Lickety-split

Logan pre-surgery. At this point, he was given a mild sedative to help him relax before surgery. The game he was playing was becoming increasingly more difficult for him. It was actually sort of humorous. Way to stay positive, Z! (He went back while Logan was put under. My heart couldn't handle that job and someone had to go.)

Ooh. Bad picture. Suffer through it. I don't feel like taking another this second.
The rundown of the whole situation:

• Logan is no longer in pain. Hasn't been for a couple days.
• His trip home was comfortable and uneventful in the hip department.
• Everyday he improves drastically and is able to help out with his own cares more.
• The first couple days following surgery were a little rough. To be expected. We were thankful to spend as much time there as we did. It's scary- for him and us- and to have the sheer volume of experts at your disposal...
• They even had a music therapist who sang and played guitar to fall asleep.
• Tomorrow is the big day. The two braces come off (knee stabilizer and the blue triangle that you see) and Logan goes mobile. Up on crutches. Yay!!
• That means a date night is in sight for his parents. YAY!!!
• Which is huge. Now that we are dealing with this amazing outcome, I can admit out loud about how worried I was about Z and I becoming completely burnt out. Phew! Before it seemed selfish to worry about how we'd make it through.
• Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

This that and the other thing.

An amazing thing happened. We took Logan to MN for his surgery last week. And he wasn't imprisoned in a spica cast! The specialist didn't tell us this was an option. He wanted us to be prepared for the worst. I love surprises. Especially good ones. Like this. (Or the hug from a friend that doesn't hug. Oh, yes. Worthy of a blog mention.) Back to L. He is doing fabulously. Tough guy. He is in a brace for a few more days, then on to crutches and wheelchair. Currently, he's perky as ever- pestering Z to help him with his model helicopter. People flooded us with gifts, thoughts, prayers, support. Thank you if you were one of the them.

Maybe you could tell by my blog posts that I was a wreck with worry over the whole situation. I wasn't sure how it would go with a big(ger) kid in a spica. Most of the time, I was seconds away from the floodgates opening. It was a thrill and complete relief to hear those words. "Logan is not in a Spica." I had to see it with my own eyes. And switch gears from Spica mode to this- that was odd. But THIS. This we can do. Without a problem. Oh! I failed to mention. The surgery went really well. Happiness.

In other news, the ride home was a bear. Bad weather, stuck waiting for a 50+ car pileup that we thankfully were not a part of, cranky baby, car troubles. The important thing is that we made it and Logan was comfortable. And our driveway was shovelled when we got home. However, we did decide that we can pull off using the ol' Yakima in the winter easier than in the summer. People might think we are transporting our skis (Z) and snowboards (me) after cutting up the slopes/moving the powder around in Wyoming. What? I totally have considered snowboarding. Oh, not that? I know! I was trying to use skiing/snowboarding talk. It didn't work? Oh. Shoot. How do you...?

In other, other news, my taillight fell off and was dangling by a wire as I came out of the carwash today. I done fixed it gooder than new with some chrome (duct tape). What percentage of redneck am I now?

The thing is, doesn't matter. My little guy has no cast and is well on his way to normal range of motion. Life is good.

A treasure in my pocket

A random conversation with a complete stranger can turn into something that you carry with you for the rest of your life. You know how they say you are put next someone on an airplane for a reason? Why wouldn't that be true for anyone that crosses your path?

When we first moved to New Mexico, we were out exploring the state and stopped at a park for the kids to stretch their legs. I noticed a little shop across the road and went to check it out. It was a quaint little art gallery. An amazing place. It was filled with all the beautiful art pieces that are so unique to New Mexico and amazing photography from around the state. The owner was an interesting, eccentric man. We immediately started an easy conversation about New Mexico and the reasons that brought us there. As I browsed, he made jewelery and we chatted. I was in there for a quite a while, it was such an interesting conversation. I was pregnant and a little overwhelmed with the big move and not having many friends. The volume of adult conversation at that time was pretty minute. So I really treasured it.

Maybe he sensed how overwhelmed I was. I don't know. When he gave me my change, he pressed this piece of crystal in my hand and told me to carry it with me. He said to rub it and it would bring me good luck and then he wished me well. I don't know how to explain it. I felt like if I ever went back there, the little shop wouldn't be there anymore. Like it was a figment of my imagination. Put there because it was what I needed at the time. Still to this day, I have the crystal. And I carry it in my pocket when I think I really need it. Not so much because I think it will bring me good luck, but it reminds me that there is so much good in people. Even strangers. And that everyone around us has something to bring to the table, if only we let them.

What's the most memorable gift that you have ever been given by a complete stranger? Tangible or not...

Comic relief

Having kids teaches you one thing in life: expect the unexpected and prepare for every possible scenario.

Seriously.

Izzy came up to me and said, "Mom. I think Kaija played in the toilet."
Sure enough. And when I went to find her, she was sitting there eating a cracker. Dirty toilet hands and all. Eeewwwww.

*******************

Now that we got the Eeww factor out of the way, lets move on to another toilet story. Hopefully this time it'll produce a laugh instead of an "eeww". I went to wake up a child today. (I am withholding this child's name to protect his/her privacy) When I pulled back the covers, said child had not one stitch of clothing on. I scanned the room and while there were a lot of clothes strewn about, none of them were the pajamas seen on this child the night before. The clothes were found, all right. In the sister's bedroom and the toilet. Explain that one to me. While it left us confused, it made for interesting breakfast table conversation.

