Well I am happy to say (no that doesn’t sound right, what about able?) able to say (no that just sounds rude), I know, I am exhausted to say that man-child is home from the hospital after having is elbow relocated, a break secured with a plate and screws and ligaments reattached with an anchor.
So how have I been filling in my time these past few days? It is all a sleep deprived haze really. I was on the phone to mum when a call came through from my brother in-law. Now lovely guy that he is, we really don’t have much in common so we generally don’t call each other just for the hell of it. When I saw it was him I know that something had to be wrong. I delayed the inevitable by remaining on my phonecall to mum until another call came through, this time from man-child’s phone telling me that an ambulance was on the way because his elbow didn’t look very elbow like.
Of course me being the charming loving person that I am immediately asked for a photo!
- A Lumpy Bumpy Busted Elbow
Now the larger of the 2 bumpy bits is actually the bone from his lower arm that had completely dislocated and yes that is a bag of peas (and a bag of dim sims too) that the sports centre provided for man-child’s comfort!
Man-child excelled himself by getting the ambulance and emergency team to take more photos!
- Waiting for an Xray
So all of this took place around 8 in the evening. I was up until 3am on Wednesday night/Thursday morning waiting to see what was the damage was and if the bones could be relocated successfully. Luckily it was but they thought they would have to remove bone fragments in surgery the following day.
After barely any sleep I was up explaining to the kids where dad was and that they couldn’t visit him until after surgery. Trying to get them ready for work, pack stuff to take to the hospital and get ready to do the work thing. I barely worked half a day before heading in to the hospital to visit, just before surgery commenced giving me just enough time to fly home to get the kids from school to get them to their dance class. I was planning on visiting after the class but surgery hadn’t finished so we missed out. Instead it was home to get the kids settled and in to bed before heading off to play netball. On a side note, I have never been so fearful of injury in my life, I/we couldn’t cope with both of us out of action!
Friday, after a restless sleep for all, the kids were desperate to go visit but we weren’t allowed in before 10am and that was going to be logistically impossible. Instead the kids went to school and I went to work. The surgeon had been to visit man-child and he was going to go home after an xray and a final dose of antibiotics. This news arrived at 8am, we arrived at 1 thinking we could kill time waiting for the meds at 2.30 and all leave together. It was going to be perfect, I could settle man-child in to a comfy spot on the couch, make a quick pasta for everyone and head off to work again at 4. That was the plan, of course that isn’t what happened. We sat around until 3.45 and then the kids and I headed home. I had to drop the kids with neighbours and head back to work without preparing dinner. Luckily they were happy to feed an extended family again!
By the time I arrived home from work at 8.30 everyone was exhausted and snipey towards each other. We walked home and all went to bed almost straight away. I was looking forward to reclaiming some sleep, of course sharing the bed with someone in pain and a geriatric cat, my sleep was less than sound and a 6am wake up was less than user friendly.
Now I hear everyone say why not just have a jammie day, nap on and off and relax all day long? Why I wanted to do that but there was too much to do. We have an exchange student arriving in the morning who will be staying with us for 15 weeks so I had to re-arrange closets and re-organise rooms. (Completely random but girl-child has so many clothes that I gave away a huge garbage bag full of clothes that still fit her and it didn’t make a dent in the closet squishyness.) We need to pick up a few things from Ikea to make a desk and get a desk chair before he arrives also.
Now all of this shouldn’t be too much to deal with but I also have to prepare for girl-child’s birthday in 2 more sleeps. She is having cake in the park with friends after school, assuming of course that I find time to make a cake. There is also the request that she take non-egg product treats to share with her class on Monday so they can all sing happy birthday to her! Presents to be wrapped, cards to be found purchased or made, and some activities planned to be played.
These are things that I could be doing now, along with cleaning the catastrophe that is my study but I just don’t have the energy. I don’t ever remember feeling this exhausted, even when I was sleep deprived with a toddler and brand new baby. I am struggling to get things done, remain remotely calm and tolerant. In fact I have been a total bitch all day and I just don’t have the energy to fix it. I am exhausted, in need of fresh air and exercise but don’t have the time or energy. My energy levels are so depleted that I am eating all the wrong foods – peanut butter and grilled cheese on toast for lunch; less than ideal for a gluten and lactose intolerance, the foods that give me the quick fix but knock me about even more. Then I follow it with chocolate and coke. I know that if I can make myself eat better I will have more energy to survive but the spiral is set to downward and I can’t find the switch to change directions. I have no idea when I will get a chance to breathe properly again but at this rate it won’t be any time soon. Lots of long days, extra workload at work and at home and much less time to relax here and enjoy the world of blog and I miss it already. Did I mention that boy-child went to bed extra early with stomach cramps? Surely the universe isn’t nasty enough to send gastro back in our direction. Fingers crossed.
