Medical Adventures Update

On the 14th the Orthopedist took my cast off and I was left in a boot that I can take off whenever I feel the need. He told me to take it off while I was resting and start to flex and extend my ankle to help get it working again. I did that and have most of my range of motion back. It still feels like there are some bones out of place in my ankle which I went to the Chiropractor for and he adjusted one of them back into place because it was really out. He said that's all he'd do for now and to have him look at it again the next time I go in.
The Orthopedist also told me on the 14th to wait 2 weeks and then start bearing weight on my right leg. So, I waited 13 days. My instructions were to start putting a little bit of weight on my leg with the assistance of the crutches until the location of the break does not hurt anymore and then slowly ween myself off of the assistance of the crutches. Well, I was able to bear full weight on my leg yesterday without the crutches. My ankle and knee hurt because of the soft tissue damage done when I broke my ankle and they also feel unstable because of the muscle atrophy. The strength and stability of both joints will hopefully come back quickly as the muscles regain their strength through walking and exercise.
On April 7th, the Orthopedist will take my boot off forever. I still take it off to walk and help build the stability when I am at home, but when I leave the house, I will have the boot on and a crutch with me to help make sure I don't fall and re-injure myself.

Medical Adventures.

For anyone who has not heard the news, I will let you know. I've heard complaints that people were not told right away, so I figured I'd let all those who have not heard, and are on the blog mailing list, know about our latest medical adventures.
Jason and I took the kids roller skating on Wednesday night. Stacey had roller blades on for a while and decided that she wanted skates instead. I told her I'd help her exchange the blades for skates and we started heading to the counter on the carpet. As we were walking, my skates did something really weird causing me to lose my balance. I did the skates on the feet while trying to catch your balance dance and lost. My right foot turned to my right side and my knee followed causing me to collapse. In turn, I broke my fibula. For those who don't know anatomy well, the fibula is the smaller bone in your calves that forms the outer ankle bone. Needless to say, I was in quite a bit of pain and we headed to the ER. They splinted my leg, gave me crutches, a prescription for Percocet, and referred me to an orthopedist.
Today I saw the orthopedist that did a couple more x-rays to see if there is a possible need for surgery. He is kind of on the fence about the surgery. He's worried about some tendons on the inside portion of my ankle. If I've torn them, they need to be surgically repaired. The break is actually very stable and is not out of place at all. There was no expressed worry that the break will not heal. I've been told that some fibula breaks do not actually heal without medical help other than a cast. So now the biggest worry is the tendons. The break is just a break and will heal with the usual treatments.
He sent me home with a stabilizing boot and tightly wrapped my ankle with an ace bandage to hopefully help the swelling circulate out of my ankle and to see if I really did injure the tendons. I will go back on Monday to check on the swelling and to have my leg casted. If my leg and ankle do well in the boot for the weekend, the doctor will just leave the boot on.
A plus side to this is that I get a handicapped placard for 2 months. Sweet deal! I'm glad to have that because I cannot bear any weight on my foot for at least 2 weeks, but if my leg is put in a cast, it will be at least a month.
The down side is now I cannot continue to do my cardio workouts at the gym. I cannot do the Zumba which I was thoroughly enjoying. I was even starting to see results with weight loss and some strength and endurance. I guess I will just have to stick to upper body workouts until I can bear weight again.

Christmas 2010

We had a really good Christmas this year. It was our first Christmas in 2 years in our own house. We really enjoyed having our own Christmas tree. We also had Mary, Jason's mom, with us. It was fun. The kids really enjoyed her being here. She took them on some fun adventures, once they were out of school. The first week she was here, this kids still had an entire week of school left. She walked them to school everyday, which I'm sure they really loved.


Jason picked out this tree. He did a great job too. It was beautiful, full, and very fragrant. Loved walking into our house and smelling the tree.


This is was our tree was hidden behind on Christmas morning. We had a hard time walking around this because it was almost right in the middle of our living room.


Here's Stacey opening an iTunes gift card from grandpa Bob. She was so stoked to get it and the iPod alarm clock. She uses the alarm clock every night to listen to music.


Jayden got himself a Nintendo DS iXL. He's played that thing everyday since he got it.

Kail got himself a V-Tech Mobigo. He calls it his "DS". He has also played this thing everyday since he got it.

