The Full Story

When I was in second grade, I broke my arm after flying off the bike I was riding with no hands.

When I was in fourth grade, I broke my collar bone after the chain broke on the swing that both me and my friend were swinging/standing on.

When I was 27, I broke my leg after using my whole body to play a video game.

My brother-in-law noted that I break bones when taking fun to the next level.

I suppose this is the best story of them all. And by best I mean most ridiculous. So Saturday night we were hanging out in the basement playing some Wii. I decided to show off my new bowling strategy, which included sliding on the ground (feet first) towards the TV as I held the controller and bowled the ball. After 9 bowls this way, I was not doing as well as I would have liked. So on the 10th frame, I put a little more umph into my slide. Umph that resulted in a very loud cracking sound for all in the room to hear.

I was immediately surrounded by loving hands providing pillows, ice, and comfort as I lay on the floor, shaking uncontrollably from shock. After a time, my leg and ankle were evaluated. I could move most everything and the swelling was not all that bad. I was definitely in pain, but felt like it wasn't enough pain to warrant and immediate trip to the ER. So we decided to continue to ice and elevate and then consider a trip to the ER in the morning.

With a couple of tylenol in my body, Nathan and I settled onto mattresses on the basement floor so that I didn't have to move upstairs. But I couldn't sleep. There was too much pain. Somewhere around 4am I decided that the moving parts I was feeling in my leg must be broken bones. I wrote a couple of emails, and dozed a bit before I finally woke Nathan at 7 and asked to go to the hospital.

We arrived at the ER around 8:30. The doctor came in, saw my leg and said I must have a sprained ankle. Then she gently squeezed my leg, felt some crunching bones, and jumped back in surprise. "Oh," she said, "let's get an x-ray of that."

The x-ray revealed that my fibula (outer supporting bone in the lower leg) was broken horizontally. There were also two breaks in my tibia (main bone in the lower leg) down in my ankle. A surgeon came over to discuss my options and said that surgery was the best idea since both bones were broken. He wasn't sure that he could set my fibula and get it to stay in position since my tibia was also broken. Since my swelling was remarkably minimal, he said that surgery could be done immediately.

Well, immediately after they were sure the two slices of apple I ate at 8:30 were out of my system.

So at 2:30 I was wheeled in for surgery. I had never been under general anesthetic, but after a few breathes in the oxygen mask, I woke up in recovery feeling very rested. With a red cast on my left leg.

The surgery had been less than the doctor anticipated. Since my tibia seemed very stable, he decided that screws were not needed in my ankle. So he only had to make one incision to put a plate on my fibula. A plate that will stay in my leg, tell me when the weather is changing, and may set off metal detectors. Excellent.

After an hour in recovery, and an hour in ambulatory, I went home. And now, 24 hours later, there is still definite pain, but I can get around well on crutches and I'm being taken care of fabulously.

These past 24 hours have been rough on Josiah, who had both formula and cow's milk for the first time. Now that I'm able to nurse again, he's a much happier kiddo. And he loves to drag my crutches around. If only he could understand why mommy can't pick him up!

So. This Christmas will definitely be different than I anticipated. I don't suppose I'll be serving a meal at the homeless shelter like we intended. Instead I'll be the one being served. I am humbled and blessed by God's protection and provision, even in the midst of my stupidity.

We can all be humbled and blessed by God's provision of His Son, even in the midst of our stupidity.

Merry Christmas!