as if my life wasn't interesting enough

Too make my life more challenging and interesting, I decided to walk down a hill wearing flip flops and break my leg. That's right, I BROKE MY LEG. And I couldn't be lucky and have it be my left leg... nooo... it has to be my RIGHT leg. And it couldn't just be a simple break, but has to require surgery involving plates and screws.

And it couldn't have happened with someone I know really really well so that I could scream and holler like the big baby I truly am... nooo... it has to happen with a guy I haven't seen in 27 years. But that's okay since I had plenty of opportunity to scream. holler and cry myself silly as I drove myself across the twin cities using my left foot through rush hour traffic.

But on the good side of things, it happened in the cities so that Jeff and my parents could take care of me in shifts. And it happened during summer, so I don't have to worry about long pants, snow and ice, or big heavy backpacks filled with textbooks. And I should be walking again by the time I go back to school. So, see? There is a silver lining.

The bad thing is that I haven't been able to put any weight on it since it happened 11 days ago. And summer is the time of year I love to spend outdoors gardening, and hiking, and KAYAKING! Yes, I just bought the darn thing and now I can't use it! And it's my last free summer, no less. And, my ankle is really, really ugly now.

The surgery went well and was educational. I had awesome nurses who all shared little bits of nursing career advice with me. And they all thought I was delightful (yes, they actually told me this. One male nurse, who also went back to school midlife like me, said I was his favorite patient of the week). My first words I remember saying as I came back from being put under was "Do I look okay?" -- well, at least my sense of humor was intact.

I'm now back at home and Brandon has been helping me and trying to stay smiling at the same time. My parents are coming up later in the week and Jeff will be coming up on Friday. In the meantime I have figured out how to hobble around the house in small exhausting spurts, take a shower without actually stepping in, and drive my car using my left foot. My biggest excitement today was that I figured out to balance on one foot and clean the toilet at the same time! It's been an interesting adventure to say the least!

I have an appointment on Monday in the cities to get the staples taken out and I'm hoping I'll then be able to put a little weight on it and start physical therapy. Hopefully life can start to get back to normal after that.

I have learned a few things along this bumpy journey:

• I've learned to put my pride aside and let people help me.
  
• I've learned to be patient.
• I've learned to slow down.
• I've learned that not everyone does everything exactly the way I would, and that's okay.
• I've learned that Malcolm in the Middle is on TV a lot... and that's a very good thing.
• I've learned how to keep my toes cool and dry inside a hot black boot.
• I've relearned that there are a lot of wonderfully good people out there in the world.
  

Warning: some of the photos below are pretty gruesome!


Okay, well maybe THIS one isn't so gruesome. Jeff had surprised me with a hotel stay that weekend as an early birthday gift... well, the easiest way to get me in and out of the hotel was by use of the baggage cart.












Post Op Day 2










For those who aren't completely familiar with my right foot, it is not normally as fat as it here!

Saving Bambi...

All night I had been telling myself that I really needed to get outside and go for a walk. I kept putting it off, and then started myself that it was too late... the mosquitoes are going to be bad... it will be dark soon. Finally at 8:45 I pushed myself out there to get a quick one in before it got dark.

I got to the end of my driveway and planned to turn right onto the road, but glanced to the left to check for cars. About 30 yards from me was a deer standing on my side of the road. I stood there and talked to her a bit like I always do and then I noticed something underneath her. My first thought was that it was a fawn, but it seemed too little and too low to the ground. It almost looked like a bunny. It was getting a little dusky out, and it was a little hard to see so I took a few steps closer to get a better look. It spooked the doe and she went running back into the woods and there, crouched on the side of the road was the littlest fawn I had ever seen! I took a few steps back because I wanted the mom to come back, but instead the liitle guy got up on his new legs and wobbled across the road to the other side and then plopped himself down again right there on the edge.

Okay, now I started to freak out. While my road is a simple country road and doesn't lead anywhere but to people's homes, people drive crazy fast on it and the sun was going down... if the momma didn't come back the baby was gonna be toast. So I started slowly walking towards him, coaxing him to go back to his momma. But instead he looked like he was going to nap. As I got closer to the little fella, I heard a car coming down the dirt road that connects to my road about 1/2 mile away. Now I knew I was going to have to act fast -- I was really afraid that as the car passed it would spook the little guy and he would dart out into the road and get hit by a car right in front of me (I've already seen a fawn get hit by a car once -- I never want to see that again).

Crazy things were racing through my mind: was the doe going to attack me as I got closer to her baby? If I touch the fawn will he be rejected by his mom like they told me long ago about baby birds? Will the fawn freak out if I pick it up and start kicking or die from a heart attack brought on by fear? Will he bite me? Will he pee on me? But regardless of these crazy thoughts, talking very quietly and calmly, I walked over and scooped him up into my arms. Cradling this precious newborn, I turned my back to the road and waited for the car to pass and then carried him back across the road where his momma had gone back in. I carefully carried this incredible creature of God's, who I honestly think was about to fall asleep in my arms, through the ditch and to the edge of the woods. There I set him carefully on the ground. He laid there for a minute or two while I petted him and chased the flies off of him and for a second I thought I was going to have a new pet because the mom was never coming back, but then his little nose twitched and his head shot up. He got up and stumbled into the woods -- he must have caught a scent of his mom. I went back to the road and waited a good 10 to 15 minutes (the whole time being devoured by mosquitoes) before going back into the woods to make sure my new little friend wasn't still there all by himself. I looked all over and couldn't find him, so I am hoping for the best that his mom came and got him and took him deeper in the woods.

I don't even like to think what would have happened to the fawn had I gone on a walk earlier or not at all... the car may have come by and spooked the doe and hit the fawn. And what kind of mom hangs on the side of the road with a newborn like that? ;-)

I ran as fast as I could down my driveway and into the house to tell Brandon what had happened... he now regrets declining my invitation to join me on my walk.