Saturday, June 20, 2009

Allie's leg

The girls and I went to see Allie's orthopedist on Tuesday for a check on how her broken tibia is healing. Everything is coming along very well, except that she needs to be putting weight on her leg already and she basically won't, unless we firmly tell her to do so. By next Tuesday, we're supposed to take her crutches away. And on July 7th, they're cutting her cast off.

The entire visit last week for Allie's casting and this visit (combined) took approximately 30 minutes. And the bill came for her visit last week and it's $1400. That total doesn't include anything that happened in the emergency room of course, and I'm not sure that it includes the visit this week or the cutting off of her cast. Even if it was inclusive, that's a hell of a lot of money. After all, Allie's c-section birth 9 years ago ONLY cost $18,000.

I'm thinking Allie can start paying us back from her lemonade stand earnings next week. After all, how heartless would you have to be to pass by a kid selling lemonade who has a bright pink cast.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Julia's talking again

Last night, the ice cream truck went through our neighborhood. The girls were already in their pajamas, but Julia went out looking for the truck anyway, at least to the porch. Then Greg decided he was having an ice cream craving, so he ran to the store and bought some Push-Ups. Grape, orange, and raspberry sherbet in a tube, if you don't recall Push-Ups from childhood. Actually, they only used to have orange, but I guess some improvements in the last 30 years are likely.

The girls LOVED the Push-Ups. LOVED them, LOVED them, LOVED them. Today, I let them have Push-Ups after lunch and they asked for Push-Ups again after dinner. I won't let them eat them in the living room, so Julia put the chairs from our kitchenette right where the living room begins and the girls ate Push-Ups with relish.

Now it's a little after 8 p.m. and Julia came upstairs to ask me if she and Allie could have Push-Ups again. I asked her why she didn't ask her daddy (who is in the living room) and she said she did and he said no. I told her that was it then. She asked if she could have a Push-Up tomorrow and I said, maybe, if you eat a good lunch.

She said, Can I have one at breakfast time? I started laughing and asked if she was really wanting to have a Push-Up for breakfast. She smiled not so innocently and said, First cereal, then a Push-Up!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

He's in trouble for this one

I'm watching a movie this afternoon with the girls. A nice, sanitized movie--rated G--about the Depression. Sanctioned by the people from American Girl.

Then the girl heroine, who is 10, confronts the bad guys in a physical situation. And my sweet, innocent 5-year-old yells at the TV, "Kick him in the ass!"

I'm going to kill my husband.

Friday, June 12, 2009

School's out for summer

Today was the last day of kindergarten and 3rd grade, respectively, for Julia and Allie. They both made it through the school year successfully, so we'll have new grades to deal with next year. Thankfully, despite our school district reorganization, both girls will stay in the same elementary school next year, with most of the same staff. That's a good thing.

Allie spent her time this week at school in a wheelchair for ease of movement. She still had her splint on until late on Tuesday and she was very leery about bumping it, as well as pretty unsteady on her crutches. On Wednesday, the two of us went on her field trip to Little Norway. I pushed her around very rough and steep paths, but she got to see almost everything her classmates did. And because I drove her there and back, she didn't have to try to get on and off the school bus. I also brought her into school and picked her up from school every day this week (plus Julia and Jaden, the son of a friend). So I spent a lot of time on her and school this week, and now it's all over. School ended at 11:20 and now it's on to party time.

As soon as Allie heals up, that is.

She's fallen twice while on her crutches (without being hurt) and she cried last night when she started to tip over and she put more weight on her broken leg than she should have. We've been trying to encourage her to at least rest her foot on the ground, but she's pretty resistant. At her next doctor's appointment, on Tuesday, she'll have more x-rays and we'll be able to see what's up. The latest projection is that she'll have her cast for four weeks from last Tuesday and that no physical therapy or followup will be necessary.

Now she just needs to heal up so we can get on with our summer. Either that, or get a lot more comfortable on her crutches.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Allie update

Allie and all of us thank all of you who have made kind wishes for us in the last few days. Thank you sincerely! If you didn't already know, Allie broke her leg on Wednesday night.

