Ice, Ice Baby Part One

Achilles had his heel, Superman his Kryptonite, and Madison? Well. she has ice.

This is her second time on ice and her second broken bone. We now forbid her to have anything to do with snow or ice. She will go to Hawaii for school. Marry someone from Southern California or Hawaii. Etc. She is not allow to work near ice cream, snow cones, etc. It is just too risky.

The first experience can be read about here.

Now on to the next. She went ice skating with a church group. (If you read the last one, you might say that the common theme was church groups. However, she does not break a bone each time she is with a church group so we eliminated that connection.) She seemed to have a good time. A little wobbly to be sure, a few falls. Lots of giggles, friends, pictures, laughs, memories, and a train. I mean, imagine how thrilled these LV girls were to put on long pants, scarves, gloves, layers, etc. in August? Perfect activity for the week before school. Madison slipped. There she was doing the splits. Only problem was she was wearing ice skates. Good thing she was wearing ice skates. Let me 'splain. Bad news was the the blades stuck on the ice and her foot remained upright while her leg went down. Picture a right angle made with the side of her ankle. Not a pretty picture, n'est ce pas? However, the boot part of her ice skate kept the bone from snapping out of her leg, thus keeping it inside the skin. (Should I have put a disclaimer in for those of you with a weak stomach?)

Anyway, at this point everyone thought (hoped might be a better term) that it was merely a sprain. The skate was removed and a sort of goose egg form was appearing. Ice was bagged, mom was called, she was loaded into van and brought home. After the phone call, Ryan and I went to work prepping a comfy bed downstairs, a bag of ice, pillows to elevate, and Jr Tylenol to chew. Girlfriend does not swallow pills. She arrived and we got her all comfy in her jammies and in her bed whilst we checked it out. Yes sirree - ugly little sprain - she would feel better in the morning. I slept with her on the couch to help her during the night. She did not sleep well. Tossing and turning. An ice bag dropping on the tile floor in the dead of night can echo. Neither of us slept well.

I got up in the morning and left to finish my last class class - a final, of course. Final party that is. I had given the final the day before so I could tell them their grades on the final day of class. It was marvelous. Sonji is an amazing cook. Don't even get me started on her chicken, rice, and cream-filled red velvet cupcakes. Anyway, I was bringing home lots of fruit and Krispy Kreme donut leftovers for the girls and I was sure I would be greeted with happy smiles. I should have known that even with the announcement that Krispy Kremes were in the building that Madison did not look happy. Normally, she would be ecstatic since they are her favorites.

I checked out her ankle. Not-so-pretty colors were developing and it looked pretty huge. She still could not put any pressure on it. Our super-sweet Young Women's president from church came over with crutches and an ankle brace and prepped us for the long haul of recovery and exercises that would help Madison. She left us with a referral of an orthopedic doctor. "Thanks," I said, thinking "no need. It is just a sprain."

Two things were haunting me: school starts on Monday and she still could not put any pressure on it. I would need a note from a doctor if she were going to use crutches at school. I called a friend in the health care industry for info and she referred us to the same doctor and gave me his phone and address. I called to make an appointment to get a note. Seriously, I just wanted the note. That was it.

Madison struggled to put on her jeans. I said no. She explained that she could roll them up high enough. I said no. She next put on knee length-tight jean shorts. I said no. I asked her to put on her elastic waist PE shorts. "Mom" and eye roll that only a 12-15 year old would be capable of. There were a few more exchanges on the subject before I gave up. Fine. It is your call.

We showed up and just getting her in the building was difficult. I dropped her off, set her down, parked the car, came back to help her, held doors open, etc, and then - I saw it. From the front her ankle just looked swollen. From the back - eek! There was her tiny little ankle and this huge bulging protrusion. That did not look like anything that should be on the human body.

I filled out the paperwork, the nurse put here in a wheel chair, we answered some questions, got x-rays and waited. The doctor came in and, very casually told us that the bone was busted completely and the growth *someting* was probably broken but we would need a CT scan to determine if she would need surgery. My response? "Are you serious?" I am just so amazingly professional. aren't I? Like all doctors are sarcastic stand up comedians. He gave me a look of amazement and said "yes, I am."

"I just came for the note. I did not sign up for all this." That is what I was thinking. Luckily I just sat and listened to the possibilities. "CT scan STAT" was all I really heard. My poor Madison. All I could think about was how much of a world of trouble we would be dealing with in the coming weeks.

The doctor ordered a splint for her to wear until Monday when they would either let us know about surgery or simply just cast it. In the meantime, she needed something sturdy and the swelling needs to go down. Then nurse came in and gave Madison two options: cut the jeans or wear hospital shorts home. Now came the tears. As horrible as the whole painful ordeal is, she was more upset about looking like a dweeb or having her favorite tight jean shorts cut up. She opted for the ugly as her mother maintained the I-told-you-so glare until my eyes started burning.

Home for Madison. I went out and got the pain pills, crutches, and fast-food. It was one of those nights.

No showers, so mom gets to wash her hair in the sink. Baby wipes will take care of the rest for now. Walking on crutches is proving to result in sore arms and being a little sweaty. Luckily upper arm strength will be an asset to her.

The CT scan went smoothly. We won't know until Monday what the results are. In the meantime, elevation and ice. Pain pills to be swallowed and getting ready for the first day of school.