The Barter System

According to Wikipedia:    

• Bartering is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services without a common unit of exchange (without the use of money). 

Today we made a really good trade.  But it won't be showing up on any stock market summary.

Yesterday we made these lovely chocolate covered pretzel rods to deliver to the fine folks at Children's Hospital that would be a part of Middle Child's surgery team.

In fact, we made many pretzel rods.

And earlier this morning, we used them in a barter system.  

 We traded our "bag of rods"....... pretzel rods

For this "bag of rods"..... titanium rods

Good trade, huh?  That's right folks, Middle Child did AWESOME during his rod removal surgery early this morning. 

These are the rods that were in Middle Child's leg since the end of May 2009.  If you saw the posts from back then (and you can still go back to the archives and see them now), you would have seen the x-rays that showed these rods in a criss coss pattern right through the point of the break in his femur bone. 

The orthopedic surgeon went in this morning through the same incision sites as before, on either side of Middle Child's leg right above the knee, and removed the titanium rods that were located INSIDE his bone marrow inside the femur bone.  There will be some bleeding, due to that fact of being inside the bone marrow, and thus there will be a little swelling around the incision area.  He will be sore from having to be cut again and from the surgery of removing them ....but all is well.

All is so very well.  I cannot thank you enough for your many prayers, calls, emails, comments and texts.  We have a few stories to tell of the last 24 hours, but we arose so very bright and early this morning.....and my brain is about to shut itself off, so I must run and get some rest. Thank you, once again.  The Lord heard each and every prayer from you....and in our hearts, we could feel them too.

The anesthesiologist group was delighted with the bags of goodies, the nursing staff couldn't wait to put them in the break room for all to share, trying each coconut, toffee, pecan or sprinkled flavored stick, and the surgeon, Dr. D, was very pleased in choosing one from his bag with as he said,  "just the right chocolate to bread ratio".....

Yes, today we used the barter sytem and traded edible, attractive, delicious rods for very strong, solid, bone-mending rods .....but that's not all we received in our trade.....we also have a beautiful, healthy young man who can hardly wait to try out his new and improved leg. In due time.  

Because your prayers would be deeply appreciated....

We are approaching a big day for Middle Child.  Yes, last summer  I referred to him as Broken Leg Boy, because, well, he had a broken leg.   If you remember,  he broke it on the playground, on the last day of school, during the last hour.....just in time to kick off summer break with a real bang.  3 ambulance rides and 2 hospitals later, he was taken in for surgery by a wonderful orthopedic surgeon at Children's Hospital.  We had a grand summer, even with the wheelchair and crutches.  Kind of like the snow (or lack thereof) a couple of days ago, we made the most with what we were given. 

Middle Child's broken leg drew us closer as a mother and child, sibling to sibling, and as a whole family.  Close friends and family rally around whenever there is a circumstance, whether it be one of joy or pain, and this time was no different. They are always there to share in the excitement or to help ease the sorrow.  During this time period we relished in our moments even more with family and friends, partially because, due to his injury, we were made to move at a slower pace.  We had no choice but to stop and smell the roses....and let me tell you, they were sweet. In fact, they still are.

The summer passed.  School began again in the fall.  November came.  And the date on the calendar that Middle Child had been anxiously awaiting arrived with it.  After many hours spent strengthening his leg again, several check ups to the ortho clinic, and months of recovering, Middle Child was released from the activity restriction his doctor had placed on him post surgery.  So, for all the almost 6, that's right SIX months of no activity, (no PE at school and careful moments trying to "play" even at home) he was rewarded with the GO AHEAD to begin running, jumping and being a rambunctious boy again.  Which were greeted with BIG smiles all around, as you can imagine.

He knew he would only have a few weeks to play again, before the next and final surgery would be scheduled.  Our goal was to let him have a fun Christmas, a special couple of months of this season to rip and roar like any young man his age. We met our goal.  And now, surgery has been scheduled.  Shortly after the New Year arrived, I knew I had to make the call to his ortho nurse to have her assign us a date in the surgical room....one last time.

However, what I'm struggling with right now, is the fact that I had to schedule that surgery.  You see, I'd be a bit anxious regardless, because it's my boy, and he's having surgery, and he's so sweet and precious, and he's my boy. Do you have kids?  Then you know exactly where a mother's heart lies....and she wants to protect her cubs just like any other Mama bear in the woods. 