******************

As surprising as it is, I was shopping at the bullseye the other day. With Haley. I went wandering through the Valentine's section. While I was absorbed in looking at everything, the card section caught Haley's eye.

She laughs and starts reading a card to me. "Hey, Mom! This card is funny. It says 'I went to the teddy bear store to make you a bear for Valentine's Day. They kicked me out when I asked if they had any whips and handcuffs!' Mom, that's funny. Why would they want whips and handcuffs?"

Fantastic. At the bullseye.

Seriously. Life with kids. You really never know what's coming next. Giving you kids is God's way of providing comic relief.

A day at a time.

Oh.my.lanta. Note to self: always read through your post before putting it up. My previous post had said "God gives only the strongest that situation." But I had changed the line before it, so it no longer pertained to it. It made it look like I thought I was one of the strongest. FALSE. Whoops. I changed it now. FYI.

Truth is, I've had a really rough past month. Really. Many of you have supported me, listened to me, lifted me up, etc. Thanks. I needed that.

I also needed yesterday. It was the perfect day. Emotionally perfect. I was given the gift of hearing about my Grandpa, whom I never met. He died before I was born. I learned things about him that I never knew. I was given support, people listened, people were just there. Things happened that I needed to happen. Today and in the past. And I finally realized it. Things are not in my hands. They aren't even in the Surgeon's hands. They are in God's hands. It feels so good to know that to be true. I couldn't help but realize that our life has fallen into place in such a way that you know it was orchestrated by him. All the way down to being in the places I was yesterday, when I was.

When I need a little something, this is what I remember:

The things they don't say

As we get further into dealing with Perthes Disease, I find myself actually thankful for our experiences with Hip Dysplasia. Never in a million years would I have thought I'd feel that way. It eased us into Perthes Disease and prepared us in some way for the surgery that Logan will have. It's the same surgery Haley had, just a different problem and a different age. That being said, I never want to deal with hips again. The reality? Some day I most likely will. My girls could develop hip problems into the future. Up until they stop growing. I'm jaded enough at this point to believe that it probably will happen to us. For now, we'll concentrate on the task at hand.
I'm honestly going one day at a time here. That's all I can do. When I do look ahead, it's at the stage where this is just a memory. With surgery looming in the distance, I realized that the Specialists give you a lot of information. It's hard to let it all soak in. Eventually you get fluent enough that you can tell by looking at an x-ray whether someone has hip problems or not, you know which angles are correct and which are not, you know that Shenton's Line actually has to do with the hip- not a railroad or plate tectonics. Hopefully you never need to know what an Osteotomy is and all the terminology that goes with it.

What they neglect to tell you is this:

*your heart is going to break when you watch your child limp across the room
*it will take everything in you to will away the tears when someone does something kind to make your child's life easier, like offering your child a chair so that he does not have to sit on the floor
*simple tasks like sitting down on the floor and getting back up are difficult
*when you go a specialist, you feel guilty because your child's problems are not as severe as others problems
*don't.
*you will become an insomniac over the worry you have for your child
*that the words "spica cast" are capable of causing anxiety and will make you break out in a sweat
*but so will a brace
*taking home your child in a spica cast is not unlike coming home with a newborn baby. You even have a period of baby blues type emotions.
*God gives you the strength for each trial.
*it all becomes second nature after a while
*it's okay to be overwhelmed, even if your child's problems are "minimal" compared to some
*it's okay to be thankful about that
*as a matter of fact, that very thought will help you get through
*you should always reach out to somebody. Talking to somebody who really understands your situation makes it easier.
*and take what help you can get. The next time around, those people won't offer if they don't mean it.

It's amazing, Logan is my fourth hippy. Second one to have surgery and while it is somewhat easier, you still need someone that understands you. Last time I was in MN I ran into a couple so randomly, that I knew were put in my path for a reason. Turns out, they are still to this day the only people who have had a child -that I know of- with Perthes Disease that I have talked to. Talking to somebody who has gone through what you are going through lifts some of that weight off of your shoulders. In the past couple years, I have had people referred to me about Hip Dysplasia who are dealing with their second go-round. But they needed support again. Everybody in a tough situation needs a little support. **We've been lucky to have a great support system- I thank everyone who has ever helped us. Even in the smallest way. Thank you. We needed and continue to need it.**

I hope this helps the person it was meant to help. Hang in there, you will make it. *I promise.*

And the winners are...

Grand Prize: Amy S! Amy S! Amy S! I did a happy jig. She's my friend who definitely has gifts as her love language. If she loves you, she blesses you with amazing food. And sometimes even transportation. (heehee) This will be fun.

1st prize: Bridget! My cousin. One of my longest running friendships! Perfect.

2nd prize: Jessica. My coffee friend?! I'm assuming, correct me if I am wrong... my email is mindijo1 @ live.com

*Thanks for all of the comments! I was actually digging for comments on my blog. It's been sparse in that department lately. Plus, I needed a distraction. Haven't decided on the prizes yet, I guess you'll see when you get them! This was a bit of sunshine in my days.