Another Broken Bone

Another Broken Bone

By Allan Olson

Yes, it happened again, of all times at the end of the school year with field trips pending and bike rides planned for the summer and then all of a sudden plans changed. On Friday night when I finally arrived home, I went to kick Abigail out of my room when I learned that her foot was hurting. Her mom had her put it up until I got home and Abigail didn’t seem to be in any real pain and then we examined a little further.  My wife and I discussed and felt that it is bad enough that it should be examined, I volunteered to drive her in this time, even though I had just got home, but since this is one of those areas that have over the years been “her department” she decided to take her in.

ot when looking at it didn’t appear to be that swollen until you touched it and compared it to her “non-injured foot.”

A trip to the ER and X-rays determined that she did indeed have a broken foot, her fourth and fifth metatarsal to be exact. They sent her home with crutches and a boot and directions to follow up with the bone doctor next week. While waiting Abigail just wanted them to get a cast on so it would hurry up and heal so she could go swimming at the water park with her class in two weeks. Her mom broke the news that even if she got a cast that moment, she still would not be going to the water park – and that’s when the tears fell. The tears were not from the pain of the foot, but from a broken little heart after being told that the trip she has been looking forward to for the last month is now ruined for her.

For now, as of Sunday she is hobbling around on crutches and willing to work on any project we want to give her just to keep from being bored and inactive. As much as we would like to accept her help, that’s not in the cards for her, perhaps when she gets a cast she can be a little more active, but still no swimming trip or riding bike.

Her cast will still be on, for our first camping trip of the summer, but hopefully it will heal fast and she will still get July and August for swimming and biking.

On Saturday evening I sat at the kitchen table and colored with her, something I rarely do, later that evening she looked like she was in need of something, I asked what she needed, “A healed bone was her reply.” Unfortunately, this dad is powerless to help with that request, but if I could have, I most certainly would’ve.

The rest of Saturday was largely quiet, we made a trip for some food and other items, returned the three big white bunnies to the previous owner, making only four left in my garage that belong to the kids. I contemplated starting the mower for the first time this season, but Nikolai declared it too cold to mow so I left the mower alone.

On Sunday, we did some more cleaning picking up where we left off from Saturday and our house is finally starting to look “lived in – and not trashed.”

I have decided that her foot will not slow us down any more than possible and when we head out geocaching on the trails, we will be using the wagon, when the rest of the school is doing the memorial walk in a couple weeks, again the wagon will be implemented. However, any family treks through the woods, may need to be altered until her foot fully heals.

Please remember to watch out for the buses that are carrying our most precious cargo. Also snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit.