Foot update

Me, my boot, and my crutches

So it's now been 4 weeks since I broke my foot.  Here's what's happened since I last blogged about it  (click here to read that blog...)

Here's a picture of my x-ray.  It's kinda hard to see in this format, but I promise.  It's a broken bone.  :)

My foot in the boot, on the way home from the Urgent Care the night that I broke it

A picture of my swollen foot the morning after I broke it

I went to see the orthopedic specialist 3 days after I broke my foot.  That morning my pain had lessened to where I was able to hobble around a little without using the crutches.  It still hurt a little and the going was slow but I could do it.  I was encouraged and looking forward to hearing what the doctor said.  He looked at my x-rays and agreed with the diagnosis of the urgent care doctor.  I had a "Metaphysical fracture at the base of the fifth metatarsal".  However, he didn't echo what the urgent care doc said regarding recovery.  He said absolutely ZERO weight on my foot for the next 3 weeks.  And then he said that the average recovery time for this injury is 8 weeks.  He wanted to push a hard cast on it but I told him I'd be a super patient and wouldn't walk on it even though it was in the aircast/boot.  At least with the boot I could take it off to take a bath or scratch an itch!  He agreed, showed me how a fungus was growing on my foot because I was sweating in the boot (and then taught me how to avoid that), told me to take lots more calcium and vitamin D, and that he'd see me in 3 weeks. 

I left that appointment feeling awful and completely discouraged.  Zero weight on it?  For 3 weeks?  I couldn't even get to my car easily on crutches let alone anywhere else.  Plus, now my total recovery time had basically doubled (plus the doc said I may need some physical therapy).  Even Peter taking me out for Mexican food after the appointment didn't help my mood. 

I struggled for about the next 2 weeks not to be completely distraught and overwhelmed by this injury.  I felt like I needed help to do everything.  I was able to work from home through the end of the year.  My boss was great and let me do whatever I needed to do to take care of myself.  But I was lonely being home.  Max went to Brittany's every day because even though I was home, I wasn't able to take care of him.  Most of the time I just stayed in bed with my laptop.  Peter was super helpful but understandably is annoyed with the situation.  Brittany and then Kimberly, when she came to town, have been so very helpful.  They have helped cook, clean, do laundry, watch Max, run errands, shop for Christmas presents, tidy before the house cleaners got here, etc. 

I have also been blessed with love from my friends.  The day after I broke my foot my friends Tida and Jess brought me lunch.  They also offered to help me get out of the house and do some shopping but I turned them down with the excuse of needed to work (which I DID need to do) but really I just wasn't game yet to go any further than 20 feet on the stupid crutches.  My friend Lori also came to visit and brought lunch on of the days I was home and so did my friend Chad.  It made me realize that I HAVE made good friends here in Texas finally. 

After the visit to the orthopedic specialist and mental breakdown, we decided to rent a knee scooter.  I figured it would be much easier to get around on than crutches and would enable me to do at least a little Christmas shopping and I could go walk around and look at Christmas lights when Kimberly and Kaity got here.   I got my scooter the very next day after I ordered it and boy, did it make a difference!  I look a little like a doofus but who cares!  It is so much easier to get around.  I am faster, have a cool basket to put stuff in, and it is a little fun too.  It doesn't have a very tight turning radius and going backward is just awkward.  Plus, I have rolled over my good foot a few times and eventually my knee gets sore but the positives far outweigh the negatives. 

A pic of the bruising on my foot

I went back to the office after the holidays.  The building is so large that I decided to take the scooter even though people may think I look silly.  It's just not worth the pain of using the crutches to go all over.  Let me tell you, if you want some attention just go around on a knee scooter in an office building.  I get tons of looks plus everyone wants to talk about it.  I have been given the nicknames "Scooter" and "Scoots".  It certainly is a conversation starter and no one can take me seriously.  I'm a good sport about it though and joke right along with them.

I went back, last Thursday, for a follow up visit to the doctor.  He did more X-rays and said he was pleased with how it was healing.  He said I could start to put a little weight on it (while in the boot).  He said I could put about 20 lbs of weight on it and gradually increase that 5-10 lbs every few days.  He also gave me some physical therapy exercises to do at home and said I could take the boot off to sleep at night as long as I didn't toss and turn too much.  And he'd see me in 3 more weeks.  So I was pretty pleased with that visit.  I was hoping he'd let me start walking around in the boot but this was at least a start.  I have no idea how much 20 lbs of weight is so I can basically using the crutches still but put my foot down and put a little weight on it. 

