A busy week or three

That weekend on Saturday, 25 July, I was booked to do something for myself! When I was young I used to love reading books about the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer. A few years ago I discovered a website that was re-publishing the books Girls Gone By publishers. Through them I found a lady who imported the books to New Zealand and that there was a local group that met to discuss the books and socialise. So I joined! I'd realised that it was only a few short years until I would not be involved in Home Education and my two youngest may be out in the world doing their own thing. So I wanted to meet a few new people before that happened. At the first meeting the ladies invited me to also join the group that met to discuss "The Abbey Books" by Elsie J.Oxenham. I hadn't read any of the books but as a lot of the group were the same folk I decided to join. This Saturday was a meeting in Palmerston North. I was lucky enough to get a ride with B who was going.

Source

 

 

This was the book that was being discussed. I don't have many of them but had been given a disc by J with quite a lot of the books on so I was able to read it. We had a good drive up, a great meeting and a good drive home.

I'd had a text while I was away asking if I was home . . . well, no, but Boar was. Jester and Frosty had some wood for us. By the time I got home it was all stacked.

Locket had helped to get the wood from the truck, it was in rounds and Jester split it. When I got up into the house Locket was sitting with her foot up. When she had to move . . . she hopped. She had accidentally stood on a piece of wood, when she went to step over it, and had rolled her ankle into the gutter! Since she couldn't walk on it I said we should go get it check out at Kenepuru. But she didn't want to, wanted to see how it was the next day. I did make sure she iced it and kept it up.

The next day it wasn't any better so I insisted we have it checked. The doctor who saw her ordered X-rays. He said he though he could see a line but wasn't 100% sure. Locket was given a tubi-grip bandage and crutches and instructed to keep off it. An appointment was made for her at the Monday afternoon fracture clinic at Kenepuru for a week after the injury. We were hoping it was just a sprain. So that meant both Locket and Brains were on crutches!

It was quite entertaining taking the pair of them to the shops . . . they got quite a few glances.

On the Tuesday, 28 July, Brains had physio again. This time with Jason. He hadn't quite caught up with Brains' injury, and when it was all explained realised it was a bit more serious than he had thought. When Brains took off the moon boot Jason was a bit startled at the amount of atrophy and said that Brains needed to start loading on the leg. I.e. not using the crutches at home just while he was out and about. Brains was also given some excercises to do.

Thursday Pa had his 3 month check with his doctor. His weight was up a bit and he had quite a bit of swelling in his lower limbs, plus was a bit breathless. He was prescribed some Prednisone, to be taken for 3 days and then discontinued. We then had to weigh him once or twice a week to keep an eye on it. If it went up too much . . . a few days of Prednisone. It seems his heart may be having a bit of trouble coping, fluid can build up and increases the weight. The Prednisone increases output . . . in other words makes you pee!

As the week progressed Locket started putting some weight on her foot. It still hurt but not too much. She did still need to use the crutches though.

On the Monday, 3 August, we went to Kenepuru Fracture Clinic in the afternoon to get Locket's foot checked. We were hopeful because she was able to put some weight on the foot. The doctor had a look, asked her if it was sore "just here" putting pressure on exactly the right place, which bought a resounding yes from Locket! Then the doctor said, "That's because that is where the fracture is." Locket's face dropped a mile. She had fractured a metatarsal! The doctor asked if she could walk on it, and so Locket showed him she could. He said the fracture was stable, not displaced and it wouldn't displace. So she had a choice: she could have a cast, or just use tubi-grip and crutches. Well, having seen what happened to Brains' leg with six weeks in a cast she chose to go with no cast. She was less than impressed when he also said no dance, until the foot told her it was ok. And, no, she wouldn't be able to do her dance exams in around 5weeks time! Locket was pretty devastated to hear that! And pretty determined that she would do the exams!

Here's a photo of the pair of them fooling around on their crutches.

The next day we had the inaugural Wellington Home-Education Network (WHEN) teens meet-up. We're trying to get a regular group going. There were around 9 young folk turn up. I'd organised the meeting and so had made the first part at the Porirua Hospital Museum. It was a place we could go to whatever the weather was doing. It was a really interesting place and I'd like to go back and look around again.

On the Thursday I met up with a client in the city who had a sewing job for me. We had a preliminary discussion and sorted out a time to meet up the next week.

