Boot

Um I'm way late on this guys.  I typed up a post for Saxons birthday and didn't post that. Then I added my Tuesday appointment and never posted it. Yeah, don't know why. So I'll tell you how my leg is doing now that it's been on for almost a week. It feels pretty good.  The first few days I only took it off like once a day. But today I did it three times which is pretty good.  I can bend my ankle up. I can't really put it up slowly yet. It kinda just jerks up. But I can also bend it down a little. And if I really make myself I can make it go sideways to the right. But not to the left. Mama says I'm doing better. I go back to Physical Therapy again Tuesday. I'm not really looking forward to it. The first PT appointment wasn't too bad. The lady was nice enough to just sit there and watch while mama helped me with my ankle. Next time though I have to let her do it and she's going to help me bend it very gently. I just hope I get very good at bending it so when we go the Drs next week he thinks I'm doing good. 

Ok ok that was a horribly long post. I'm very sorry. I got no iPad for a week due to overdoing the iPad so I got kinda behind on everything. I'm really sorry if this post is confusing.  

My knee is ugly. I'm sorry. The boot is kinda awesome though. I can put my foot down without it swelling like crazy!!!!!! 

So I'll get to telling you about my Appt. on Tuesday went but somehow when I typed up a post about Saxon...I never actually posted it.  :-/ no clue how that happened. So...for the birthday boy!!!

Sorry, I'm a little late on this. On Sunday Saxon turned four years old! Such a big boy now! He got a card and money from both Nana's and Papas and a toy pistol from Mama and Daddy. Bub also got him MouseTrap and I gave him a card with 4 dollars. :-) He had a four layer surprise cake with blue frosting. He chose pancakes for breakfast but Mama didn't make them and he never noticed. 

What I mean when I say "Four-Layer Surprise" cake:

He, of course, had to choose something with candy. This child is obsessed with candy. :-P

He had a good day (I think) and I can't believe he's already four. Ahh!!!!

I go to the Drs. Tomorrow. Please pray for good results (if you read this before Tuesday afternoon ;-)  ) pray for correct healing and much better toes. ;-)  (this obviously does not count anymore because I never posted it)

I also got a new signature on my cast.

Our upstairs neighbor drew it. Yes, it's a person on a four wheeler crossed out. So, no four wheelers. Yes, we have awesome neighbors. :-D

And if I ever break anything again and get a cast I'm totally gonna get it white and buy a bunch of colored sharpies so I can doodle on it all day. Seriously. I might even do that if I have to get another cast this time. Hopefully I won't have to. If I did it would only be because he decided it wasn't time for a walking boot (only to bend my ankle every once and a while) but he wants to change my cast. If he decides it's not time for a boot I really hope I just get to keep this cast. If I do have to change it I'll just remember that I can doodle on it then. But I don't really think it's worth the changing just to doodle. We shall soon see though. (I'll tell you what actually happened)

And just a few extra pics.

Ham. 

Silly Goose.

Brothers.

Birthday boy!

This isn't a very good quality pic since I had to zoom in but I think it's sweet. I don't know why I just really like it. :-) Maybe because she's such a pretty dog and she's laying there surrounded by markers

This is from earlier this year, when there was still snow. But I personally think you can never have too many pictures of Libby. You can definitely have too little...which is what I have. 

The Mama and Baby we saw on a drive up to Hatchers Pass. 

OK OK...my leg.

Tuesday I went to the Drs!! Yay!!! Not...I don't like going there. Anyways. They took my cast off and then took x-rays. I cried like the whole time I was there. It totally freaked me out walking on crutches without my cast and then taking x-rays and sitting there with the doctor. It freaked me out because I'm so use to something supporting my leg. It was all bare and it felt weird. So I got x-rays. Then I went back to see the Doctor without anything on my leg. He said my leg is healing pretty normally.  So then he touched my leg...yes my leg. Freaked me out to no end. But I was surprised that when he touched my leg it felt pretty normal. He ran his finger along the side of my leg, along the top right over the break and did it hurt? No. Yay!!  But the bottom of my foot feels super weird. And my toes are getting better! So I got a boot. And guess what?!? I can take the boot off and wash my leg!! So that means I could sit in the bathtub without anything on my leg!! Haha! Awesome! I don't really think I'm ready for that yet though. It takes me a few days to get use to each and every new thing they put on my leg. I think the only splint/cast that didn't actually hurt me was the pink one. It just felt weird because it was so small and loose. But I do think the boot isn't quite right for propping up because it hits my leg in all the wrong spots and hurts. I can actually have my foot down without it feeling weird!!!!! Thrilling!!! I've already had it down for like 30 mins and my toes don't feel weird!!!! Like I said...THRILLING!!!!!!! So anyways, I have to do Physical Therapy 2 times a week for the next 8 weeks. Mama is so not looking forward to it and neither am I. Dont worry, I'm not weight bearing yet. It's just so they can help me with my ankle. We go for the first time on Friday. We were gonna go tomorrow but I just couldn't handle it. I had a gigantic cry session when we got home. I'm now fine due to my amazing discovery of no pain when I put it down. Speaking of ankles, I'm suppose to take it off 4-5 times a day to start on my ankle. UGH!! Help me. :-P 

So now, pictures.

Bit different, yes? 

The white thing sticking out of the bottom is just a sock thing she put on but it's over my toes. 

There is no picture of me on here because I could not take a decent one. Also, no pictures of the x-rays because I forgot my iPod. Whoops.  

Sleeping tonight is going to be torture. :-( 

So, I have to be going now. Love you all tons!!!

4...almost and my leg

Saxon is going to be 4 on Sunday. Wait what? Sunday? That kid better slow down! He's getting too big too fast. ;-) I cannot believe he's gonna be four that soon. Ack! Where does the time go? I'm gonna be 14 in two months.....52 days to be exact. Which means...next summer I get a drivers permit! Yup, in Alaska you can get a permit when you're 14 1/2. But just a permit. You still have to be 16 to get a license. Abigail (my friend) got a hers a few days ago. I can't wait. Although I really hope I can steer because in all the games I play I stink at steering...but I am always going super fast in those. So I'm sure it won't be a problem.  Why I am telling you this when it's not even gonna happen until next year? I have no clue. So...my leg. I think the bad days are more frequent than the good days of late. I go to the Drs on Tuesday. So I'm worriedly waiting what he's gonna say. Some of the questions I've asked Mama have been like: What if he thinks it's not time to get a boot yet? If he doesn't am I just gonna keep this cast for a couple more weeks or am I gonna get a new one? If he decides it's time for a boot (certainly not for walking on yet but just so I can take it off and flex my ankle) is he gonna make me move my ankle while I'm there? How far is he gonna make me bend it? And the one that pops up in my ever questioning mind, but the one that I try to not think about or ask and most certainly not believe is gonna happen, what if it isn't healing correctly? Then what? Another surgery? Please, Jesus, no. I don't know what in the world I would do if that happened. Actually, I think I would just start bawling and asking a bunch of nonsense questions about it. But I haven't made a thankful list in a bit so lets try that!

1-It's better than it was in the beginning.

2-My toes feel more normal...not totally normal but a little more normal.

3-I go to the Drs on Tuesday...that's good right? Lot less waiting to do now.

4-I am still being waited on hand and foot. :-D

5-I have more time to do art...and school...which I need to do more than I do now...school.   :-(

6-I got an early b-day present which was an Irish tin whistle. And I have lots of spare time to learn a song on it...the hoops will like that song. ;-)

7-I get to sleep in my Mamas bed every so often (like tonight) because it's more comfortable.

8-oooooo...here's one I never thought of. At night when we go to bed and I get in bed and am asked to turn the lights off after I've gotten in bed...that's doesn't happen anymore...because I can't get out of bed on my own because our bed is on the floor so I can't lift myself that high. Haha! I like that one ;-) 

9-Saxon and everyone has been needing more sleep. And the way Saxon is is this:he wakes up in the middle of the night wanting Mama and begins to bawl and yell for Mama because he's too afraid to walk to the bedroom alone so then I'm woken up and have to either text Mama to come or convince Saxon to go to Mama. If the latter happens he, of course, goes in crying and yelling at Mama because he's mad at her for leaving him in bed and not coming which then wakes Daddy up...and somehow Piersen sleeps through it. So the past few nights Mama and Saxon have slept in Mamas room while daddy, Piersen and I are in the kids room so we can all catch up on sleep. Tonight daddy and I are sleeping in Mama's bed...so where I'm going with all this is: lately at night when I go to bed I have Daddy to snuggle and/or console me. And it helps me feel that if I wake up in the middle of the night someone will be there to help and/or comfort me if I need it. 

10-This isn't really because of my leg but I convinced Mama to buy Nutella at Costco so the boys and I have been eating a lot of Nutella on spoons and pretzels...until Mama says no. ;-)

So that's that! It's sad to think that I'm such a sinful person I could probably come up with more bad and annoying things about my leg than good and happy things. 