So on Thursday night I felt like things were looking up and my mood improved.  That lasted for about 24 hours.  Friday mid-afternoon I noticed my back was starting to hurt.  I figured I had probably had bad posture while sitting in front of my computer and tried to sit better to alleviate the pain.  That didn't work and the pain kept increasing.  So at one point I crawled under my desk to try and do some stretching on the floor.  That didn't work either and the pain was to the point that sometimes it was making me catch my breath. 

About 4:30 I decided I couldn't take it anymore and was going to go home.  On my way to pick up Max the pain was so bad that not only was I catching my breath, but it was causing me to moan a little bit.  Britt brought Max down and put him in the car (since I still can't lift the car seat into the car) - I had to work hard to hide the pain for the 1 minute that she was interacting with me.  On the drive back home the pain was so bad that I was really moaning through it just like when I was in labor.  In fact, when he came to get Max out of the car, Peter joked and asked me if he should be timing it (like contractions).  The pain was BAD - and I remember hearing that kidney stones are as painful as giving birth. 

So, as soon as I got inside, I got on Google and started looking up kidney stones.  The pain described was exactly what I was feeling and I had also experience some of the other symptoms that go along with kidney stones.  Then I looked at what caused kidney stones and one of the possible causes is excessive amounts of calcium such as supplements especially when not taken with food - BINGO!  I was taking bunches of amounts of calcium for my foot (as directed by my doctor) and in the morning I wasn't taking them with food and then at night I would take them right before bed.  I couldn't believe my stupid luck - only I would get cursed with something worse as a result of trying to heal my broken foot.

The next few hours were ROUGH.  The pain was seriously bad.  I ended up taking some of the pain medication I was given when I broke my foot and did a couple of recommended natural treatments (drink lots of water, drink a tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil, drink water with lemon oil, drink cranberry juice, and drink coconut milk).  I don't know which one worked, but around 7:30 - so 4 hours after I first felt the pain, I felt light years better.  Most likely because the pain killers kicked in.  I don't know when, but at some point I must have passed the kidney stone because when the meds wore off I wasn't in pain anymore. 

I have had some back pain each evening to the point of needing some pain meds again each evening but not to the extent of that first day.  I hope this doesn't mean that I have more stones that are looking to find their way out.  If I don't feel completely better by the end of the week I will go to a doctor. 

So there ya go.  An update on my foot saga.  And I thought 2012 was going to be only good times.  HA HA HA HA HA HA.

December has come to town...

There's holiday stuff everywhere out there!  As usual, I enjoy the Christmas music on the radio but I don't want to deal with the hassle of getting out the Christmas tree and the decorations, so I don't.  Max is too young to care right?  We'll have to deal with it later so might as well take this year off.  I told Brittany we'll just take some pictures in front of her tree and call it good.

We went to Outback Steakhouse with Britt and her family.  Max is getting better about going to restaurants.  He usual will want to eat at some point too, which can be awkward sometime to maneuver and he never really just settles into it and eats without pulling off a bunch of times.  But, we make it work.  And he will sit for a little bit in his car seat or we'll get him out and let him sit on our laps.  I am glad we are figuring out a way to make it work without having to plan for that perfect moment when he has just fallen asleep and then hurry and eat before he wakes up.

Peter and Max

Playin' at the restaurant

Ha!  I love that face.

Happy baby

Talking to mom

I love those socks

All of a sudden, Max started sucking on his lip.  It was so funny and out of nowhere.  He only did it for a couple days and then hasn't done it since.   The video is short and he only sucks his lip for a little bit but it makes me laugh.  Poor kid really wants to suck on something but still won't take a binkie.

Video of Max talking it up.

On December 11th, I gave in and decided that I wanted some Christmas decorations in the house so we put up the tree with some help from Joe and Brittany.  It's a good thing we did because the very next day I broke my foot and if that tree wasn't already up, it certainly wouldn't have gone up after I was crippled!

