eating pizza, and being lazy.  Life is good.

 

 

My foot is continuing to heal pretty well.  It's been 4 weeks since I broke it and I've been off crutches for 2 weeks.  I've started driving again, but my foot is still in the boot for at least 3 more weeks.  I feel fine, no pain at all, when I'm just walking around with my foot in this big black boot.  The doctor wants me to take my foot out a couple times a day to work some range of motion because all the immobilization makes it darn stiff.  The MRI revealed a lot of issues that couldn't be seen on the x-ray with cracks and chips and deep bone bruising.  So I'm grateful that I don't need surgery and have no pain, at least until I start PT tomorrow and that sadist starts working my ankle in ways it doesn't want to go.

 

Other things we've been up to:

 

Lexi's haircut from a couple of weeks ago

Our trip to Conner Prairie

I've been trying to do a bit more at the school with the PTO.  I've waited a bit for Alexis to get older and to have a bit more free time, which I do have this year.  I volunteered at the school fundraiser where kids got donations to run at the "Chipper Chase".



I'm so glad that the kids still get excited when they know I'm coming to their school.  I dread the day when I'm "embarrassing" and the eye rolling begins.  Right now, I'm only embarrassing to them when I dance in the aisle at Target. 

Lexi needed nourishment after all her running around at school.

We are continuing to raise money for both GiGi's playhouse and the Buddy Walk and are grateful to so many friends and family who have made donations!  The Buddy Walk is October 12.  Please let me know if you'd like to join us that day for the 2.6 mile walk around the canal in downtown Indy.  I'll be doing it in a big black boot, but will take suggestions in how to decorate it in a Seuss theme.
As for GiGi's, we're about $600 away from our families personal goal.  I've added a link to the top right of this blog or you can click here if you'd like to make a donation.  Thanks so much again for all your support and generous donations!  We are so grateful!



Updates! (GiGi's and my foot. Which are unrelated, by the way.)

We're still plugging along on the GiGi's Playhouse Indy fundraising front.  I'm so grateful for the people that have made donations or expressed interest in making a donation.  (Here's the link to make a donation:  https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E133245&id=40)

There's a video that GiGi's Playhouse made a few years ago that is awesome!  If you still aren't quite sure what GiGi's is about, it will give you a better idea of what we are wanting to build.  I love this video, even though it chokes me up every time.  If you've got a few minutes, you can watch this and see why I feel so passionately about bringing GiGi's to Indy for Alexis:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am0HUBsNlMs


There's a GiGi's in Bradley, IL that has the best pictures!  I love these!!

And for an update on my foot (see the last post if you don't know what I'm talking about), I went to see my regular doctor on Thursday and he's "worried" about it.  Apparently it's a bit more severe than the ER let on.  The chip of bone that broke off is more like a chunk.  He called it an avulsion fracture.  And my doctor thought I might have torn a ligament, and the sprain is pretty severe.  I'm still on crutches and now in a big ugly (and hot and itchy) boot, which makes walking easier than the splint.

My doctor referred me for an MRI which my insurance company denied.  But after the insurance company talked to my (persistent) doctor, viewed my x-ray, and had a meeting about my foot (seriously?) they decided to pay for the MRI after all.  The fact that my foot required a meeting to take place, makes me feel like my foot is a bit famous.  It also makes me a bit nervous that it is indeed more severe, but I'm so grateful that I don't have any significant pain.  I'm swollen still, making my foot and ankle feel stiff.  I feel bruised and achy, but that's it.  And after I get the MRI on Tuesday, I see an orthopedic doctor on Thursday.  I'm so grateful that my mom, dad, and aunt have been so available and that so many friends who have offered everything from meals to childcare to transportation.  Not being able to drive is really my biggest obstacle, so I'm keeping a list of names in case I need help in the future.

Grateful.

It finally happened. My kid broke my foot and put me in the hospital.

Well, kinda.  So maybe she didn't do it directly.  And maybe it was just an ER visit.  And maybe the bone isn't exactly broken.  More like chipped.  But it isn't the Labor Day Weekend I had originally planned.

God had a different plan. 

Friday night I took my kids to dinner and then we swung by a park in a neighboring town.  We had been there almost an hour and were just a quick swing and a couple slide runs away from heading home. 

Why any park chooses to have a 2-story high metal curly slide is beyond me.

Not the actual slide, but you get the idea.



Alexis decided she needed to go down that stinkin' slide.  So as she climbed the two levels of steps, I stayed close behind her just in case she should fall backwards.  She actually does really well on slides, but with a slide like this, I find it too high for any kid.  So once she was safely to the top, I backed down the stairs quickly with a plan to catch her once she came down the slide o' death.  Unfortunately, as I stepped off the bottom step onto the mulch below, my ankle gave out and I went down.  Hard.  And I heard my foot crunch.

Oh, the pain.

I had to sit in the mulch and watch my daughter descend the slide independently.  Fortunately, it was a safe decent for Alexis.  Unfortunately I was stuck, still sitting on the mulch as she climbed and descended 2 more times.  The boys finally came to see why I was sitting on the ground.  They stayed with Lexi while I got myself upright and found my footing.  I decided since I was able to put weight on my foot, it probably wasn't broken after all, so I hobbled back to the van and drove us home.  And unfortunately, Jason was already at work for the night, so I was on my own getting 3 kids to bed.  Thank goodness they are easy kids.  By that evening I was crawling up and down the steps of our house.

Saturday, I called my aunt who took me to the ER while Jason entertained the kids.  The x-ray showed a pretty nasty sprain and a chipped bone, so they put my right foot in a splint, gave me a prescription for Vicodin and sent me off for some crutches.

 

Honestly, I'm not in any pain.  As long as it's all wrapped up, it feels stiff and bruised, maybe a little achy at times, but no major pain.  And as luck would have it, Mom and Dad arrived in town a few hours later to spend the Labor Day weekend.  Mom has altered a few plans so that she can remain in town for the week and Paula is available (as she always is) to help out with the kiddos.  I'm so grateful.


Alexis kissed my splint to make it feel better.  Sweet girl.  Guess I won't blame her after all.



The first night when I was crawling around the house, Alexis kept asking, "You okay?"  And now she continues to ask about the crutches and splint.  The boys have been helpful, constantly fetching things for me and they have been highly entertained by my crutches.

 

 

I can still get around, just very slowly.  I attended a party down the street last night, went to church this morning, and try to take it easy and put my feet up when I can.  Thank goodness for my folks and aunt who have been waiting on me hand and ankle.

 

The middle picture above I had texted to Jason on the first night, hoping to elicit some sympathy.
He texted back, "Cankles are hot".

The ER doctor told me to make an appointment with my regular doctor in 5 days, so hopefully by then I can get rid of the splint and crutches and drive again, but we'll see.

 

It's not the Labor Day I had planned, but it hasn't been a bust by any means.  I've still been able to enjoy a long weekend with family and friends, free of Labor.  Hope yours is fun and uneventful!