Overwhelmed

My current mental state is "OVERWHELMED".  Can you imagine?

This will be short tonight, because my angry left ankle is telling me it is pill time, and I never argue with an angry ankle.

To all that attended the Birthday Bash. . . . umm . . . .  Whoa.  I felt like I was in a Vortex of humans and loved each minute of it.  Waiting for the official count from tomorrow's closing meeting, but it looks like around 900 people attended the party.  That's right:  NINE ZERO ZERO.  Amazing.  What an amazing display of love for the most amazing man I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

Thanks to every single person that made it possible and I know there are so many of you that I am afraid to name names for fear of missing someone.  I love you all.

With my ankle and foot now unusable, we have had to slow way down at our house.  Not a bad thing.

If you aren't aware, the Thursday before Relay for Life I fell down two steps walking out to the garage and pretty much wrecked my left ankle (comminuted displaced fractures of both the tibia and fibula) and broke the 5th metatarsal in my right foot.  I had surgery to fix the ankle on the Wednesday before the Birthday Bash and was the lucky recipient of 3 plates, 11 pins, and 2 screws.  Both are non-weight bearing injuries, so I am wheelchair bound.  I do have permission from the doctor to use a walker with my cantilever boot on my right foot so that I can hobble to the bathroom and back to bed to elevate, elevate, elevate.

Breaking both legs really wasn't in my plans for fun things to do this summer, but lets look at the silver lining in all of this, shall we?  My right foot requires 4-6 weeks of non-weight bearing.  My left ankle requires 4-6 months of non-weight bearing.  This means I cannot work.  Do we see where this is heading?  I am on disability until my ankle heals which means I STAY HOME!  Staying home with my Toad is a gift.  Every single minute I get to spend with him is a gift.  I wouldn't say that breaking my legs was how I would have gone about this --  I was thinking a lottery win would suffice --  but I'll take it.  The only reason this is working at all is because of our families.  They have had to work non-stop to keep us going.  I love them all!  Quinn has really stepped up to the plate and has been an incredible help to us.  He's growing so quickly and takes this very seriously.  He checks on us every night before bed for filled water glasses, snacks, etc.  I am so incredibly proud of him.  Jakey plays things off with humor (I have no idea where he gets that!).  He also keeps himself uber busy so that he doesn't really have time to think about it.  That's ok, too.  When he is home, he is very attentive as well.  He's just harder to nail down.

Johnny had chemo yesterday and was super dehydrated.  They gave him a total of 2 additional litres of fluids.  It is amazing to me to see him change color before my eyes when he receives fluids.  Most of his labs have remained stable, but his calcium level was critical.  We had to go back today to receive an additional infusion that will pull the calcium back into the bones where it belongs (Bonus!) and out of the blood where it becomes a toxin.  Some of his bizarre behavior, especially while sleeping and dreaming may have been because of his calcium level.  This is something we will most likely check every week now.  We don't want to chase our tail with this. . . too hard to catch it once it gets away.

He was also near-critically constipated from the pain meds and dehydration.  He was given an oral medicine that looked like something the Grinch whipped up.  It worked, fortunately, and now that we have a hydrated Toad with working plumbing and a week to relax, I think we will see some pretty good improvement over the next week or so.  My goal is to get 5 pounds back on him by his next chemo (today's weight: 170.6).  We have some great plans in the work to make that happen. 

Speaking of eating, Lori Brawley is acting as our Meal Coordinator again.  If you would like to help with meals, please contact her and she will set you up with an available date.  I cannot tell you how much of a blessing this is to us, especially now that I can't stand!  (Not that my cooking is remarkable to begin with!)

My sister, Angie, has been helping out with the cleaning and dusting and such (along with a couple of friends) and I've had a lot of people ask if they could help.  If you are interested in participating on the Cleaning Crew, please contact Angie. 

Both Angie and Lori can be reached by Facebook, but the rest of the information I will post on the side-bar at the right.

Thanks for taking care of me and my family.  I love being a part of a community where this just happens; it isn't expected or taken for granted.  It just happens.  I am so proud to be from Niles.