Allie is doing well now. That first night was really rough. She couldn't sleep well to begin with because she usually sleeps on her side and the only way she was at all comfortable was on her back. She called me in every hour but one during the night, sometimes more than once per hour, mostly to adjust her leg but also for bathroom trips and more medicine. Sometimes she cried when I went to her. Then at 5 a.m., she wanted to get up for the day.

I settled her downstairs with everything she would need and tried to go back to sleep for one last half hour, and then Allie screamed for me from downstairs as she threw up what little breakfast she'd eaten. Her strong pain medication was upsetting her stomach. Yesterday was a long, painful day and all she kept down was a few crackers.

Today went better. She ate some melon and crackers in the morning, then was able to take her pain medicine more easily. That meant she felt better and so she ate a little more food. Eventually, I went outside to mow the grass and she sat on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful day. She could shift position a little more easily and she's starting to get the hang of her crutches, though her underarms and hands are now sore.

I spoke to her teacher yesterday and she's trying to work something out for Allie's field trip next week. We also have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday morning, so hopefully that will be when she gets a hard cast. She wants pink, so I told her if all they have is white, we'll color it pink with highlighters before we let people write on it.

Tonight, I helped her take a shower and that made her feel more human. She only woke up twice last night, so maybe we'll get lucky again tonight. We're all tired. As Allie said, just three days ago, her life was flowing along and she had no idea what was just around the corner as far as pain.

Isn't that always the way it is.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Allie broke her leg tonight

Oh my god, do I wish I were kidding.

It started out like a pretty good evening. Greg is in Chicago on business until tomorrow evening, so the girls and I are on our own. We went to an informational meeting about Allie possibly playing a string instrument next school year (she's interested in the viola). Then we came home and I rushed Julia into the bathtub. Allie asked if she could play on her scooter outside for just a little while longer.

Her scooter is one of the old-fashioned kind, with a plate for the foot and a handle that you steer with. Completely manual. When Julia was out of the tub, I went outside to tell Allie it was time to come in. She was in the street (we live on a dead end, so that's OK), riding past our neighbor's house. She started back toward our driveway and I turned my back and went into the garage.

Then I heard her start screaming. She was crumpled in the street and she was just screaming about how much her leg hurt. I walked over, not sure how much she might be exaggerating (though really exaggeration like that would be more Julia's speed). I probed a little bit and she said it wasn't her foot or ankle, that the worst part was above the ankle. I tried to get her to stand with my support and that was a complete no go.

Our neighbor across the street saw us and asked it he could help. Between the two of us, we got her into the house, to the mudroom. He said if he and his wife could be of any help, like if I wanted to leave Julia with them while I took Allie in, they would be happy to watch her. I tried talking to Allie more and realized that we were definitely going to the hospital. I tried to call a friend to watch Julia and they weren't home, so I had to take our neighbors up on their very kind offer. Fortunately, they have girls too who occasionally play with our two and the wife is a teacher at Allie's school.

I'll spare you the rest of our ordeal, except that it involved X-rays that clearly show a spiral fracture of Allie's left tibia (that's the big bone in the lower leg) and a two-hour emergency room visit. I went over and got Julia from the neighbor's at 10:15 (BLESS THEM!) and she started crying because Allie and me were sweating and Allie was crying as she tried to use the bathroom and get into bed.

Did I mention we have a two-story house and our couch isn't really suitable to put Allie on? Unfortunately true. So now, an hour later, Julia is sleeping, finally, after crying for 10 or so minutes. Allie is sleeping, doped up on Tylenol with codeine and with her leg in a splint, propped up on pillows.

And I have a splitting headache and I know it's going to be a long night. And Greg is feeling guilty because he's not here. Boy, it will be nice to have him home to carry Allie. She weighs over 60 lbs. now, so I can steady her on her crutches but I can't lift her completely for long at all. She scooted up the steps on her butt, which was an endless excursion.

Tomorrow, we have to call Allie's pediatrician and the orthopedic surgeon. Allie said she's hoping for a pink cast that all of her friends can sign before school ends. She has 7 school days left, but she's going to miss at least the rest of this week. Next week is when all the fun field trips are scheduled, so those are probably off the table too. Sigh.

That poor girl! We all have such an ordeal ahead.