After our own Christmas at home, we went to my mom's and had a bigger family Christmas there. The kids got many more toys there. We also enjoyed crepes for brunch and a nice prime rib for dinner. It is out of Christmas tradition, but it was really good.
The kids got so much stuff, I had to rearrange rooms to fit it all. Stacey got a jewelry making kit, a stuffed animal making kit, a camping set for some of her dolls, the iPod alarm clock, 2 iTunes gift cards, some clothes from grandma Mary, some jewelry from uncle Chris and aunt Becky, a UDraw for the Nintendo Wii, a UDraw game, and a beautiful ballerina quilt and a Tinker Bell figurine from grandma Lori. Jayden got his DS, a case for his DS, a bunch of games from grandparents on both sides and Santa, legos, some clothes from grandma Mary, some spy gear from uncle Chris and aunt Becky, and a really cool Star Wars book from grandma Lori. Kail got his MobiGo, some games, clothes from grandma Mary, legos, a Nerf gun from grandpa Bob, and a V-Tech Tag Reader (one of those things that looks like a pen and reads to kids) from grandma Lori. All three of them got a stuffed toy with a matching blanket from great grandma Doris.
As you all can see, they kids did not have much room for wanting things this year. They made off like bandits.

Finally

For all of my followers, I took my state EMT-Intermediate written certification test today. It was a bit annoying and I am sick, so that doesn't help me take any tests, ever. But, despite the icky feeling, I passed. As long as I've met every other requirement through the school I will be officially certified as an EMT-I. I am also done with school for the semester, so I'm pretty much going to slack off as much as possible and try to find a job.
Happy Holidays to everyone and I hope everyone gets everything they wanted!

Kail's injury

For those who have not heard or don't know much, last Thursday, the 28th, Kail broke his left radius. If you don't know what that is, it's one of the two bone in the forearm. We took him to the Instacare clinic where they took x-rays and confirmed that he broke his arm and that the bone was bent. The doctor there splinted his arm, gave his some Motrin and told us to follow up with our primary care doctor within the next few days. The problem with that is that the doctor at the Instacare clinic didn't set Kail's bone. He gave the excuse that Kail would probably need anesthesia for the procedure of setting it.

So I took him to a doctor the next day who is now our primary care physician. He reviewed the x-rays from the night before, looked at Kail's arm outside of the splint, and set it right then and there. He didn't warn either of us, he didn't ask, he didn't even blink when he grabbed Kail's arm. He just grabbed Kail's arm right out of the splint, tugged on his hand a little and squeezed Kail's arm where the break is to set it back. Kail cried his little heart out, but he was a champ. He didn't fight or kick, he just let the doctor do what he needed to do.

After the doctor set his arm, they splinted it again and gave him some sticky wrapping stuff that they usually use when blood is taken around the splint to make it look cool and because he was so good. That's what's on his arm in the picture above. Jason and I are not happy with the doctor from the Instacare clinic. It's basically a sign of laziness.

Today we took Kail in for his cast. He's doing really well. The bone was at a 22 degree angle when it was first broken and is now set at a 17 degree angle. The doctor said that they don't do anything to a broken bone that has an angle less than 20 degrees because it will heal correctly on its on. We go back in 3 weeks to have this cast taken off and a cast that will cover just his forearm put on. Today he was much happier with the doctor. There was no squeezing of his arm and the cast went on fast and painlessly.

Paramedic decision

I received the decision in the mail this week, but only got it today because of being out of town for my brother-in-law's wedding. I was placed on the wait list. This at least tells me that I did well enough in the tests that I didn't fail anything. There were probably close to 75 people who applied, if not more, and there are only 20 spots in the program. I had a few things working against me. I have not gone through the fire academy yet and I have no real world experience. If I am unable to secure a spot from the wait list in the spring, I will be working on the real world experience as well as doing all I can to attend the fire academy in the summer and do more preparation such as, more cardiac rhythms and medications, to help my application for the paramedic program next year. I will let all know if there are any changes.

Paramedic application update

Okay, I called the school back and will be doing my interview and skills test on the 20th. I may have to miss Chris' wedding, but this is an important step in my family's and my future. I have a written test I also need to take before the 15th, so I will be doing that as well. I sure hope I get in the program. The skills test is a tough one. I will have to carry 2 40lb bags down then up a flight of stairs, put them down, then drag a 165lb dummy down and up the stairs. Then I will have to put some nuts and bolts together and do some math problems. I'm tired just thinking about it, but I'm hoping that I won't fail on the dummy part. He's a heavy one. If they do not accept my application, I will know that it is not for lack of trying.