The Ankle Saga Part I

On Friday May 4 we decided to go up to the church so I could play the piano and Jay and the kids could play in the gym. We went to Walmart first and bought a basketball and then headed to the church. We all played around for just a few and after my many failed attempts to make a basket I left the gym to go play the piano. 

I had barely sat down and opened my book when Noah came running in frantically telling me Jay needed me. I questioned it but he seemed so frantic I came running. I ran in to the gym and saw Jay laying on the court below the hoop. My first thought was he had somehow hurt his back. As soon as he saw me though he told me he was sure he broke his ankle. He did a layup on one end of the court, ran down and did a layup at the other end, then unfortunately came down on his ankle completely wrong. I had to help him get up off the ground and we were pretty sure once he lifted his foot and it was floppy that he had indeed broken it. We didn't want to call 911 so we had to figure out how to get him out of the church and to the van. I called Jenn right away to come help me, while during all this the poor big kids were crying their eyes out and freaking out. Jay finally thought to get a chair with wheels on it I my mind went straight to the Bishop's chair. So I ran and grabbed that and we were able to get him in it. Jenn got there and we got Jay wheeled to the van and after a crazy finagled parking job we managed to get him in the van. Jenn packed the kids in her car and Jay and I headed to the hospital. The drive is the part I would like to forget the most. It was the longest drive ever, Jay was in horrendous pain, and I was worried the whole time he would pass out.

We made it to the ER at Northwest Hospital and were taken back right away. They had to cut Jay's sock and his pants off. His foot was pretty swollen by that point. The doctor came in shortly after and took a look at him and said she was pretty sure his ankle was broken. She even predicted that there were 3 breaks. His foot was totally dislocated too so the bad news was that it was going to have to be put back in place. Before they did anything the nurse pumped him with some pain meds. 

They came and did xrays after that and this is the original xray from before they did anything for him. The left skinny bone is the fibula and you can see the break there. The big bone next to that is his tibia and on the bottom right of it you can see a dark vertical line which is another fracture. Then right below that is his ankle and the dark, horizontal line is the third break. The way his foot is all white and juts out to what is our right looking at it is what a dislocation looks like. The ER doctor was completely correct, he did break 3 bones. The technical term is trimalleolar fracture.

So, we had the x-rays, we had the diagnosis and after some pain meds and a quick jerk we had the ankle back in place. That part was really awful to witness. Poor Jay was just in agony and all I could do was keep rubbing his leg and telling him to relax. It was such a crazy moment watching the doctor brace herself and Jay and just pop his ankle back into place. She made me laugh too because Jay was in a lot of pain and she just kept saying "Look at me. Feel your ankle. Feel your ankle. It feels better right. It feels better. It does.". She wasn't so convincing at first but once he was able to get over the initial pain of it and relax a little more he did notice some relief. I seriously laugh when I think of her talking to him though and telling him that his ankle felt better. The closed reduction, as it is called, was just the beginning of the journey to recovery.

Jay was admitted that night because the plan was to do surgery in the morning. We finally made it to a room at somewhere around 2:30 am. I just waited long enough for him to get settled and then I headed home to get a couple hours sleep before I had to make it back for his surgery. I got a call the next morning from Jay letting me know he saw the orthopedic specialist and that the surgery was postponed due to too much swelling. Dr. Haywood didn't want to operate with the ankle being so swollen because it can cause problems with the incision post surgery. The plan was to keep the leg elevated and iced until the next day then do surgery then.

The next morning came and surgery was still on hold. Jay finally made it in later that morning. What a way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

 I was told the surgery was supposed to take 1-1 1/2 hours and as I waited the time continued to tick on. The surgery ended up taking about twice as long as anticipated. According to my time log it was exactly 3 hours 10 minutes.

Not that I was wandering the completely empty, lonely waiting room all by myself thinking about it much (insert sarcasm). Hasn't anyone ever thought that no surgery waiting room should have a clock? Too stressful. He was in recovery for a while and the surgeon chose to keep him admitted. I took the chance to go have some lunch while I waited for Jay to make it back to his room.

It was nice to get back to the hospital and have him wheeled in just a little while after I got there.

He was happy to see me but the poor guy was in the worst pain of his life. He just kept begging for pain meds and when he rated his pain from 0-10 he always rated it at a 12. The post op nurses told me the post op area looked like a disaster hit. The floor was littered with empty vials and stuff as they pumped him with everything they could.

So to this point, that is the story. There are a couple things that have stood out to me in all this. One is that we have been so incredibly blessed to deal with great staff, nurses, doctors, everyone has been fantastic. Considering what we have dealt with I don't think things could have gone any better. We have been blessed with people who have been kind, comforting, and done all they can to provide help and relief.

Another stand out for me is the love of people around us. There has been an outpouring of love and support that we never could have expected. I am most grateful to two amazing men in our ward who came to the hospital to give Jay a blessing. As they went to leave one of them paused and asked if I would like a blessing as well. I honestly had not even thought about one for myself, I had been so focused on Jay. So he gave me a blessing and it was probably one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have had. For a man who doesn't really know me or my circumstances well, the blessing he gave addressed every important thing in my life. Everything that has been weighing on my mind and every significant struggle I am dealing with was addressed in that blessing. The blessing brought me to tears. It was at that moment that I could not deny that I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me. 

Making a Comeback

So, I have thought a lot about the blog over the last months. I thought about giving it up but I know it is the only way for some people to see my kids regularly or at all. I thought about trying to catch up on everything that I have missed but that became daunting and it makes me want to give up before I even start. So I have decided to just start from right now. I don't know that much writing will be involved anymore. With the busyness of life with 4 kids and now as a college student, I just don't have tons of time to dedicate to the blog. I will do my best to keep up on it some, even if it is just throwing some pictures up. Here's to a new dedication to the blog, and to MORE time in front of the computer screen!

Hanging out in Noah's bed playing video games.

Mom Retires

After something like 26 years of post-children work my mom was finally able to retire. I know for her and my dad it is a little scary financially but I also know that they are both incredibly happy. Mom will get to spend a lot more time with Dad and Dad will be super happy and more comfortable having Mom around all the time. I am happy for them both and glad they are able to have this time together.

Steak and chicken fajitas and spanish rice. Mmmm!

 After dinner we all hung out and colored on the tablecloth.

 Mom's pretty retirement flowers.

 Happy Retirement Mom/Grandma!

Just this cute, silly girl I know!

Found this little surprise when making Olivia's bed. I wish I had video of me and Jay trying to catch it. It was very entertaining. Jay finally used his lizard whisperer skills (his words, not mine) and was able to catch it and let it go out back. 

We had Grandpa and Cosmo at our house during the day for a couple days. Mom and Dad had to have all the pipes redone because they have an older home and it had polybutylene pipes. They had already had one breakage issue and Mom wanted to replace them all before they ended up with a worse problem and having to deal with water damage too. What a fun thing to spend tax return on.

 The little people were thrilled to have Cosmo around.

 Lots of holes throughout the house.

3 Years Old

Our Miss Olivia is 3 now. I can't believe it. We had a good time celebrating with the family. Dinner, treats, and visiting make for a great day.

Some of Livi's favorites. Hot dogs, Cheetos, and tots.

 All this girl really wants is Cheetos though. That's pretty much what she ate for dinner but I am down with it because it was her birthday.

 This girl likes to make silly faces.

 Getting a birthday hello and wishes from Grandma Kinney before she opens her presents.

 She seriously would not open her presents until I took a picture of her doing this.

 Kids LOVE getting dollars.

 She got 4 new pretty dresses for church.

 All her birthday loot. She totally scored and she is one happy little girl.

 Singing Happy Birthday. She sang the entire song along with us. This kid cracks me up.

 Thanks for looking at your mom when I took the blowing out the candles picture!

 This is the cake she requested for a month. She never once swayed from her choice. It had to have candy and green and pink. I made a marble cake and colored the light part of it with pink and green. I also mixed chopped up candy bars in with the batter. The frosting is rainbow chip that I colored green and then it's lined with Kit Kats and the 3 is pink M&Ms. She was happy. I aim to please when it comes to birthday treat requests!

 Zoey drew this funny face on her balloon. Ha ha!

 Wrapped up the night by chillin with her baby brother and watching tv.

We love this little girl so much. She brings so much love, silliness, fun, and joy to our family. There is something special about her and we are so lucky she is ours.

  Happy 3rd Birthday Miss Livi Jane! We love you!

So this is the second Saturday in a month now that someone has left a huge box of food at our front door. Such yummy produce and some tasty bread. I am pretty sure it is one of the bountiful baskets people in the ward but I don't know who it is for sure. Whoever it is, we are so very appreciative of the kindness. 

The big kids slept outdoors on the trampoline for the first time. Jay and I were sure they wouldn't last the night but we were wrong. They fell asleep relatively quickly and stayed out all night. The downside to it all was they were up at like 530 in the morning. That's just crazy! 

 Olivia "slept" out there for a little while too. It lasted all of like 5 minutes. She just had to be one of the big kids for at least a little bit.

Happy Things

Cute baby with a sticker on the middle of his big noggin. 

 This sweet note I found in Noah's backpack.

 Sunday night movie.

 Talking to Grandma on the phone.