Now, if you've read the blog this month, then you know that I lost a friend on New Year's Eve, just a few days ago.  A friend who had injured herself on Christmas night and had outpatient surgery to repair her injury on New Year's Eve. It was what I, and many, would have considered routine surgery.  Routine outpatient surgery that she endured in the morning, hours later was dismissed and came home to recover, and then early evening, at home, she passed away (probably due to a blood clot, heart attack).  

Now look, I know we don't question God.  As bad as I'd like to, as bad as I have often wanted to give Him a piece of my mind about His timing, and His will, and His choices of who gets to leave here Heavenbound and who gets stuck here on earth to grieve.  But as I posted on the blog concerning my friend's death, His ways are right....no matter what our thoughts are on the matter.  And kind of like here on earth with the mama of the family, He gets the last say, period.

And I am constantly learning to trust in what His last say is, on everything in this life.  But it doesn't mean your heart doesn't break with whatever the "last say" may be that has been laid down from the Big Man in charge.  I trust in the Lord to take care of my boy, all my children, our entire family.  Although, I'd be lying to you right here and now, if I didn't say how much more anxious I am for the upcoming routine outpatient surgery Middle Child is scheduled to have this week.

 I'll be clinging to our H3 verse this month.  I'll be talking overtime with the Big Man in charge this week. To say I would appreciate your prayers on behalf of this surgery, would be a huge understatement.

It's been a long time coming for broken leg boy......

Middle Boy and I had a date last Thursday.  An ALL DAY and NIGHT type event.  The most important aspect of it was scheduled way back in the summer and is where our date story begins, with an appointment at Children's Hospital to visit with the orthopedic surgeon.  It was, for many reasons, a time middle boy has looked forward to for MONTHS.  Since May 29th, in fact, back when he broke his femur on the very last day of school. 

Here he is wearing his brand new argyle sweater vest just for this special occasion.  And as it turns out, and as Dr. Doyle and myself duly noted to him....that vest matched up with his paper hospital shorts perfectly!!  :)  He had to slip on his shorts so the doc could bend and push on his knee and leg....a lot, and watch him stand, jump, walk and run on his leg.  He passed all the tests with flying colors, (he's not being tracked by Duke University for nothing you know). 

And so there we 5 sat, in the patient room:  Dr. Doyle had decided to take a seat on the patient bed, I was in the "mom chair", middle boy was spinning around on what would usually be the "doctor's stool", and the 2 ortho residents in their fresh white lab coats were standing behind him.   Dr. Doyle spoke about the upcoming surgery to remove the rods.  The residents listened very intently not only to all the scientific surgical mumbo jumbo stuff he listed out for me, the ramifications, how they do things in Europe, the growth plate issues, etc.etc. as well as the residents were learning from the way he spoke to me.....like I was a real live mother of a precious child that he cared about and held his best interests at heart.  Beside 101...it goes a long way. In my book, anyway.  And Dr. Doyle...he must have been top of his class in that course for sure.  Not to mention, he's an AWESOME surgeon. 

But, there's still another funny story to tell.  One to share, because you'll laugh at it too.   As we all sat there, discussing the issues at hand, the doctor kind of paused, giving middle boy just the chance he needed.  His hand shot up and he declared, "I have a question".   And the following conversation ensued: 

W:  "I have a question"
Dr:  (pointing to Walt) "Okay,  you in the front row, what's your question?"
W:  "When you do the surgery to remove the rods, do you keep them, or can you give them back to me to keep?"
Dr:  (never losing face, addressing him like he was speaking at some Ivy League surgical conference)  "Well, there are some issues that would need to be addressed first.  Under normal conditions, we only allow patients with either the first name Walt, or the last name Bowling to keep the rods.  And even then, they are asked to sign a release form stating among other issues, that they will not use the titanium rods as a weapon to hit anyone over the head, they will not use the rods to poke or prod their siblings, and they will not use the rods as a nose picking device to reach boogers. 

Which is a very dangerous activity due primarily to the fact that the booger juice can have a reaction with the titanium oxide in the rods.  Which in turn can create a secondary infection in the airways leading into the lungs, called ------ (he used some big science made up name that ended in "osis").  And that would, well, it would just create an even bigger problem than the one you had orginally by breaking your thigh bone.  

Of course you probably don't have to worry about any of that because normally none of that occurs except in those rare patients that are what we call "wild", those who match the first name Walt, with the last name Bowling.  But I'm sure in your case there's nothing to worry about, all should be fine."

(He starts flipping through his chart, and scans the mouse over the computer on the wall that is showing the x-rays of the leg, the break, the rods,etc.) 

He looks up from all of this, and stares middle boy right in the eyes, with a look of complete shock and says...."Oh crap, you're Walter Bowling".

At which point we all bust out laughing.  It was a priceless moment, amongst many months of recovery.

Basically our day started out grand.  Middle Boy received the news he's been waiting to hear for so long now....he was released to be a  normal boy again.  Which may or may not include tackle football.....  From the looks of his blue jeans on Friday after school and then the high school game, he played hard whatever he was doing.  After months of clean jeans,  I'll be needing to invest in some good grass stain remover.  And I couldn't be happier about that little fact. 

He was just BEAMING when we left Children's hospital.  Can you imagine being his age and not being able to really "play" for almost 6 months?  Me, either.  I do ask for you to be in prayer for him....I'll let you know specifically when at a later time.  He will have surgery to have the titanium rods removed.  We have opted to wait until after Christmas for this to be scheduled.  Although the surgery itself is out-patient and should be relatively "easy", he will be in pain for a few days, missing school a couple of those, and will be sore for a bit afterwards.  And, the kicker, he will also need to be on activity restriction again for 6 weeks afterward.

He's ready to play a while.  He's ready to be off the restriction list for now.  And we couldn't agree more.  

Thank you all for your prayers, well-wishes and sweet messages, acts of kindness, gifts and goodies you have shown Middle Boy during this ordeal.  I hope it's the first and last time he breaks his femur. :)   

H3 connection = I'm thankful for his recovery & release and for his wonderful surgeon.

Hide His Words in your Heart---November's Verse

"Enter his gates with THANKSGIVING

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name."

~~Psalm 100:4

See, I'm true to my promise. Only one verse to memorize this month. Although it was hard, I really wanted to memorize the entire chapter of Psalm 100. Like most psalms, it's a beauty and such an encouragement. A psalm for giving thanks...and should be easy to remember during this particular month!! :)

Here's the thing....I want you to immediately think of the Lord's blessings when you walk into the grocery store, the craft store, the office supply store, when you look upon the bulletin boards or artwork at schools, the calendar on your desk at work, the butterball turkey commercials, the green bean casserole recipe from your Grandmother, the pilgrim hats your grandchildren will wear at lunch one day, the design graphics for all the TV specials and college football games......

Basically this is a deep sensory scripture memorization. Every time you see, hear, touch or smell THANKSGIVING, at any time this month, I want you to stop and thank the Lord. Give Him the honor and praise....for all of our blessings come forth only by HIS HAND alone.

And I must also give you an early challenge this month. I'm certain all of us will be able to hide these words in our heart long before the month ends. However, I would like you to take it a step further. Your challenge is this:

• Every single day, when you read your index card, or however you plan to memorize this verse, I challenge you to name a blessing from the Lord you are thankful for.....a different blessing, each day.
  

It's easy to come before God with a list of things we need help with, baggage from the past we can't let go, hurt, shame or pain that never seems to go away. And you know, we should, in fact we are commanded, to pray about those issues. However, we should also always remember to Praise God. Even in the bad times. Even when the day seems like there was nothing good that happened, nothing worthy to be thankful for, nothing at all. Look again. There is never a day we can't praise God by telling him how great he is.

I know that we have H3 participants (or their friends and family) in our group this month who will be experiencing life, the good and the bad with things such as heartaches, marital bliss, labor and delivery, travel, loss, marital dismay, a new business, unemployment, a new home, birthdays, financial burdens, physical therapy, the unknown....and the list goes on and on.

Every day we have SO much to be thankful for....even if it's when we look in the mirror and say, well, at least I'm having a good hair day. Because remember, he even knows how many hairs are on your head...including the grey ones!!

• Thank Him because your hair stylist can color those grey ones right up!
• Thank Him because your son can walk.
• Thank Him because the forecast shows no rain all week!
• Thank Him because your family is always there for you to lean on....even when miles separate you.
• Thank Him because sweet potato pie is your absolute favorite. Or pecan, or pumpkin, or anything dessert related!!!
• Thank Him because that cute sweater just went on sale.
• Thank Him because the foliage he paints every fall is gorgeous.
• Thank Him because your daughter reads His word.
• Thank Him because the weekends provide a time of rest, a big pot of chili, and some SEC football.
• Thank Him because you have parents who were Godly examples.
• Thank Him for dishwashers, I know I do.
• Thank Him for allowing you to know ladies who can make really good dressing. (I think you Northerners call it stuffing.) Too bad you don't have our southern dressing. I feel sorry you have to eat stuffing. :)
• Thank Him for showing you your mate...even if you were apprehensive to trust Him with that choice.
• Thank Him for the coupons in Sunday's paper, because they match up with your weekly meal plans.
• Thank Him because he holds your tongue.
• Thank Him for whoever invented cranberry sauce.
• Thank Him for Book Club.
• Thank Him because he gives you terrific friends to surround you in joy or sadness.
• Thank Him because he is your friend.
• Thank Him because he forgives you, daily.

Thank Him for sending his Son. Otherwise, we would certainly have nothing to be thankful for....

Okay, so get started. I encourage you to write down your thankful thoughts somewhere as reminders now and for years to come. Maybe on your calendar, in a journal, just jot down one word responses on a sheet of paper stuck in your bible, or maybe on a little something you'll be receiving in the mail from me. (And if you are new this month, or just didn't have time to participate last month, be sure to send me an e-mail (bowlingfamilymoments@yahoo.com) with your mailing address.) Or if you have aboslutely no idea what H3 is....click here to read more.

I may check in throughout the month, and post on what I was thankful for that day. I'd love to hear some of what you may be thankful for this month. If you have a thankful moment you want to share, a funny story, a sad time that brought about unexpected thankfulness, whatever the case may be, you can feel free to e-mail me, or leave a comment, or post it on your own blog, or send someone you are thankful for a note via the pony express. Who knows what blessings the Lord has in store for each of us this November.

And remember, EVERY day must be something NEW to be thankful for.....30 days, 30 thankful measures, no matter how big or small. Better start immediately, you're already 3 days behind. :)

Today, I'm thankful for all of you!

Praise Report for Broken Leg Boy....

Well, well, well, it has been a hard summer. Let me just get that out of the way up front, no point in pretending any differently.

Sure, it has flown by, for which I am equally sad and grateful. Like a double edged sword, so to speak. Sad that time seems to pass like sand through our hands, very quickly. However, I am grateful for Broken Leg Boy that this span of time where he has been "broken" has seemed to sneak right on by, without hanging around too long in his young life. You know, the "bad" part is over for the most part.

He has been such a terrific child through each and every moment. Never complaining from point of injury, to surgery, to recovery, to crutches, to any deterring factor it placed on "summer break" for he or his siblings. A very stoic individual, indeed.

I don't really like a lot of change. And I had grand visions of all our activites/vacations/road trips/family outings/etc.etc.etc. that would take place in these few short weeks the education system gave us for free time. Obviously, when your child breaks their femur the afternoon school is dismissed, plans and visions change. We survived, and just like the old cliche, we are stronger because of the adversity it brought.

We are thankful for the moments of bonding it caused to occur. Little moments that may have been shuffled around and rarely seen had it not been for the "closeness" this accident brought.

I was briefly able to go back to carrying around a child. It's a feeling you long for, actually my heart aches for it at times, once your child is old enough to not require it. You miss it more than words can say, but I'm sure it would look funny if I hoisted my 5th grader up on my hip while traveling the aisles at Target. People might talk. In fact, I'm certain they would talk.

But for a few short weeks this summer, I was able to "tote" my child again, to cradle him in my arms, with his trusting arms around my neck. And I couldn't have been more thankful for those tough moments because they brought along some great memories.

So, what's the big report you say? Get on with it, and stop all this dribble, just tell us the praise.

Okay, okay already. I'd like to present to you Broken Leg Boy minus his trusty aluminum sidekicks:

That's right, folks, NO MORE CRUTCHES. Raise your hands and shout HALLELUJAH along with us!

We visited the surgeon at the end of last week for another check up. And we were glad to have it occur before school began so we would know all his restrictions. The bone is healing nicely, very nicely, in fact. So much so, that it looks like it's straight to me, all mended. Except for maybe where there's still a crack in it....

Anyway, Dr. Doyle said he was pleased and asked Broken leg Boy to set aside the crutches and walk without them. Which we knew he could do, because he had shown us at home a few times before. Then he asked him to squat and then jump. Walt had not done either of these to my knowledge, prior to the visit. But he did them for the doctor. As we were pulling out of Children's parking deck, I commented about how well he did, and that I had no idea he could do that. He replied, "me neither, mom".

