I am not one that has many pairs of shoes. I'm guessing I have far fewer than "average". I have very narrow feet which makes finding shoes that fit very difficult! I know the couple of places around here that carry shoes in narrows. Then they are expensive to boot. Well, that just ends up meaning that I have a few pairs that fit well and I wear them until they are worn out.
I have gotten gift cards for past holidays which I've spent on shoes. This is a treat, as I don't often buy shoes for myself unless necessary due to the cost. I didn't expect a new shoe this Christmas. I really didn't expect the way that I'd get it either.
I just wanted to take a moment to share a small bit of our Christmas. We started the morning with the children playing upstairs until we were all ready to go down. Since Eliana and I had a hard night (she had a lot of trouble sleeping), they let us sleep a little in the morning. Before we went down, Rebecca recited the Christmas story from Luke 2. I love this passage and remember memorizing it each year when I was a girl. I told Rebecca about this and she loves having this tradition continue.
When we went down, we first took our traditional picture on the steps. I love this picture each year of all of our children - in their new Christmas pajamas - in various states of cooperation. :-) Breakfast was in the oven (thanks to Roger!) - a traditional breakfast casserole of sausage and eggs. Our children love this breakfast. Having traditions is fun and meaningful. It gives our family a variety of ways in which we say "We are the Nelsens and this is what we do." It isn't stiff or a "have to do", but more of a remembering of the past and a celebrating of the present.
When we finished the photo I went to pick up Eliana. We were planning to open stockings and then have breakfast. I was just a step or two from the bottom. As I went down, my socked foot slipped on the wooden floor. I don't remember too much except trying to protect our sweet baby. I do remember my foot twisting in a most unnatural position. Both my ankle and toes on my right foot were twisted up under me. Someone took Eliana and the children were crowded around me. I couldn't help it and just started crying. It hurt! After sitting for a moment, I began to feel like I was going to pass out. I did let them know as I didn't want it to frighten them. Someone (it's all kind of fuzzy) gave me some water. Thankfully I didn't pass out.
I was helped off the floor and into a chair. My ankle started swelling. As the morning wore on, I found I had a swollen "ball" on the front of my foot just where it bends. My toes were also swelling and starting to bruise. Due to the pain, I thought I'd see if the orthopaedics office was open - they weren't. We then started trying to treat it at home as best we could - ice, elevation and staying off of it! Yes, I spent the entire day in a chair watching everything around me. Sweet Roger did all of the things that I normally do from helping the children, to cooking and more.
I posted on my homeschool board for advice on how to know if a bone was broken. Several of my friends encouraged me to get it checked out. I also talked with my SIL who gave me tips on how to treat it. I just didn't want to go to the ER on Christmas! I figured I was "messing" things up enough with my drama and didn't want to take away from the day if it wasn't needed. I thought that anything that was going on could probably wait. The odd thing to me was that my foot felt numb. I thought it was due to the ice and elevation. As we stopped doing some of this, the numbness continued and stayed throughout the day.
By late in the evening, some friends convinced me to go to the doctor the following day and Roger agreed. He called in the morning to find which office could accomodate us. By late morning we were visiting the orthopaedics office.
We met with an PA who examined my foot and asked some questions. She told me that they could do an x-ray, but that the treatment would probably be the same with or without the x-ray. Since it didn't seem to matter, we decided to forego the x-ray (which was actually an answer to prayer for me). I'm being treated for a stress fracture in my foot. I was given this lovely boot to wear. My new shoe for Christmas!
I'm to wear it for about 3 weeks until I improve. (I don't have to wear it at home when I am relaxing or resting my foot!) I will also go back in a week to check to see how things are doing with my foot. I had hoped that having the boot would mean that I could walk. (I've been hopping or crawling or scooting around on my bottom - gotta love those wood floors!) Well, I tried at the office and ... OUCH! I hopped out wearing my boot.
I know it will get better, but will just take some time. For now, my foot is numb most of the time (kind of like it is asleep) which we were told is due to nerve damage that occured when I fell.
This shoe isn't a present I would have chosen, but I'm really alright with it too. It is a small difficulty and will pass. I hope that I'll be able to learn from this time, from this pain and from the need for help through much of my day. I know there are lessons there for me and I'm hoping my head and heart are ready for them. I can be quite stubborn at times and really would like to get the lesson the first time. ;-)
We would love prayers for our sweet Eliana. She is congested and coughing. (Same thing several of our other children have had.) It has made it hard for her to sleep - and even harder for her to eat. Today was the worst day in quite a long, long time. I've hesitated using the tube as I want her to be able to get it out! (We need to go several months without the tube before we'll be approved to get it out.) I know that if tomorrow is like today, that I will probably have to use it. Please pray that Eliana would get better and be able to eat. I'm also concerned that this may develop into something else for her and am praying that it would just run its course soon and she would have no lingering yuckiness from it. It's just not fun seeing her miserable either. She has been a real trooper through it all too. She is such a sweetheart!
I need to go crawl up to bed. ;-) I will write more about Christmas and post pictures too soon I hope. We had a wonderful day and I'm thankful for our time together. We have worked to keep things simple - well, as simple as Christmas with six children can be. I'm thankful to be able to celebrate Christ's birth with our precious family!
Merry Christmas to all of you!
Leslie
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