So this happened on Thursday morning …

At 5:24 a.m mom duty called. Jaden woke me up saying that he was gonna to throw up. I scrambled to the bathroom to grab the garbage can and just missed the first gag. Poor kid-o. After he was settled, I stripped the bedding. I’m usually the parent that throws it in the corner and deals with it after sunrise, but I decided to be an over achiever and take it right down to the laundry.

That’s when disaster struck. I can’t even tell you what happened. I didn’t trip, I didn’t really fall … the lights were all on. One moment I was walking to the stairs, the next I heard a huge crack and I went down. Once at the bottom of the stairs, I knew something was terribly wrong. I was too scared to look, but I broke my ankle – I was sure of it.

I called for Jaden to bring me my phone. We were the only ones in the house. He came running, crying “It’s all my fault mom. I’m so sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean to throw up in bed.” As if I wasn’t already in horrible pain, my heart broke for my Jaden too. Crazy how even when in the worst of pain it’s all sunshine and rainbows when your 8 year old is looking at you terrified. “Jaden, I am going to be fine. I hurt my foot, which has nothing to do with you. I’m just a klutz. We are going to call YaYa and Pa and they are going to come and help us, ok?”

I called my parents, who live just down the road. They were on their way. Shock started to set in. I asked Jaden to bring me a sweatshirt. Now sit right here next to me, we’ll listen to some music. Thank goodness for iTunes radio. I held his hand and said a little prayer with him too. Then, I realized I still had my mouth guard in from sleeping. “Jaden, this one might be a little gross, will you put my mouth guard on the counter in my bathroom.” Jaden’s reply, “uggh … I’m gonna need a tissue for that one!” I could hear his little feet run down the hallway and all the way back and he took his spot sitting right behind me on the stairs.

I started to realize that my parents were probably not going to be able to get me into a car. I was trying to avoid a 911 call because i didn’t want to freak Jaden out anymore than he already was. He had such a traumatic experience when we called 911 for Owen. My parents walked in the door (after what seemed like hours of sitting at the bottom of my stairs) and they said we should call. My mom climbed over me to sit with Jaden upstairs and my dad stood by me and made the call.

Soon, the flashing lights were outside and two EMTs came to my rescue. They called in a ladder truck for a special chair to get me out of the house. At first it made me feel like a fatty – needing a special chair to lift me out of my house, but then it made me feel like an Egyptian princess being carried out haha. I put a big smile on my face and waved and blew kisses to Jaden has they loaded me into the back of the rig. Nothing mattered in that moment but to reassure him that his mama was going to be ok.

Finally getting some pain meds, I was feeling a bit more relaxed … we got to the hospital and was in the same garage they unloaded Owen in. They wheeled me down the same hallway and passed the same soda machine I stopped at for a diet coke to rinse the taste of CPR out of my mouth. Hard memories but it was ok.

The kind, smiling face of my male nurse greeted me in room 16. “You look familiar,” he said. Hmmmm … we couldn’t quite place it. Until he was walking to the other side of my bed and asked, “Are you Owen’s mom?” Yes! Oh how I just love being called “Owen’s mom.” Were you there that night? He said he was, but he didn’t actually work on Owen. Comfort. He explained that he and his wife are good friends of my fiends Jessica and Matt. DUH! of course I knew who he was! We took a quick selfie to send to Jess 🙂

The ER doctor explained that my ankle was dislocated and would need to be set quickly. Wait, you mean there is a chance that it’s not broken? While there was a chance, it was not likely. Bummer. He gave me the option of being awake or getting knocked out. My reply? I have felt enough pain in this life, knock me out! When they started to attach heart monitors and oxygen, I started to wonder what I had signed up for. They took some X-rays and then knocked me out. When I came to, my foot was splinted and felt a whole lot better! My sister was able to finally come in. How lucky am I to have a family who comes to my rescue to quickly? And over and over again … She brilliantly balanced the “how does this kind of stuff keep happening to you?” jokes and the loving, supporting holding of my hand as the reality of being a single mom with a broken ankle set in. No driving, no weight baring, crutches, casts, physical therapy … holy crap.

The ortho doc came in and said my ankle was in fact broken in three spots and I would need surgery … today. Inhale. Exhale. Of course I needed surgery! That was already on my list of things to do today.

I was transferred to a room upstairs while we waited for an OR to open. At 11 a.m. my nurse came in to say that my surgery had been moved up to Noon. They would be over at about 11:30 to take me. My mom hadn’t made it up to the hospital yet. She was still home with my puking kid. As I like to say it, I sent my best nurse to be with my most important patient! My surgical chariot arrived sooner than I had thought …

I called Jaden to tell him I loved him and then I called my mom to tell her they were going to take me before she could get to my room. She told me she loved me … she was just parking the car. SO CLOSE! The nurse who was taking me to surgery was named Star … my lucky Star. When she found out how close my mom was, she waited at the bottom of the elevator. Soon my mom came jogging (we won’t say running) down a hallway so she could give me a hug and kiss. Boy did that make both my mom and I feel a bit better!

Waiting in the recovery room was a little freaky … not going to lie. It was a big horseshoe shape so I could see into most of the other curtain “rooms.” There were patients still sleeping, just waking up … and then there was Michael, who kept forgetting to breathe. “Michael, BREATHE!” ::slap slap slap:: “Michael don’t forget to breathe!” Just a little unnerving. Note to self – don’t forget to breathe when you wake up from surgery. The doc came to see if I had any questions. He asked if I had family in the waiting room he should look for. I told him my mom and sisters should be, unless they run out for lattes and pedi’s while I’m under. haha

In no time I was waking up and being taken upstairs to my room where my mom, sister and “non-blood” sister were waiting for me. A breath of relief. I finally felt like it was all over. I just had to wait the healing part of the process out. All of this happened between 5 a.m. and 2 p.m.! Talk about a productive day!

I was so blessed with many visitors who had heard about my fall. Even a delivery of girl scout cookies 🙂 For as crumby of a day as it had started out, I was reminded over and over by all the faces who smiled at me that day, that God is still good, life is still sweet and a mom can be as tough as nails when they have to be!

We have since convinced Jaden that he is my hero and he saved me that morning rather than it being his fault. I mean, can you imagine if I had fallen when I was home alone? How long would I have sat like that before someone found me? My mom has banned me from diet coke, insisting that I need more calcium so I stop breaking bones. My parents have once again came to my rescue … Jaden and I will be staying with them until I’m able to get around better on my own. My mom is also helping so that I can still see Logan and Weston. As much as I complained that bedtime was the worst and best time of the night … I have really missed reading them their bedtime stories.

I get my real cast in about a week and a half … what color do you think I should get?

Love, Mel