Hangaburbsths in my nose

I have been trying so hard to catch Jadeyn saying Hamburgers on video. I finally got it, and even though he is talking about "buggers", it still hilarious!

Woodland Park

Woodland Park (near Colorado Springs)- Our trip to Woodland Park turned out to be a fantastic one! We were expecting cold nights and rain and we lucked out with amazing weather. We had low 70s all four days! The campsite was great, the trails were close by and we enjoyed every second. On the first night, Jadeyn got to fish some and play with a few worms. This was at the same lake that we had taken him camping when he was just a year old and he napped on the shore of the lake...no napping this trip, he was all over the place!
This area was so different from other areas we have been to. There were a lot of sand or loose gravel trails with what we called "whoop-de-whoos." Big dips and rises where we could catch a little air! There we some REALLY steep rocky trails Kevin took us on that made me quite a bit nervous and the water crossings were a ton of fun. Parts of the area had been burned in the Woodland Park fire about 8 or so years ago.




























I'll admit that camping with a broken foot hasn't been easy, but it hasn't stopped us. I just put a bag over the cast to keep out the dirt and away we go. Crawling to get in the tent has been the worst part actually. I can't believe my knees have callouses! Our hiking has been limited (obviously), but it was a great year to get the RZR since it has allowed us to "get out" and still have fun!














One of the trails wove through HUGE boulders. A make-shift lean-to or camp site someone had built. We still had Jadeyn's helmet on from the RZR and it was a good thing too: he kept smacking his head in some of the caves.














We always enjoy good food in the mountains! This time we added tortilla pizzas!

My "Berkin" Foot as Jadeyn says

So...Surgery Time.

It was kind of weird being on the patient side of the picture at Longmont Surgery Center since my office sends a lot of our patients there. I can say that the experience was completely positive. Kevin stayed by my side and listened to my nervous chatter as I went through the pre-op part and then I was wheeled away. Luckily we were able to to IV sedation, but I'm pretty certain I wasn't quiet during surgery, but I haven't gotten up the guts to ask what I said!

My mom was so sweet to fly out and help me and Kevin through the recovery and I was so grateful to have her there. The first afternoon after I got home we sat outside and soaked in some sun and I wasn't in any pain. Well, then the pain started. I have to admit, it hurt a heck of a lot more than I anticipated. I think the splint was the main problem putting pressure points on places it wasn't supposed to. I had three very attentive nurses: Kev, Mom and Jadeyn. Jadeyn would get a ice pack out of the fridge, put it on me, and then within a minute, go and get another one to replace it! Oh, and he kissed my foot a lot!

I'm glad I survived the week! Once I had my post op it was like a whole world of freedom opened up! I was so happy to be in a solid cast again that didn't hurt and I wasn't as afraid of damaging myself as I was in a splint. It was a relief and the pain stopped!!! We could continue with our lives! Oh, and yeah, I know this picture is backwards, I snapped a quick picture of the xray and wasn't paying attention!
I just had my two week post op appointment and go to see an beautiful xray of my screw. You can really see the break about a half in from the bottom of the screw. I is a nice lovely break snapping off the whole end of the bone.

I also got to see what three weeks of no exercise did to my leg! Here is my pathetic shriveled up calf! It so sad! and will take awhile to recover that muscle. :(
And just for kicks and giggles, here is a picture of my foot within minutes of the break. This was the instant goose egg swelling I got before the whole foot exploded.

And I have a new nickname: Hobblelot!

A Road Bump in Summer

Well, my news of the day.....drumroll please.....I broke my foot.

Proximal Fifth Metatarsal Avulsion Fracture (or something like that!)

Okay, so it didn't deserve a drumroll, but how else was I to introduce it? I was working on my craft stuff all morning on the front porch, had just put my saw and sander away and was getting the staining stuff out. Took a step off the front porch and right onto a perfectly round rock, rolled my foot and collapsed. I made it inside before I started howling. It was pretty instant that the side/top of my foot started swelling huge! It was about the size of half an egg sticking straight out! Had it been my ankle, I wouldn't have been nearly as scared, but the foot looked pretty freaky. About a hour later Kevin met me and Jadeyn at Urgent Care, and sure enough I broken the whole end off of the long bone of the pinky where it attaches to the ankle!! Dang! So I was in a nice little splint and not too much pain until night came. Boy did it hurt!
I saw a specialist on Wednesday and got the rest of the story. The place where I broke the bone is notoriously a poor healing area. There is a tendon attached to the broken piece so every time I move my foot, that tendon is pulling the piece away from the bone it is trying to heal to. So, the recommendations are: two months in a cast putting no weight on it at all, hoping it heals and then possibly still needing surgery, or having surgery to pretty much guarantee that it will heal, and still be in a cast for two month! We chose the surgery route and it is scheduled for Tuesday, yup, my birthday!!! Oh well! Bummer.
We are hoping that this won't slow down our summer plans too much. This is actually a three week span where we don't have any big trips planned, so I guess the timing is good. Tomorrow we are going fishing and Sunday we are taking the RZR out and we'll see how I do on the bumpy roads!

Let the summer begin!

We haven't let it stand in our way yet. We went out on the RZR on Friday and Sunday this week and checked out a few trails above Ft Collins, near Poudre Canyon. Piling up a nice fleece blanket under my feet, I had a nice cushion to take the bumps. Then I used a bungee cord to create a sling and hung my foot! Crazy. On Friday, we sloshed through mud and snow and went until the trail disappeared. We fished at West Lake near Dowdy and reminded Jadeyn of how much fun he has fishing!

































On Mother's Day we headed up to an area right above Red Feather Lakes and found a gold mine of a place. We took the RZR way back on a trail and hiked (yes I did say hiked) to the lake. Okay, it was only about 300 yards, but that takes awhile on crutches and uneven surfaces, rocks, weeks, fences, Jadeyn... But the fishing was awesome. We caught three beautiful Browns and one nice bull Rainbow trout. It would have been interesting watching us however. Anytime we caught a fish, I'd be crawling over to get the pliers and hobbling back to my place. Funny!
We checked out several other trails and found some great places to fish next time!





















So all in all, right now I can say that this broken foot thing won't hold me back too much...we'll see if I say the same thing after surgery!