One bad realization we had when we were putting up the tree, when Peter got the box for the tree out from our storage unit here at the apartment, he realized that the box that was sitting on top of the tree box was empty.  We had heard a few months ago about how someone was breaking into storage units here but didn't bother really checking ours out, no one would want anything in there.  Well, apparently they did.  We had a lamp (picture of the lamp is below) that I got from my dad that used to be in my room as a child.  As far as the story goes (as I know it) the lamp belonged to my Grandma Nelson before that and I don't know where it came from before that.  But, I viewed the lamp as a family heirloom.  Really the only thing I have like that and I was planning on one day putting it in my daughter's room and decorating around it.  Well, when the movers were packing our condo in California they packed the lamp and wrote on the outside of the box "Tiffany lamp".  Clearly the lamp ISN'T a Tiffany's lamp but the description obviously enticed whoever broke into our storage unit.  They left the box exactly where they found it, but just empty.  So far we can't tell anything else that they took but who knows.  There's so much stuff in a storage unit that you forget is there until you need it.  I was so devastated when Peter told me.  I really want to replace it but don't know anything about the lamp and have no idea where to start to try and find another one.  BUMMER!

"Kallie, come look at this..."

I'm in the baby's room putting stuff away and this is what I hear Peter say from the front room.  So I come out and this is what he's done...

Be wary of Daddy-posed photo shoots. 

(It looks like Max is smiling at the computer but he's actual smiling at Peter who is behind the computer)

End of November

Here's some pics from the end of November

I know it's dark but I just love his profile!

Max hanging out while we playing games at Brittany's house Thanksgiving weekend. 

One night we went to get Max out of bed and he was laying there, happy as can be, with one sneaky arm that escaped the swaddle.

Huh?

Hey, ladies!

Ooh!

What's over there?

Caught in the act of drooling!

Max working on his soccer skills in his soccer outfit.

He has started liking to hold his feet together like this.

Sad face

Here's a video with some of the noises he's been making lately.  Sorry you have to also listen to my silly coo's.  You never know how silly you sound until it gets played back for you, right?

Goodbye 2011 - Highest Highs and Lowest Lows

Goodbye 2011.  You were a roller coaster ride.

Down - You started out rough with lots of "morning" sickness.

Up - In March, Peter and I went on one of my dream vacations.  We went on a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Greece, and Turkey with a couple extra days in Rome.  It was amazing.  It was a nice reward for making it through my first trimester.  I got to see places I had only dreamed of ever seeing in person.  I had many "pinch me" moments because I couldn't believe that I wasn't dreaming.  And, the best part, Peter loved it too.  :)  It was my most memorable vacation ever!

Down - In July, my mom left us.  It came as a huge shock but was not unexpected (that may be a confusing description to you but it's the truth).  Losing her was extremely painful as was the ensuing work that had to be done in Salt Lake with her funeral and cleaning out her house.  I lost it once in the days after her death to the point of doing that cry where you can't catch your breath and Max kicked me - HARD.  It was a reminder that I didn't get to lose myself in mourning because there was a little baby inside me that was affected too.  I mourned her death deeply but not really until after Max was born.  And then it was awful.  Daily crying, everything reminded me of her and how she was no longer there.  You can image what a mess I was with that going on and my hormones being all over the place anyway after having a baby.  I know my mom was in pain and had a hard life.  I still just can't wrap my brain/heart around how she could leave just 3 weeks before Max was born.

Up - Maxwell Charles Millar arrived on August 19th!  Our lives have changed, our hearts have grown.  I adore him.  I miss him while he's sleeping.  I stress over being the best possible mom I can.  I still am amazed that we have a baby!  It's unbelievable to me that after so long of nothing happening, that we finally were blessed with a son.  It's been 1 year and 10 days since I learned I was pregnant.  That time has flown by.  We have been showered with love and support.  We have had more visits from friends and family in the 4 months since Max was born than we got in the last 4 years. 

Down - On Dec 16 I broke my foot.  How? Walking.  Yeah.  That exciting.  Other than my c-section, my medical history was blank.  I had never had stitches, never broken anything, never had surgery - not even to get my wisdom teeth removed.  So, this broken foot rocked my world.  Not only did I have a broken foot that I couldn't put any weight on, but it happened during the holiday season when there are parties, shopping, baking, etc.  All activities that were now much more complicated if cancelled for this year.  AND I had a 4 month old who I couldn't walk around with, couldn't move from room to room, couldn't carry to the car, couldn't push in a stroller... you get the idea.  The timing was AWFUL.  I have struggled to remain positive and cheerful.

