Monday, July 20, 2009

I got damaged, I lost myself in you

Some Thoughts On Breaking My Ankle:

-I really need to come up with a better story as to how it happened. I mean, how many times in my life have I wiped out snowboarding? At least it could have been something semi-righteous like that. "I was walking" is just so...lame.*

-I guess I will have to revise my "25 Things" list on Facebook, because one of the things was "I've never had a cavity or a broken bone." So much for that.

-Have you ever wondered if my hair would do dreadlocks? I can answer that for you, and the answer is...Yes. Quite easily, in fact. All I have to do is not wash it for a little over a week (I was taking spongebaths instead of showers), and it starts to spontaneously dreadlock.

-Apparently, if you're going to break your ankle, this is the way to do it. A Weber Type A transverse fracture of the distal fibula/lateral malleolus, a typical avulsion fracture, nondisplaced (no surgery or screws necessary, thank goodness).


This is much better than tearing a ligament, because bones, once healed, are basically as good as new, while ligaments can get scarred and much less flexible after they heal. You learn something new every day! (Insert your own "lucky break" pun here.)

-I am not a good invalid. Terrible, in fact. We have home health care aides coming in to help us during the day while Kevin goes to work, and while they are generally very helpful and nice, I hate hate HATE having to ask for help. So I try to do things myself and stupidly risk falling and injuring myself again, or I just sit here on the computer, morose and cranky. (And sad that I can't pick up my boys!)

-Crutches suck. Particularly when you are breastfeeding. That whole armpit/upper breast area is quite sensitive, and stumping around on crutches can be excruciating. Thankfully, there are medical supply rental places in Richmond, and I rented one of these babies. It makes getting around a wee bit more tolerable. (The only drawback is our long narrow kitchen makes turning around practically impossible. I feel like I'm doing this.)

-I am married to the greatest guy in the world. Kevin has been Busting. His. Ass. for the last two weeks. Even the health care aides helping during the day does not really cover all the stuff I usually do, so when he comes home at night from nine hours at his regular job, he's finishing the dinner prep and cooking, cleaning up after dinner, giving the boys their baths, getting them in PJs, et cetera. Every night. He's also been getting up at night with Miles, who is only intermittently sleeping through the night. So I expect him to be nominated for sainthood any day now.

But other than that, we are all doing well. (Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?) Nolan is "reading" street signs like crazy and will shout them out to you as you drive along. "No U-Turn!" "Right lane must turn right!" "No Parking!" Miles is cooing and rolling over and eating rice cereal. Kevin is loving his job and looking for a way to start playing tennis again. And I am counting the days...

Thanks for reading.

*So yeah, I was walking on a bike path with Nolan on his bike and Miles in the Baby Bjorn. Thankfully, Kevin and another friend (her son was riding his bike with Nolan) were with us at the time. If I had been alone with the boys it would have been a much bigger problem. So we're all walking on this asphalt path that's built up about 3 inches above the ground, and I couldn't see my feet because of the Bjorn, and I stepped right on the edge of the path with my right foot. My ankle rolled down and outwards, I felt a "pop!" and I went down. I tried to roll to my left side so I wouldn't fall face down on top of Miles, and I ended up taking the brunt of the fall on my left knee. Miles unfortunately still bumped his head, but at least I didn't squash him completely. So I'm laying there screaming, "Take the baby! Take the baby!" and Kevin got him out of the Bjorn. He was crying, but then he smiled at Kevin right away, so we knew he was going to be okay. Our friend helped me up and I hobbled to a picnic table to sit down. She got me some ice from some nearby picnic-ers, and we got my shoe and sock off to look at the damage. I knew it was bad when it happened, since I couldn't put any weight on it at all without shrieking pain from my ankle. When we got to the ER (and the doctor confirmed that Miles was okay) and found out it was broken, I wasn't surprised at all. Bummed, yes, but not surprised.