Thankful

Thankful for lots of things, but a great family is definitely at the top of the list.

Pics from the day...

Ty pulls in a lunker with some help from Grandpa Bob

From Thanksgiving 2008

From Thanksgiving 2008

Cooper got passed around the entire family, then promptly passed out.

From Thanksgiving 2008

Bo gets caught with a smile, he's not a big fan of the flash

From Thanksgiving 2008

Cooper is happy as can be with all the action

From Thanksgiving 2008

From Thanksgiving 2008

No DNA test necessary

From Thanksgiving 2008

The two babies hanging out

From Thanksgiving 2008

More pics and stories as the internet connections become available.

Immobile objects

From Crutched Up Joel and Cooper

It would be a close race between Cooper and I as to who is less mobile. While I can still technically get around via crutches, he is cute enough that someone is always willing to pick him up and carry him. Evidently, I am not that cute, but I have learned to accept that.

From Crutched Up Joel and Cooper

The leg feels fine, no real pain except the pain in the butt of crutching myself around. The weather has been gorgeous, which has also been painful since I'm pretty much confined to the couch. I get the cast of on Wednesday, which will be the first huge step towards regaining some semblance of the life I used to have.

The bright side of all of this is I've gotten to spend a ton of time at home with Jill, Cooper and the pooches and my family that dropped everything to come out and help us out (A huge thank you). There is something completely indescribably wonderful about lying in bed and having Jill bring a rested and smiling Cooper in to say good morning.

Who would have thought being put INTO a walking boot would be something to look forward to....

From Crutched Up Joel and Cooper

From Crutched Up Joel and Cooper

From Crutched Up Joel and Cooper

I will survive

Well I went under the knife for the ruptured achilles, my first surgery, and it wasn't too bad. Arrived at 7:30, and was back at our house by around noon. I remember being wheeled into the surgery room, then waking up in the recovery room feeling strangely fine.

All is going well thus far, except stumbling last night and putting some weight on to the bum leg and suffering through an hour of pretty intense pain till the pain killers started working. All things considered, its been good so far.

In a cast and on crutches for the next week, but then I at least get the freedom of the walking boot. Not sure how long I'll have to sport the boot, but its so much easier than crutches.

Go back to the doc in a week, and at that point should find out the essentials like "How long before I can ride the stationary bike?"

Let the rehab commence.

Cooper's Jumper Chair

Little did we know when we had dinner with Alanna & Curtis the other night, that they were giving us one of the coolest things ever. Its a little jumper chair that is spring loaded that hooks up to the door frame and lets the kid jump and stand, while freeing up the parents to do other things.

When we first put Cooper in it a week or two ago, he didn't really understand it and just sat in it looking quite forlorn. He's gotten a bit bigger, and although he is still pretty small for it, he seems to have really taken to it.

MRI Time

Well I got my MRI today. Shockingly, my deep medical training that I've accumulated from watching Dr Quin, Medicine Woman doesn't help me decipher what I see here. Clearly on the right on the picture, is where my achilles should be. Is that white thing it? I have no idea. The following pictures show "good" and "bad", and I'd say mine looks more like bad than good, but who knows.



The MRI images have been dropped off with the good doc, so he'll hopefully review them but all signs point to surgery going forward on Tuesday. Good clean fun...

And here is the grossness that is my foot now...

Pop goes the tendon

It was innocent enough. A typical Monday where I flew to San Antonio, put in some work and then took Mo and Ryan Crow up on their invitation to play squash after work. I'd never played before, but I have played racquetball and tennis enough so figured it was easy enough transition.

We played for about an hour, I was sufficiently terrible but enjoying myself. I was at the back of the court, Mo and Ryan up front when I charged up to get a ball.

Snap.

It felt like something had hit me in the back of the leg. I fell to the court and exclaimed "Something hit me! What the hell hit me?"

Mo and Ryan just looked confused. I stumbled out of the court, they got some ice for me and I sat and elevated the foot. It didn't immediately swell up and I could still move my foot so I wasn't sure how serious it really was.

I stumbled back to the hotel, put it on ice and found some light reading on achilles tears and ruptures. That night, I woke up at 3 a.m. and knew it was bad. I looked online to find a minor emergency clinic and decided to head there in the morning. It was a quick visit, doc took about 2 minutes to say either "substantial tear or full rupture." They put me in a walking cast and sent me out the door with some crutches.

After some deliberation, I decided I should fly home immediately to be evaluated by an orthopedic doctor in Boulder. That was today.

"95% sure its a total rupture"

MRI tomorrow to confirm, but I'm already scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. Will be the first surgery for me, and looks like a significant recovery to get back to 100%. Doc says a year, but I'm hoping that I'll at least be able to get back to riding the road bike or light hiking relatively soon. I stumbled upon this:

http://rupturedachillestendon.blogspot.com/

It gave me some confidence that maybe life won't cease completely. I've got two friends who have done this very thing in the last couple years, and they both seem to be fully recovered so that's what I'll shoot for.

Ski season is done, but at least I'll get a refund on my pass. Shooting for being ready for biking come next May, which is 6 months away.

Getting out while the getting is good

Fabulous weather here this weekend. 70 degrees, blue skies and no wind at all, but we aren't fooled into thinking this will last forever. Nope, today marks the downhill slide to dark, cold days with my dear friend the sun making brief appearances. We got up and headed up to Big Elk Meadows to do some National Forest hiking with the whole crew.

From Hiking at Big Elk Meadows

From Hiking at Big Elk Meadows

We had a nice hike, had gone in a couple of miles and decided to stop for a break and a quick snack. When we pulled Cooper out of the Bjorn, we spotted trouble. He was wet and further investigation led to an "Uh oh" moment. Had a bit of an explosion (No Mary, I'm not posting it) so we were forced to use our Macgyver (or is that MacGruber?) instincts. With only one wet wipe, and no extra clothing for him, we went to our last option, Jill's beloved Mountain Hardware Butter pullover she had tied around her waist.

From Hiking at Big Elk Meadows

Its not exactly a 3-6 month size though, but Cooper did love the soft (hence the name Butter) fabric and didn't seem too phased to be sporting pink. We laughed and laughed as we walked down the hill as Cooper just kept smiling and laughing in his huge outfit.

We even did a "big arms" for his Aunt LK.

From Hiking at Big Elk Meadows

A good day to be out. Two worn out dogs, two parents happy to be outside and hiking again before the weather changes and a kid that should sleep through the night.

From Hiking at Big Elk Meadows

Cooper hits 3 months

Our tiny baby is changing quickly, today he turned 3 months. Time flies when you are having fun and/or not sleeping....