Hooray - it isn't broken!

I've been planning to share my excitement about getting a new pair of running kicks a week ago and how I've been enjoying some longer runs in them to prepare for this Saturday's 10K. But for now that little teaser will have to suffice, because life has been busier than I expected over the last week.

 

Mostly, I'm happy to report that my son's foot isn't broken. He (and his little sister, of course!) spent the morning with my dad and the afternoon with a friend while my mom and I took a day-long business trip to Portland ( a "quick" 3-4 hour drive). The day went well for the kids and for us and we even made it back home in time to meet my dad and the kids for dinner out. But by the time I got the kids home to play in the yard a bit before bedtime, my son was acting more cranky than usual at the end of a busy day and my daughter could have gone to bed about an hour early after all the fun of the day.

 

As it turns out, the bottom of my son's foot was a bit bruised and red, so it wasn't comfortable for him to play. I got the kids their evening snacks, iced his foot, went on with the bedtime routine and then welcomed my husband home from work at 8:10 (nearly 3 hours later than usual - talk about a LONG day!). When we checked on the kids at 10:00 before we headed to bed to crash after our busy days, my husband took our son to the potty. This is when we knew something wasn't right.

 

He wouldn't put any weight on his foot to go potty and started screaming in pain. His footed jammies posed a bit of a time delay for us to see what was going on with his foot, but once we were able to get his writhing little self out of the jammies and hold him still to look, we discovered that in less than 3 hours the red area had nearly doubled, his toes looked stiff and his foot was swollen to nearly twice the normal size. With a bit of a cut on the top of our son's foot, our husband feared that somehow his foot might be broken. Broken or not, this kid needed his foot checked - right away!!

 

Off they went to the ER while I stayed home with Little Sister (who woke up in the midst of all the chaos - she usually sleeps through any minor crying incidents, but there was just no way that anyone could sleep through his wailing . . . I half expected knocks on our door from the neighbors checking to be sure we were all okay). She did manage to fall asleep almost immediately after the boys headed out. Whew!

 

I called our night owl friends who had watched the kids to see if they remembered anything unusual about their "shift" with the kids. There was really nothing out of the ordinary to report other than a brief nude moment when their son and ours decided to play "bathtub" in the sandbox and strip down completely - really. As shocking as it sounds, I can't even imagine what it was like for my friend to peer out into the yard and see these blindingly white bodies dancing around in the sandbox . . . silliness that only 3 and 4 year olds (and their parents) can appreciate. Unable to relax and uninterested in any drivel that might be on TV, I spent the next few hours reading Kathrine Switzer's Marathon Woman. It was a good distraction.

 

3 X-rays and a few exams later (and nervous phone calls from me, anxiously waiting for a report) my husband called at 1AM to tell me that our son's foot was NOT BROKEN!!!! The problem was cellucitis, an infection most-likely caused by a cut or bug bite that was re-wounded (though we're not sure when EITHER happened). Easy for something like that to happen when you're a 3 year old boy who lives for adventure. The doc drew a line around the infection line for us to monitor the retraction/spread of the infection and sent them on their way to the 24 hour pharmacy so we could get the broad spectrum antibiotic working right away. They returned home at 2AM to a mom who had fallen sound asleep almost immediately after the call, relieved at the encouraging prognosis.

 

Today, nearly 3 days later, you'd never know we had the foot infection chaos on Friday night (aside from the still tired parents and the half-dollar sized bruise on the instep of his foot). We'll get a follow-up check at his regular pediatrician this afternoon and finish out the meds over the next week. Whew!

 

Though Big Brother couldn't be out and about playing this weekend, we did put the two kids in the jogger and went for a 5 mile run on Saturday. Fresh air for all without worrying about bothering the foot.

 

Here's to a smooth-going week, everyone! Happy running and life-juggling! And thanks for continuing your support by voting for the Kids' ESPYs!