So, 2011...you gave me some amazing gifts and pushed me down at the same time.  I can't think of any other year in my life that has had such extremes.  I imagine down the road I will look back and see how much I grew because of what I went through this year.  However, at this point, I really hope 2012 is more of a pleasant, calm train ride rather than another roller coaster ride.

Thanksgiving!

Max is dishing out the smiles all the time now.  It is so much fun!

The poor boy had some eczema develop on his cheeks and chin.  It was so sad (and also interferred with his 3 month pictures).  He has had such beautiful skin since he was born with hardly any baby acne and only marred by scratches he gave himself.  I was glad when, with some lotion, we were able to help it dramatically go down and after a few weeks there was barely any left.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Brittany's house.  I made the rolls,a creamy corn w/ jalapenos dish, an apple pie and Peter made Pumpkin pies.

Our little turkey:

 The dinner BEFORE:

My yummy rolls

This is not my corn dish - this is just regular canned corn.  Peter is a "corn purist".  I told him I was making a fancy corn dish and he said that I better have regular corn because he wasn't going to eat any kind of corn but that.

The dinner AFTER (I still think it's crazy how much time goes into this one meal and how quickly that meal disappears.)

 
Then, of course, after the meal came the required lay-around-and-be-full...

Landen and Joe

 Here are the pies we made.  Pretty, right?  Yes.  Definitely pretty.  However, the pumpkin was not good.  In fact, Brittany was the first one to take a bite and she didn't say anything, just moved onto eating her slice of apple.  Then, Peter takes a bite and he goes "this taste like crap!"  Brittany agreed but said she didn't want to say anything in case that's how we like our pies. 

 So we did a little investigating to figure out why the pumpkin pies didn't turn out (my apple was awesome by the way).  Well, my Grandma Nelson's Pumpkin pies are the best!  Last year we asked her what her secret was.  She said #1 - use Marie Calendar's frozen pie shells #2 - Buy a can of Libby's pumpkin and follow the recipe on the back #3 - substitute the evaporated milk called for in the recipe with 1/2 heavy whipping cream and 1/2 milk.  That was all she changed.  Well, we kinda followed her directions.  Peter made his own pie crusts but that wasn't the problem.  We used a different kind of canned pumpkin, not Libby's.  So we followed the recipe as stated on the back but swapped the canned milk out for the cream and milk.  No problem, right?  WRONG.  Here's the issue...  the recipe on the can we used called for sweetened condensed milk and that's where the recipe got its sweetness from.  The recipe on the Libby's can, we learned later, called for evaporated milk and then you add in sugar.  So by not following the recipe Grandma told us to but still making the substitution, we made a pie with zero sugar or sweetness.  SUGAR FREE Pumpkin Pie = disgusting.   I called Grandma to tell her how her pies didn't turn out and she let us know how silly we were for not following her exact directions.  Lesson learned -sorry Grandma!

Later that night we had veggies/dip/snacks and played some Uno.  Peter creamed us all.  (This was our first big holiday meal since having Max.  Boy does that complicate eating!  If he isn't at that perfect moment in time where he is either sleeping or happy to be playing alone on the floor, it can seriously cramp your meal.  Not to mention the difficulties in playing games.  There were concessions made for the person holding the baby.)

A Dancing Date

On Max's 3 month birthday we gave him what every little boy wants - more time to play with his friends.  :)

We had tickets to a dance concert so we left him with Brittany and he got to "play" with Hayden and Landen.  It is so awesome to have Brittany so close.  It brings me such comfort to know that when Max is being watched by someone who loves him and will take great care of him.  She is such a great sister and help to me.  She is willing to help out whenever I need it.  She is the best!

We had "won" tickets (at this year's silent auction at CROSSMARK's Casino Night for Children's Miracle Network) to a Dance Troupe called "Pilobolus" performing at the Winspear Opera House in downtown Dallas.  The tickets came along with gift cards to a really nice restaurant but I didn't want to be away from Max for that long so we will go to dinner another night.  The Opera House is a beautiful building.  We had great seats and these dancers were amazing.  Some of the dance was pretty high level conceptually, which I can appreciate but can get tiring to watch.  The dancers were all certainly athletes.  I've included some pics so you see the type of things they do.  It's nice to spend time alone with Peter, but we both end up missing Max if we are gone too long.  :)