Then I asked, "well, how did it feel to jump and land on your leg with the rods in it? Did it hurt? Were you scared?". And my clever Broken Leg Boy responded with, "you see, I was scared, and didn't think I'd be able to even jump when he asked me to from the squat, so when I did, I just sort of landed on my good leg, and acted like my other foot was touching the ground too." :)

So, he passed this round with the surgeon and is to report back in a couple months. For now, he is still very limited in his activities. Obviously. He is walking great without his crutches and only has to use them if his leg gets really tired from walking a long distance or at the end of the day. And I think he has not used them at all the last 3 days, so we are making big progress. There is still a limp, and he kicks his leg out to the side for some reason, which has given him the nickname "Peg Leg Pete". Both actions were deemed "normal" by the surgeon, saying that most all patients do this and it rectifies itself after a few weeks.

The surgeon also has restricted him from PE until mid-October. Possibly into November, but we'll just have to wait and see. No activity at all, except swimming. That is what he "prescribed" for Broken Leg Boy to do for therapy to strengthen his leg muscle. It will probably be a long couple of months on the playground, watching his classmates run, jump, swing, and slide....but he'll get through it with his head held high, just like he has thus far.

I'd like to think in the end that this experience brought out some good qualities in us all. Some endearing moments that were purposeful for all sorts of reasons we would have never known before. Stopping to really experience the small, but GRAND, moments of life.....laughter, compassion, tenderness, and many hearts full of love.

It has been a hard summer. But it has been a joyous one. Thank you Lord for carrying us through yet another season of life....and bringing us out safely to the other side.

All you need is a little imagination to make a MOUNTAIN out of a mole-hill.

And may I present the King of the Mountain:

On Monday I showed you pics of the kiddos on our fun day at the beach. I had packed us all PBJ sandwiches and chips and waters for lunch on the beach. But I knew we'd all be starving after playing all day in the ocean, and we had over an hour drive back, so supper would need to be close by. Therefore, I packed us all a change of clothes, we set out to the public showers, made an attempt at getting the sand off, and put on our fresh duds.

And then we walked about 28 steps and ordered up a helping of this yummy goodness: Anybody recognize it???



You are correct if you answered silently to your computer--"The Hangout". That's exactly where we were. And it's situated RIGHT BESIDE the public beach. And that queso....ummmm, wish I had some right now with a basket full of those sea salted chips!!!

If you've never been, it's a neat place to go, you know, HANGOUT, and eat, and let the kids play, and even shop for a souvenir---all under one happy roof. Jackpot for this tired mom.


So we did it all. We ate, the kids played, the bought souvenirs, and we had fun just Hanging Out. Clever marketing people. The HANGOUT. Who knew it was that easy?

Anyway, if you go, may I please suggest you get the Chicken Wrap with their special sauce on it, called Shaka Shaka. It is DIVINE. And if I wouldn't have devoured mine when our waiter brought it out, I would have taken a photo to show you. You'll just have to trust me on this. Divine. Plus what's not to love about saying a cool name like Shaka Shaka???

After we ate, the kids begged to go back out to all the play areas. I loaded up the to go cups and trudged on out to watch. Of course with camera nearby. My belly was full, so I could focus on taking pics again!!

Let me tell you....I should just pay for a dumptruck load of sand to be brought in to our backyard. My kids could have stayed on that hill of fresh, soft sand for HOURS. Running up it, rolling down it, jumping off of it, etc. etc. etc. Of course, that is, everyone but Broken Leg Boy.

He couldn't do what this sweet gal is doing. Look at that fierce runners face. Fast little scoot, even in a sundress.


Nor could Broken Leg Boy do any of these fancy stunt-man-worthy moves that his brother exhibited. Disclaimer: No broken bones occurred during the making of these photos. Thank Goodness.

Nope Broken Leg Boy could do absolutely NONE of that. However, he ditched the crutches at the bottom and went to town on this sand mountain. With sheer determination, and the clawing and digging up with his hands.....



He made it to the top. King of the Mountain. While the other court jesters roust about, he gazes over the grandeur of his domain. Crutchless. Feeling normal, yet again today.

• Little miss fast and furious....and cute, too.

The other two continued to roll, leap, run, jump and slide all up and down the sand. And eventually broken leg boy came down from the top perch as well. Slowly, methodically making his descent.

• Gosh, I love these kids. I am ever so thankful for this HANGOUT time we shared.
  

I laugh every time I look at this. She may be cute, but she CANNOT do the proper "HANGOUT" sign. The boys shouted to hold it up, and her first attempt was just a thumbs up. Then I have a couple of shots of her looking at their hands, trying to figure out what to do with hers. And a couple more of the boys turning around laughing and trying to show her..... bless her heart, this was the best she could muster. Girly girl. Cracks me up.