Saturday I went to meet another client, and spent quite a bit of time with her discussing ideas and taking measurements so that I would be able to draught the garment. Sorry no more details! Eventually they'll both be blogged about on my other blog Alyz Creations.

The following week we had a meeting with one of the parents from the studio. There were a few things that needed discussing. Every so often issues come up that need sorting out. Not very often thankfully. Hopefully things have been resolved.

The next couple of days went pretty much as usual. Brains had physio. The first few times he had gone every few days, but this time it was a week since he had been, so progress made. He was also doing the stretch class at the studio, with strict instructions as to what he could and could not do.

Thursday evening, 13th August, after dropping Locket and Estelle at Girls' Brigade I headed across the city to meet up with the first client from last week. I had some samples and patterns to show her, further discussion as to her garment, and measurements to take. It was a good meeting and I left around 8:30pm. MF lives near the sea, there was no wind and it was a lovely still evening, especially for that time of year in Wellington.  :) 

A round up of events

It's now October. I was going to do several posts to fill in the blanks but I've decided to do a couple up until mid August. I'm having to refer to my day-to-day appointment diary to do it too!

Brains continued to improve, and continued with his course. He was to be given an appointment to have a fibreglass cast applied after a week. When it came to halfway through the week and we had not had a phone call with an appointment I called the Fracture Clinic. They had no record of an appointment! It was supposed to be at Kenepuru Fracture Clinic but in the end they saw him at Wellington Hospital Fracture Clinic on the Tuesday - 10 days after his surgery. I dropped him off and picked him up from Whitireia on the Wednesdays to Fridays when he attended course.

There were other things happening too as usual - Ma's usual 3 month check-up by the doctor she is under at the rest home. Ma is slowly declining, muscles giving up. Ma has been fed pureed food for a while now as she has lost the ability to chew. Sleeps a lot, most of the time in fact. It's sad to see someone who used to be so vibrant a shell of what they once were  :(  It is life though. We none of us know what may happen with our health.

Another appointment I was involved with was taking Chuckles to attend an appointment at Wellington Hospital. She has been having some symptoms . . . and needs investigation to find out what is going on. Out of respect for Chuckles' privacy that is all I'm saying for now. I need to ask permission before sharing anything more.

Tuesday 16th June Brains had the new cast applied. Fluoro pink . . . because he could. No rocker on the foot as he was still to be non-weight bearing.

Saturday morning of that week I woke up to a text that was sent around 1:00am. Usually I wake up when my phone goes off . . . not this time. Miss Lisa had skidded and fallen while walking her dogs . . . and broken her ankle in two places! She had actually lain for an hour till she attracted attention. So she was in a back-slab plaster and had to wait about a week for surgery. I popped out to see her fro a while in the afternoon. She was feeling pretty sore understandably.

The following weekend I had what to me is a day off! Boar dropped me in the city so I could go to a  Mad Skills course at Made on Marion. I've been sewing for years but I'm always keen to learn new things. I had a great day with lots of other folk. Always more fun when there are a few of you  :) 

Here's a picture of Miss Lisa and Brains, after Miss Lisa has had her surgery, a few days after, back-slab plaster in place. She was at the studio as she insisted on going over Locket's dances with her before the Hutt Valley Performing Arts Competitions on the weekend. Locket did well and was awarded Commended for both her Classical and Barefoot dances. It gets pretty tough once they get into the 14+ categories . . . there are a lot of talented dancers in her age group so to even get a placing is great  :D

A photo of Locket in her new barefoot costume. Her dance is to Pie Jesu by The Ten Tenors.

These comps were at the beginning of the school holidays and Brains had a week off as well so things were a bit quieter for a few days. The evenings too as there wasn't dance most nights of the week.

The second Friday of the holidays Brains was due to see the surgeon and have his cast removed. So we managed to get a photo of him and Miss Lisa in their casts. Miss Lisa posted it on the studio Facebook page along with the comment: "Dancers with real attitude . . . don't want to talk about lack of pointed toes xx"

So Friday July 17 Brains' fibreglass cast was removed. In the photo below he's sitting waiting to see the surgeon, after cast removal and X-rays. Thankfully the repair looked good.

For the next 6 weeks he had to wear a moon boot - which is in the photo below. It gives support but means that he can begin to weight bear on the leg. Strictly no dance, but we did get permission to start physiotherapy.