Mama says she thinks one of the things I'm doing to make this even harder on myself is not accepting it. I'm always whining and complaining and wishing that this hasn't happened to me than just accepting it. She tells me that wishing it hadn't happened isn't going to change anything. It happened and...that's all. I can't change it now. I can't decide to not go on that four wheeler on Sunday. I wanted to go, I went, I broke my leg. Deal with it. 

So advice for people without a broken leg: Don't take walking for granted! Seriously, it is SO true. Even a lady at church said that I'll never take walking for granted again. I immediately agreed. 

Yes, I've gone to church the last two Sundays now. We have church at the Zimmerman RealEstate Office so I sit in a big puffy chair with another one that has a few pillows on it in front of me and just sit there. I guess I'll go now. Daddy said as soon as I'm finished with my blogpost I have to go to bed. He's putting the boys to bed with Mama. And I can't think of anything else to say. I love you all! And if you'd pray for good results on Tuesday...that'd be awesome. Thanks, Guys. I love you. 

Oh, a few words for myself when I'm complaining: you didn't break both. So suck it up and shush. ;-P 

Or I could just pull out the bible and read these verses:

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:35-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I guess I'll leave you with those. More me really, I need to read those verses more often. I love you all...more than you'll ever know. Goodnight. :-)

Thinking

Last night I had a bit of a meltdown. Like cried. But not just in pain crying. Frustrated, tired of all this, getting little brother snuggles, really bad crying. I just couldn't help it. My leg hurt. I couldn't get comfortable. So I just cried. I'm just tired of being unable to do anything. I can't walk, or run or play outside and soak up all that's left of this short Alaskan summer. I wish I had just broken my arm. Even though it still would've been a broken a bone it would've been different. With a broken arm it's: ok i can't use that arm can't lay on that arm...ok. I least I think. But with a leg it's: oh great I broke my leg...I'm stuck on the couch for the next four months. I'm sure I'll have lots of fun. Blegh. And yes, I'm sure having a broken arm totally stinks too (I've never had one thank goodness) but a leg really stinks. To tell the truth I might have broken down so much I made a little brother break down. He wondered when my leg would be better, when I would have the cast off. He wished I could get it off tomorrow and play with him. He wanted me to play with him so bad. Believe me buddy, I'm all with that. I felt bad though. Poor thing.

My toes are still swollen.  When Papa and Nana were here my leg was doing pretty good. Then when they left I had a few bad days. Then the last few days have been better. And then it got worse. I wish it would just stay at better. Pretty much all the pain is ankle down. Mama thinks the lady who put my cast on might have made it a little tight. I occasionally have pain around my leg but not often. My leg wasn't exactly comfortable all day today either. Mama said if it was like this all weekend she was just gonna take me to the doctors on Monday and I couldn't mad at her. So please please pray. I'm just tired of all this. And I've only gone a quarter of the way, guys. Dr. Gardener said the whole process from beginning to end would be about four months. Ugh. And there's no way I can do it without Jesus.  Seriously.

But this post was suppose to be about how I was thinking about my leg lately...hence the title. But wait...I'm pretty much always thinking about my leg right? ;-) Going around our normal lives we tend to forget about awesome walking is. Actually before I broke my leg I'm pretty sure I never thought about I grateful I was to be able to walk. We think of it as just an everyday thing. But that can change so quickly. Seriously, being able to walk is awesome. It is truly a gift from above. Because not being able to walk? Totally stinks. So I'm super grateful for the times I could walk and when I'm through with this I'll be sure to remind myself, "hey, Kaylee. Remember how awesome walking is? Don't just not think about it. Thank for it." Because I love walking. 

And maybe all this is just me being over reactive and over dramatizing things. But it's just what I think. And this blog is where I come to tell you guys what I think, right? So your opinion and thoughts are always welcomed. And prayers. ;-) 

I love you guys so so so so so so so so so so much. Everyone...from Alaska to Florida. You guys make me happy. And loved. And so grateful for amazing family and friends. I'm super blessed. 

Oh, Daddy finally signed my cast. ;-)   :-D

Here's the verses:

Romans 8:35-39 (esv)

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Shower!

 I got a shower! Because guess what? I haven't showered since I broke my leg. I'm really nice to tell you guys that because its really embarrassing. I needed a shower. So Mama put a piece of plastic wrap just right around the top of my cast and then put a hairband over it so it was blocking the gap right there. I put a sock over my toes too so the trash bag wouldn't tickle them. Then she put the trash bag over my leg and tightened it up and then put a strip of duct tape right under my knee ( on the trash bag not my leg) and a strip of it right above my knee (again on the trash bag) then she put a step stool in the shower. I sat on that with my leg on the side of the tub on some towels. Then she washed my hair and I scrubbed my body. It felt so good to be in a shower again. She turned it off without telling me and I may have gotten a little upset. She turned it back on though. :-) So my hair is clean. Wonderful! My foot is clean. Wonderful! And I'm clean. Wonderful! I feel so good. 