Wanna see what rods inside the bone marrow of a femur look like??? Me too.

So, here's what Broken Leg Boy's femur x-rays looked like before surgery.

And here it is, 3 weeks post surgery. This was taken on our first follow up visit to see the surgeon. Where I delicately told him the story of me allowing Broken Leg Boy to fall out of his wheelchair. Due to the fact that I was scared out of my mind, because the x-ray looked like his leg was still broken. Ahem, no need to reminisce. Luckily the Dr. informed me it WAS still broken, but looked good. Which, thankfully, let me off the guilt hook from the wheelchair incident.

Anyway, like I said before, I had no idea the rods would go the ENTIRE length of the femur, from the knee right up to the hip socket.....and he only has two small incisions on either side...... I am still amazed.

Of course, I was also amazed when I learned that my new washer can have a conversation with my new dryer. And they haven't even been to med school. (More on that tomorrow.)

a summer accessory we are happy to be rid of....

Well, broken leg boy went to see his surgeon near the end of last week. Why? Because he felt compelled to spend a hot summer afternoon, chatting away with the man who sliced into his leg and placed rods into his bone marrow.

Okay, not really. We had an appointment. Because you know, the people who do surgery like to check on their "art-work", every now and again. And our time had arrived.

He received a great report. I was concerned when they took xrays, because, having not been formally educated in the school of radiology, I cannot read xrays. I can tell you this, what I saw was two very long rods inside my child's leg. I thought when the surgeon would hold his fingers up and show us how they would criss-cross inside his leg, that they were small rods.

I was wrong. They actually go the length of his femur, from the knee to the hip. Oh, and they do "criss-cross" just like the surgeon said. Go figure. He was right. I guess that's why we pay him the big bucks.

I did have a small panic attack in the x-ray room when I first laid eyes on the pictures. It looked to me like there was another broken piece of bone in his leg. And while that would be a problem in and of itself, I felt worse about it because of a certain recent event.

You see, I felt as though I was "hovering" a bit too much for my sweet boy. So, a couple of days before his check-up, I took him outside in his wheelchair to get some fresh air and sunshine. His siblings were out with him, so I came inside to do laundry. Inside, but I could see him through the window, and the back door was right beside me to leap out if necessary.

However, I didn't leap soon enough. TB came running in to tell me he had fallen out of his wheelchair. Yep. You heard that right, he fell out of his wheelchair. I rushed out to him and found his wheelchair laying on the ground, him laying out beside it, on his broken leg.

Did I mention I had told him it was also okay for him to go outside WITHOUT his brace on?

Seriously....can a mother feel any more sorrowful? So, I've already ridden the guilt roller coaster a million times in my mind, therefore, while we all enjoy feedback, I don't need any negligent comments. Thanks, but no thanks.

I inquired to the surgeon about the long rods, stating "I had no idea they were going to go the entire length of his femur, that was quite a shock to see in your son's leg". ......and I also threw in the fact that it looked like a new chunk of his bone was broken. And in the end, I did mention his wheelchair accident.

He smiled and replied that I didn't need to worry about the length of the rods, they were fine, and doing their job marvelously. And no, he didn't appear to have hurt himself during the fall from the wheelchair, but yes, if it looked like his leg was broke, that was because it was, in fact still broken.

But he's mending well. Doing outstanding. Lose the wheelchair, but keep the crutches, put a little weight on the leg, do exercises to help regain use of the quadricep muscle, come back again in 6 weeks, etc.etc.etc.

We also had a family wedding to go to in South Carolina. Packed and ready to leave from Children's Hospital. The surgeon said he was fine to travel, even for that distance. He even added that when broken leg boy arrived, if there were pretty girls at the pool, or restaurant, or wedding reception, and they happened to notice his leg, he should sit around, give them his best smile and say ...."I shattered my femur, and MAY be able to walk again, but I'm not looking for any sympathy".

Apparently, Dr. Doyle, not only specilaizes in orthopedic surgery, but also relationship therapy.

A tale of good lovin' during recovery

The patient was thrilled to have a small little visitor come spend a couple hours with him earlier last week. A visitor who was just his speed....as AK isn't mobile, yet.

And the small little visitor was equally excited to "give him love", as we all call it. Isn't that just the sweetest?

Here she is giving him more love and kisses....

And even MORE love and kisses.....