So the moon boot during the day, and take it off at night. Anyone who has ever been in a cast will know that the first thing you want to do when the cast comes off is to have a shower or bath! Because a limb in a cast gets sooooo itchy, smelly and feels just awful by the time the cast comes off.  ~X(

Before he got in a bath - no weight-bearing without a moon boot - I took a couple of photos. The difference in the two legs was quite marked!

Back view

Front view

You can really see the atrophy of the muscles in these views! I rang that afternoon to make an appointment for him to start physio the next week. The sooner he begins the better.

So the following week, after Brains had finished at Whitireia, I took him to Te Aro Physio, who among other things specialise in dance related injuries. They are the physios for the Royal New Zealand Ballet and so are able to design a physio programme designed to get a dancer back to performance level. The reason I wanted to get him to physio is that the directions from the hospital are often a bit vague . . . whereas the physio knows how much to do for the muscles to get back to normal. This first visit was to see where he was at and he had some massage to free up the muscles of the ankle a bit. Then an appointment was made for Brains to see Jason the following week who has worked with him before.

During this time there were visits from some of the grandchildren - Mr Magoo stayed for a few days. The first night I put him to bed I was sure I'd put everything out of reach. Nope, as these photos show!

The table was against the wall to the right of the photo. And the powder was on the table, plus nappies and wet wipes!

I managed to get the top sheet off, with Locket's help I got the pillow out too. Shook them off and changed the pillowcase, all the toys had a good shake outside and a wash the next day! I didn't want him breathing in the powder all night. Mr Magoo had pulled out every wet wipe, so Boar put them all back in the packet. We did it all without waking Mr Magoo . . . and moved everything further out of reach!

A Repair Job!

So we got out of the hospital on the Sunday evening, and later that evening I took Locket to get checked.

Thankfully once Locket was on antibiotics she began to improve, and continued to over the week.

Brains called his course tutor and asked if it was o.k. for him to attend as he had been told he could go by the doctors. His tutor said he could . . . although if he needed to miss a couple of weeks it would not be a problem as he is quick at picking things up. So I took him out on the Wednesday as he was still in a fair bit of pain and having to get to the bus stop and then on the bus was a bit much to expect of him I thought. The day went o.k, although he did find his ankle was quite sore by the evening. He decided not to go on the Thursday as he wanted to keep his ankle elevated. He'd been told that if he had too much swelling the operation wouldn't go ahead.

So fast forward to Friday 5 June and we were off to Kenepuru Hospital where Brains was having the surgery. He had been nil-by-mouth from 6:00am and we needed to be at the hospital by 11:30am. He was to be 1st on the list so surgery around 1:00pm.

Except as the way these things go . . . it didn't. He was checked in, got changed and was given a warming blanket. We were told some of the equipment wasn't quite ready . . . needed to be sterilised. So in the end I think they took someone else before him, and he didn't end up going in till after 4:00pm!

I popped home for a bit and also to pick up Locket as she wanted to see him after surgery. Locket found it quite entertaining as we were allowed into the recovery area since Brains was the only one there. He was still under the influence of the anaesthetic and not making that much sense, plus making smart aleck remarks that he wouldn't normally and questioning everything the nurse did as to the reasons why she was doing it! He had an experienced nurse and so she just went with the flow . . . obviously very used to patients saying random things in recovery!

 The repair job was two screws, to attach the pulled away fragment of bone back to the main piece of bone.

By the time he got up to the ward it was nearly the end of visiting hours. He had a pressure "boot" on his leg similar to the ones below. His left leg that is. His right leg had another back-slab plaster on it. The "boots" are to reduce the risk of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) whilst he was not mobile and sitting in the bed. Once he was up and moving again the risk lessens as the body keeps the blood moving. A DVT can be dangerous as it can move and end up in the heart or lung and is sometimes fatal. So the less risk of that the better!

Source

 Although Brains seemed pretty chipper I knew it was all the effects of the drugs . . . and yup, after about 30 minutes he began to look very tired all of a sudden! So it was homeward bound for us and sleep time for him.

This photo was taken when Brains was still at the resonably perky stage . . . he was hamming it up a bit, along with the, "Do you have to?!" look  :D 

Goodness knows what happened over the weekend. I think we all just took it easy. 

Life just keeps on rolling along!I

I last posted back in June. It honestly doesn't seem as though it was that long ago! Perhaps that is because so much has happened in the last few months. I've felt as though I've had little time or energy. Enough to keep going and that was about it.

So I'm writing these next few posts retrospectively.