Oh...I'm still waiting for Daddy to sign my cast. Daddy.....   ;-)

Do you see how lovely my hair is? It's all clean! And plus, I've always liked "fresh out of the shower" hair. :-)

Why?

Looking back at my old posts about my leg and then looking at some of my more recent ones I realized I complain more now than I did then. Or maybe I just was more thankful then and less now? Why? My leg was worse then. I was stuck in bed all the time then. I now have a small cast. I can walk around on crutches easily. My leg is quickly healing. I guess I'll try to not complain so much and be more grateful. My leg could be much worse. But the doctors fixed it and I don't have too too much longer with a cast on. But then I have to have a boot and that won't be weight bearing for another two weeks...but I'm complaining already. ;-) So anyways...let's be thankful!

1-I don't have a splint up to my butt anymore.

2-My cast is not heavy.

3-The feeling is beginning to come back in my toes!

4-It's just my leg. 

5-Papa and Nana came and we had a ton of fun.

6-It's just one leg.

7-The weather was nice while Papa and Nana were here, it's been cloudy and gray all this week.

8-I love watching movies.

9-I've become better at drawing flowers. ;-)

10-It happened to me. But nothing worse happened to me. God protected me 

11-And he protected Daddy. Nothing happened to Daddy which I am very grateful for. 

12-The nurses at the doctors are splendid. They are very nice nurses.

13-It's not permanent!!

Haha! 13. 3 more than last time. Yes, I think of really ridiculous ones but I'm just trying to think of as many as I can. Oh but one more...I get a lot of ice cream. ;-D

And I realized I never told you about my last doctors appointment. I don't know if you even care but I'll just tell anyways. Papa and Nana were here when I had to go so Piersen stayed home with Papa while Saxon and Nana came with Mama and I. So we got there and saw the doctor. He checked my toes...which is when I realized the feeling in my toes is starting to come back. Yay!! And...I didn't whine about my toes that time. More Yay!!! Then I got an X-Ray and my bone looks sooo much better than when I first broke it. Next time we go I'll try to remember to take a picture of the X-Ray if I get another one. So then the doctor said I had to go have my stitches out and a new cast put on. He said this cast was gonna stay for 3 weeks but...I didn't have to come back to see him for 3 weeks. Yay! It was the shortest time we had seen the doctor yet. So then...stitches. I may have flipped a little. Like cried, freaked out, ended up finding out it wasn't I bad as I thought it was and then embarrassing myself. And don't ask why but even though I knew the stitches didn't hurt really because the first few didn't I cried for the rest of the time. People, I have problems. :-( The stitches just felt like tugs. But the ones near to my ankle bone felt like little pinches. Then she put the cast on. This one is tighter. And taller.

And then we went home. :-)

Although I will say (sorry I'm gonna start complaining...again...) the pink cast didn't bother me. And now that I've had this one I've been complaining about it quite a bit. Especially in the last few days. Different places hurt often. My ankle bone/s hurt. My heel hurts. The back of my heel hurts. The side of  my foot hurts. My toes feel funny. My toes hurt. Mama might call the doctor today and maybe they'll look at it and maybe they'll redo my cast. I really don't want a new cast. I don't want to do that process over again. Although I guess if my foot feels better for the rest of the time I have to have a cast on it's worth it. Please pray. Just for my foot to feel better. Quick healing. Correct healing...the usual. :-)

Also, I've had a broken leg a month from yesterday. Wow!