Until she had finally had enough....."oohh, you don't taste so good, afterall."

However, I still love you all the same, broken leg and all.

SATURDAY SHOWCASE......it's a Walt Update.

Because I have lots to say, here’s a list for your reading pleasure:

• Walt is having a field day with the DVR. Funniest thing is, he uses it mainly to rewind COMMERCIALS. Normally, people use it to skip forward to avoid those! Ha. He cracks me up.

• Upon arriving home, I couldn't find a bell for him to ring for me . So instead, I made the rookie mistake of improvising with his sister's plastic, yellow flute. I've been in the kitchen on several occasions and have heard it's varying non-melodious sounds. I have since hidden the flute. He can yell if he needs me....it's a broke leg, not a voicebox.

• He’s doing better with getting up for restroom and lunch breaks. While usually for breakfast and sometimes supper, I serve him in bed, I make him come to the table in his wheelchair for lunch . And then we usually stay at the table to play a round of CLUE or look at Family Fun magazine for ideas for the summer.

• It's been a week since his surgery, 8 days since his accident, and 9 days since he shampooed his hair. I am happy to report, that hair predicament has been rectified. We did another round in the tub using the stools....and this time we turned the water on. Works better that way, with the water on. You can actually do things, like, shampoo. :)

• Had school still been in session, his surgeon had orders that he was not to attend PE for 3 months. Wow. 3 months. That’s a long time with no recess, folks. It looks as though he will still have to miss the first month of PE once school resumes. This road to recovery appears to be several miles long. We are in hopes that he will be walking fairly well by the time the first day of school rolls around in August.

• However, that’s a few doctors appointments and therapy visits away. So, for now, he is still confined, for the most part, to the bed. But each day we are adding in more time up in the wheelchair. The problem is finding enough things to occupy his time. He has DVR’d all the episodes of “Unwrapped” from Food Network, and he has several new books, plenty of new art supplies, and other various toys, games, etc. that we keep in a basket close by. However, we are open to any fun ideas you can give us.

• We did take him outside one day to get some fresh air. His siblings thought it would be fun to draw off a hopscotch board with sidewalk chalk. Yep it was fun alright. Right up until they remembered he couldn’t play. And he couldn’t sit on the driveway to draw art with the chalk either…..

• Normal summer activities are not so normal anymore. As soon as my brain kicks back in, I’m going to tell it to start thinking outside the proverbial summer activity box. But just in case that takes too long…..I thought I’d solicit (or beg) a few ideas from you fine folks.

• And while you’re at it…..go ahead and send in suggestions for this other current dilemma as well: a picky eater with a broken femur who has already lost 4 pounds since his accident. And he did not even have 4 ounces to lose from his skinny frame.

The time we almost didn't get the balloons loaded.....

Yea...try shoving all that in the back and closing the gate real fast. It ain't easy, but I think we had better gas mileage with the extra flotation. Plus, we can entertain Walt with squeaky voices for about a month with all that helium!! :)

And here's my little man departing Children's Hospital. He was glad to get home. A little scared of what lies ahead, but home is still home. And nothing, I mean nothing, beats it.

We were actually released on Saturday, and made it home shortly after lunch. Temple, Walt and myself were all exhausted.....and ever thankful for real beds. Our beds.

He's had lots of visitors and calls. And has made lots of requests, most of which have been granted by various family members and family friends. He's taken quite a liking to the whole, "ask and ye shall receive" policy that came with a broken femur. I'll have to post photos of all that entails later.

Sorry it has taken me a while to post even just this.....I've been a tad bit busy earning my RN and PT degree here at home. :)

Walt is still doing remarkably well, I think, for someone who had surgery just a few days ago. Today has probably been his worst day yet. The movement, for getting up for the bathroom or to be moved to his wheelchair and then back to the bed, is painful. And his little body is just wore out.

Tonight, we had planned to give him a shower, as the surgeon had instructed we could. But, we didn't make it that far. We were able to sit him in the tub on some stools Aunt Karisa purchased for him. (Thanks.) But, he was just too upset and very nervous when we removed his immobolizer brace and surgical wrap.

So, we opted to just wash him down as best we could, forget shampooing his head, and call it a night. I have been telling everyone his surgical site looked like --"two small holes on either side of his knee, he won't have any big incisions". Although, I had yet to see the site, as we weren't to unwrap it until today. But still, I thought that was how the surgical resident had explained it to me. Apparently, I wasn't listening well or I shouldn't have listened to what the resident said anyway! :)

I was wrong. There are no small holes. However, there are two incision sites on either side of his leg right above his knee area. With stitches. I was not prepared for those cuts to be on my sweet boy's legs. And I don't think he was either, thus we shortened the bath time regime.