Well . . . I got that far and then it was a few days before I felt up to writing again due to a virus! Sooo . . .

Brains started a 12 week course at Whitireia on Wednesday 27 May. We had rung with an enquiry then gone to find out some info the week before and they told him there were places if he wanted to apply. Hospitality & Barista skills. So he did!

Queens Birthday weekend, Friday 29 May - Monday 1 June here in New Zealand, both Brains & Locket were entered in the Wellington Regional Dance Teachers Association dance competition. They had both been working hard. They had their usual dances and Brains was doing variations as well. Often these are on a Saturday evening, but this time they were on the Friday evening.

Miss Lisa was all ready to come with us when a family emergency in her partner's family prevented her. So off we went. Brains was all prepared and had rehearsed in the afternoon, his two variations were looking pretty good according to Miss Lisa.

Both had to be classical dances but different in style. His first variation was from a ballet called, Who Cares choreography by George Balanchine, music by George Gershwin. It's quite a different ballet and not what many people expect to see. In fact before one of the comps this year the variation was queried as to it's legitimacy, because it's not very well known. But it is a valid entry and fits the criteria.

Brains preformed it really well and the audience really liked it. It certainly was different to all the other dances.

The second variation was Siegfried from the ballet Swan Lake, choreography by Julius Reisinger, music by Tchaikovsky. Brains started out really well and was looking good, according to Miss Lisa's mum who was watching and has attended dance comps for the last 40 years with her own children and then Miss Lisa's pupils. She is a great support and encouragement and gives a fair but honest critique. Not far into the dance Brains went up in a jump, which looked good . . . came down . . . and . . . landed poorly! Twist, nearly crumpled to the floor, tried to keep going, then realised he couldn't so limped off . . . giving the adjudicator a bow as he went!

I think the whole audience gasped. The Mama Bear in me wanted to race out, of course. But he'd just turned 18 and . . . it's Varations. There are the stage manager and others there to look after them. I was told later he sat down side stage as soon as he got off. There was only one more dancer after him and I felt sorry for her having to go on after that. I don't know how Brains managed to stay standing during the presentations but he did. Of course he was eliminated since he couldn't finish.  :(

When I did get out to the dressing rooms, after explaining to Miss Lisa's mum why Miss Lisa wasn't there, Brains was sitting looking pretty sore. He still had his dance tights on at that stage and they were black, making it hard to see his foot. I'd already decided I'd take him to Kenepuru A & M to get it checked. One of the other dance teachers there, who knows Miss Lisa well, said she thought we should get it checked as well as she was worried he may have broken something. He got changed into his usual gear . . . and out of the black I could clearly see his foot was on a funny angle, definitely needed checking.

The doctor at Kenepuru thought it was likely to be a sprain but ordered x-rays for the next day - Saturday - as x-ray had closed for the night. Brains was issued some crutches and we were on our way.

So Saturday morning - Locket was supposed to be dancing, but she was battling a heavy cold. I had warned Miss Lisa on the phone Locket may not be able to dance as she, Miss Lisa, had called me to see how Brains had done in the comp when we were at Kenepuru Friday night. Locket made the decision she definitely wasn't dancing . . . she didn't have the breath for it, her dance was quite a fast one. Brains and I headed off to Kenepuru soon after 10am, Brains had the x-rays and was seen by a doctor who said, "You have an avulsion fracture of the Talus bone."

Well, I got the word "fracture" right away! She then explained that what had happened was the ligaments had torn a piece of bone off the talus bone - that's what avulsion means, tearing. She said Brains would be going home in a cast. Brains' face at that piece of news! He also had another x-ray as the doctor wanted to check the rest of his foot to make sure there were no more fractures. So that was done and then we waited in the waiting room again.

After a short time we were called by someone, who took us into her room, introduced herself and began with the usual - what brings you here today? Hang on a minute, I thought! "Ah, . . . we've actually seen a doctor already and Brains had another x-ray . . ."   "Oh! I wondered why her name was on the form! Just a minute . . ." and she went off, came back and asked us to just wait on these seats as that doctor was with another patient. Phew!

Once we were seen, by the doctor who had first viewed the x-rays, Brains was cleared of any other fractures. Then after a phone call we were sent on our way to Wellington Hospital Fracture Clinic.

If you want to see where the talus bone is and what it does, look here.

I made a phone call to let Boar know not to expect us any time soon. Then we headed to Fracture Clinic . . . via Miss Lisa's home . . . via McDonalds  :)  By now Brains was hungry, aren't teenage males always hungry?

