The friday before mothers day, I fell down the outside steps to my sisters house while holding Elliott. Okay, when I stay steps I should really clarify. There were only three, and I rolled my ankle off my heel shoe down one. The inside of my foot touched the inside of my calf. My only reaction while falling was to shield Elliott. I landed, he started crying, and that's when I tried to move my leg. I remember thinking "what is that high pitched sound?", and that's when I realized it was me.
My sister came running out and collected Elliott and checked him to make sure she was okay. She had to finish dealing with her new born son and came back out to see what she could do for me.
Well it turns out not a whole lot. While she was inside and I was left alone I just stared at my leg convinced I had broke my shin in half. I took off my shoe and pulled up my pant leg and it didn't look broken. I tried moving again, and again started crying.
When she came out I asked her to get me the phone. I was now convinced that I had sprang my ankle. I guess I told my sister that through my sobs. I called Chris and told him I needed him to come and drive me and Elliott home because my sister had to go and pick up her 3 year old daughter at daycare. I was SURE I just needed to go home and I would be fine. I would put some ice on it and be fine. Looking back I now know I was in shock.
I hung up with Chris and tried again to move my leg. WOW! It hurt so bad. I got up the three steps and into my sisters house backwards, on my butt, crying with every movement. By the time I was in the house I knew I needed to go to the hospital. Really, I should have called an ambulance.
Chris came and it became clear he was not going to be returning to work, or driving me home. We then called my mom. Chris took Elliott home and me and my mom went to the hospital.
I wasn't in the ER forever. But we did find out that I did break the tip of my fibula vertically. The tendon that runs from the middle of the fibula to the tip was stretched with such force instead of ripping it ripped the tip of the bone its attached to off instead. I was put in a splint, given crutches and sent home.
A week later I got to go see the doctor that specializes in bones. He figured I had a fracture at the mid fibula, tip of the fibula, and the top of my other foot. Good news was it was just the one break. The other foot was sprang, and the tendon just damaged at the mid fibula.
I got a cast and was told to come back in a week so they could take some new xrays to see if its healing right.
I went back and it wasn't healing right. All the soft tissue damage I did made it so the tibia (the small bone in the shin) was to far away from the fibula, so they had to put a screw in it. I had surgery the next week, and was in a splint again for another week. So by this time it had already been 4 weeks since the break. I was told to come back in two weeks to get the staples out of my ankle.
I went back and had more xrays and am healing properly. I got great news that day, I got a boot instead of a cast. That means I get to take it off to sleep and bathe! I was to come back in three weeks to get my final check up and be referred to physio.
So I am a week away from that last appointment. All this time I have not been allowed to put weight on it.
So here is where the mom part comes in. ANY of you who have kids know that a toddler is non stop go go go! Well have fun doing that in a cast and being told ABSOLUTELY NO weight on the broken leg. Also add a sprang foot on your "good" leg that you get to hop around on, respranging over and over and over again. Not so much fun.
I am super lucky to have a wonderful friend who came in from the province over to come stay with me. She took care of both me and Elliott that first week, then had to go and take care of some personal business for the second week, and came back the third week. Another wonderful friend then took Elliott every day for the fourth week. Then my friend came back again to help for the fifth week. The other friend has been taking Elliott every second day for the last week and next week. I can do almost everything around the house with him. I am lucky to have hard floors on the main floor. So we bought a cheap task chair for me to roll around in, so that I can pick Elliott up. Without my friend taking Elliott every second day I would be in a world of hurt.
My mom and my mother in law have also really stepped up with coming over to help when I have to go for doctors appointments, or need help putting Elliott to bed.
My poor husband has been having to do about 99.9% of everything around here. I try, but there is so much I just cant do. Its frustrating. Whats even more frustrating is how I can't do things with Elliott. I had so much planned for the summer... so far we have been hanging around in the house :( poor guy!
Thats the story of how I broke my leg, and how I have wonderful friends and family to help. I will talk more about trying to raise Elliott.
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