• Hey, there's always tomorrow. Baby steps. It's a long road to recovery, and nobody said he had to have clean hair to get there! :)

The last 48 hours in pictures.....

Ambulance ride #1......

Ambulance ride #2....arriving at Children's

And that my friends is a a broken leg, some shorts that had to be cut off....and one brave little boy!

Ouch!! Starting physical therapy....four hours after surgery (more on that later).

Seriously?.....can he get any cuter?

Update on Walt

Good Evening to all. Just wanted to send out a quick message to any reading that our sweet Walt is doing well.

The surgery took about an hour and 15 minutes and recovery added another hour. The Dr. said everything went well and looked good. They placed two flexible rods into the two pieces of the femur bone. They are located inside where the bone marrow is, and that is what is stabilizing his leg. Walt is in an immobolizer brace (the big foam velcro strap things), but in a few days will get that off, and will have NOTHING on his leg. No body cast, no brace, no leg cast, nothing.

Hello medical advancements.

Just a few hours after surgery was completed, the physical therapist came by to already get him up on his leg. He is only allowed slight touch, weight bearing, for now. He will go home in a wheelchair, but practiced walking on his crutches down the hallway...and is doing fantastic.

He is still keeping a great attitude. He is amazing. That's about all I can say.

I appreciate all of your thoughts, concerns and prayers. I appreciate all of your calls, texts, e-mails, comments and visits. They have meant the world to me, especially since my "world" for the last 30 something hours have been in a confined hospital room.

We really didn't sleep much last night, lots going on, and the thoughts of surgery were never far from anyone's mind. I don't think I slept. I'm sure I didn't. But I think I can tonight, despite the hard chair/bed. :)

We of course have some sweet, tenderhearted and humorous Walt stories to tell. Sometime. When I can catch my breath. But for now, I just wanted you to know your prayers were answered....and we are grateful.

Please say a little prayer for Walt...

Hey there. I'm in the hospital room with my little blonde-headed cutie.....who has a broken leg.

Today, at 3 pm, was to begin "summer break" for the kids. Today, at 2 pm, Walt started it off with a real bang...and an actual "break". He was on the playground at school playing. While they were all playing and running, Walt fell, and another child fell on his leg. A simple accident that could have happened at anytime. I just happened to be at the school, as I was going to stop in to say good bye to their teachers and check them out early to go on home.

He was transported by ambulance to the hospital. I thought from the way he was acting, his hip was probably dislocated. In fact, the first text message I sent to family and friends said exactly that. I was wrong. X-rays confirmed that he had broken his femur bone. Snapped it right into. The femur bone. You know, the LONGEST, LARGEST, STRONGEST bone in your body. Yep, that's the one.

He was transported by ambulance again to a children's hospital so that we could have a pediatric orthopedic specialist perform his surgery. Which will begin in just a couple of hours. They will be placing two rods in his sweet little leg.

I would like to ask you to pray for my little man. My little man who has been the bravest soul I have ever seen. He has winced at the pain he feels every time they tug at his leg, move him from bed to bed, pull on his leg for x-rays and more x-rays, etc. etc. etc. He still hasn't cried with the exception at the very first moment of the accident. He has a broken femur bone. I would be screaming until they KNOCKED me out.

He has asked us lots of questions about the surgery. Obviously, he's pretty scared. So am I. I want to take his place. Because that's what moms do....they make the hurting stop. And I'm struggling with not being able to make the hurting stop right now.

He's keeping a great attitude. His doctors have all commented on how tough he must be. One called him very "stoic"---defined as...firmly restraining response to pain or distress.

I hope I grow up to be just like Walt someday.....stoic.

For now, I just pray his surgery goes smoothly. I pray for wisdom for the doctors, nurses and staff in the surgery room. I pray for his anesthesiologist and the measures they will have to take in preparation for the surgery. I pray for Temple and I to make the best decisions concerning his care and recovery.

But most importantly, I thank the Great Physician who is in charge of this all. Who was not caught sleeping while Walt played outside today. No, HE knew all along this would be part of HIS plan. Therefore, I am confident in knowing that HE will carry us through this phase of the plan.

But I still need you to pray. Now would be good. And thanks in advance....from the bottom of this mother's heart.