Brains wanted to tell Miss Lisa himself. With a fracture he was looking at a cast for probably six weeks. So time off dance classes.

We were at Fracture Clinic some time . . . as is usual, especially on a weekend. When we'd been put in a room and were waiting for the registrar to come and see Brains I asked for some scissors. Why? To open the seams of his jeans which were skinny leg ones. Can't ruin a good pair of jeans!  =;   I can sew the seam back up!

While we were whiling away the time Brains concluded, "Well, I guess 6 weeks in a cast isn't that long to be off dancing . . . then I'll be back!"

The doctor asked the usual questions, and then about Brains' dancing. Was it a hobby or . . . ?  "Oh, I do 4 - 5 classes a week . . ." Brains said. And left it at that! At that point I chipped in with, "He has the ability to train and dance professionally, if he chooses to, if that's what you're asking." Cos . . . that is a Mama Bear's job, after all, to add in the extra info that the cubs sometimes don't give  :D 

After glancing at us both the registrar said, "Oh! Well, this is rather an unusual type of injury, I think I'll go and take another look at the x-rays. I'll be back soon." And out he went. To look at the x-rays . . . and call his boss - the consultant. When he came back he said he'd spoken to his boss and these were the options . . . he started to explain and his phone went. It was the boss, confirming the registrar's treatment plan. One option is to cast for six weeks while the bone knits together. However Brains' fracture was displaced, therefore making it unstable, and so surgery was the preferred option. "Wait! What? SURGERY!?" I could see Brains thinking. The registrar stated that there was a choice but if Brains wanted to get back to dancing - surgery was the best option. Because he wouldn't be able to dance without it. At least never professionally! It would mean surgery, a cast for 6 weeks, then a moon boot . . . and it would be six months before he was back to jumps  :-o  :-o  :-o

Well, for Brains there was no choice - it was surgery of course! A dancer just HAS to dance!

They weren't sure whether they would be able to do the surgery that weekend or not, possibly the next day (Sunday), but if not it would be done on the following Friday at Kenepuru Hospital. Either way they decided to apply a back-slab cast and admit him overnight.

 
I took this photo on Saturday evening. By then Brains was pretty shattered. He'd hardly slept the night before due to the pain, and it had been a loooong day. Shorty after this photo was taken I went home, after settling Brains for the night. I'd been battling an achey jaw/ear most of the day. I thought it was a tooth but couldn't work out if it was an upper or lower tooth. I know folk usually refer to top and bottom teeth - but that just gives me an image of teeth implanted in a bum!  =))  Home time.

Next day, Sunday, I was back at the hospital early, with Locket in tow. She wanted to come even though I explained it could be a long day. She still wasn't feeling well, if anything she was worse. We decided that if Brains went to have surgery I could take Locket down to the After Hours Medical Centre. If he was discharged we'd probably be home fairly soon, hopefully by noon, and I could take Locket to Kenepuru then.

The doctors did their round fairly early, the consultant and his underlings. The decision had been made to discharge Brains and do the surgery on Friday at Kenepuru Hospital. That way Brains wouldn't have to be nil-by-mouth most of Sunday and possibly most of Monday. Made sense to us - and the surgery would definitely be done on the Friday. So after the paperwork was done we would be on our way. It was about 10am by then. It should only take an hour . . .

Unfortunately it wasn't only an hour! Unbeknownest to us the doctor who was going to do the paperwork became unwell and went home. We found this out when the nurse eventually rang to find out what was happening, after several hours and no appearance by the doctor. Poor Locket had fallen asleep, sitting up on a chair, head bent over to her lap and resting on her puffer jacket! She slept for over an hour. Definitely not well. When she did wake up she commented, "It hurts sometimes when I breathe . . ." You are certainly going to the doctor when we get out of here, I thought!

The above photo was taken about 4:15pm . . . thankfully soon after the doctor arrived to do the paperwork. Smurfette had called to see if she should come and visit, but we said no, we'll be out of here soon. She offered to get Burger Fuel burgers for anyone who wanted them so we said yes please!

Once we'd got home and everyone had eaten I took a reluctant Locket out to Kenepuru. I was very glad I did because she was diagnosed with an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection or URTI. So antibiotics were prescribed. We picked those up and headed home.

We were all pretty tired. Despite tiredness Brains was already researching recovery of his injury  :)