Train and Cruise

Saturday we went on a train and cruise. It was a package deal which was a 4-hour train ride to Seward then a 4 1/2-hour tour of Ressurection Bay on a boat with a stop at Fox Island for lunch and then the 4-hour train ride back to Anchorage.* We got up at 4:00 in the morning (ouch!) and left the house to drive to Anchorage at 4:45. We got to the train station at 5:45 boarded around 6:00 and the train left the station at 6:45.It was a very early morning. We were the very first people to board because I'm in a wheelchair. So it can very embarrassing to be the center of attention and have everybody doing something because of me. Unfortunately we did not see any animals. So we got to Seward around 10:45 and boarded the boat around 11:00 (if I remember correctly) and set sail. After we got to Fox Island we got all you can eat prime rib and salmon. Plus other food...like mash potatoes and carrots and green beans...you get the idea. ;-) I will have to say though, the food was not very good. Papa kindly paid extra money to get a pound of Alaska King Crab. It didn't really seem like much crab. And know what? It was cold. Wha? Don't ask me why on earth it was cold. It just was. :-/ So we got back on the boat and headed back. Although I do believe we went around like an island to see if we could find any sea life. This time I sat on the bench seat that was against the window on the boat other than in my wheelchair in the middle of the boat where I couldn't see anything. We got to see quite a few puffin. And then...Dall Porpoises! To the starboard side...aka right side. Not the side I was on. I was on Port side...left side. But then..."nana, look they're over here too!" I said. Yay! I got to see them too. They were sooooo cute. They seriously looked like miniature Orca whales.  They kept jumping out of the water super fast so you could only see 'em for a second but still they were super cute. I don't have any pictures of them. I'll ask daddy if he has any on his phone and then text them to the iPad so I can put them on here. I think he has some pictures of other stuff too. Anyways...I'm getting off track. Then we saw two otters. Again...starboard side. But the binoculars helped me. :-) We also saw a few bald eagles...which I didn't see. So back to land. Oh, and the weather wasn't exactly the "perfect" weather for a train or cruise but I still thoroughly enjoyed them both. I especially like the rocking motion of the boat on the somewhat choppy waters. I did hear papa say a few times though that the boat cut through the swells very good. So that's good. It did get pretty rocky a couple times. It didn't actually do anything to my stomach but more to my head I think...and I was tired. Mama and Nana took a Dramamine and were working very hard to stay awake on the boat. ;-)  I may have snoozed a little too. I liked our captain very much. She sounded very sweet and she tried hard to find us animals...unless they're all like that. I wouldn't know I've only ever been on a boat with my papa. :-) When we got back to Seward Nana bought Baby Bella a toy and then we went and got coffee and ice cream. Then we stood outside in the rain for 3 minutes for the wheelchair accessible bus thingy since we couldn't walk all the way to the train. Thankfully we brought a lot of jackets so there was an extra one to cover up my cast. My cast would have gotten very wet waiting there. And that would've been bad. So anyhoo! Back on the train.  Halfway through I decided I was tired of my wheelchair and asked Mama if I could sit on her seat for awhile. There was plenty of extra room on our train car so she had somewhere to sit. The train people said there was a bear in the woods to the right (yes, I was on that side) so I whipped my head around and they slowed the train down but none of us saw it. Either it was too far into the woods, I was going half blind (but most likely not since no one else saw it) or I didn't turn fast enough. I'm guessing the first.  I got back in the wheelchair about a half hour before we pulled in at the station. Which was at 10:00 at night. So...it was a very long day but a very enjoyable day. Although...I might have had a bit of a cry session when we got home. ( hey! At least I admit the whiny stuff I do rather than pretend I always have a super duper cheerful attitude about having a broken leg) ;-) But I hope to do it again sometime when I don't have a broken leg. :-) So now that I'm finished telling you all about my super interesting day ( ;-)  ) I'll leave you with some (quite a few) pictures. 

*These times don't really sound right to me. The boat ride didn't feel that long and the train felt a little longer. The boat definitely was not longer than the train...I don't know...who cares! 

Oh and remember when I turned super whiny in this post? http://floridatoalaska2010.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-cast.html#comment-form

That was all so...whiny. Seriously. My leg must have been pretty bad. Do you guys even know what I did when they got here? Believe me a lot more than I whined about. So don't read it and feel bad for me. ;-D At all...

Ok sorry, long post...pictures!!

Here we go...a lot of them are not good quality at all. It's hard enough to take a regular picture with an iPod and then to attempt it out of a moving train and/or boat...oh well. :-)

Waiting on the train for other people to board. 

Will someone please tell me why there is a fake owl on the roof of the train station?

He was getting somewhat...very impatient.

But how can you be mad at someone so cute!? (It's easily possible actually) ;-)

Water and hills...exciting right?!? ;-P

A rushing river below us.

And I couldn't help it...we went trough a series of tunnels so I decide to take a picture of myself in the window...it was very dark. 

Yes, I look ridiculous. Yes, I'm wearing my Nana's glasses. And yes, I have ice cream. Wow, I actually look very weird. :-)

The front of the train through the window.

On the boat. I personally think the rocky hills are pretty. But it's not a good picture.

A waterfall on the boat.

I guess that's all for now. I'll see what daddy has on his phone and maybe post some of those. He may have gotten better pictures as he was up on the viewing deck often. No windows in his way. 

And please understand...PICTURES do NOT do Alaska JUSTICE. thank you. ;-) 

Leg update: my leg is fine. I still have pain and my toes are still swollen. Prayers for quick and correct healing are always warmly welcomed. :-) I really should go now. Sorry to make this post so long.