The Beginning Of 12 Long Weeks...

On September 6, 2018, Ty played in a football game with his middle school team: Glenvar Vs. William Byrd. Ty's positions that night were linebacker, running back, kicker, and kick off specialist.  It was just like any game. I didn't get any weird feelings or "vibes". I was there and so excited to cheer him on.  

Tyson's teammates and friends (since Kindergarten), Gabe and Jackson, were already injured. Gabe broke his hand and Jackson broke his tibia, in the previous week's game. These three were committed athletes and over the years have been seen in photos together since biddy ball.  Here are just two photos that I could quickly find.  

We had a few good plays from Ty.  Below, he kicks an extra point.   

Ty was filling the role as running back for one of them at all times. Was it crazy that his two best friends were injured and now he would be taking their place? It almost seemed inevitable that he would be next. Below: After the QB handed Ty the ball, Ty was tackled HARD and out of no where. Ouch! Where were his dang peeps to protect him? Was this a sign? Sigh... On this particular night, I wish I would have been able to see into the future. I would have made him sit out.   

Then, it happened. The below youtube video is of the ENTIRE game, so to see the injury, please fast forward to minute 9:29. I suggest, to get a really good view of it, watching it in slow-motion @ speed .25.  If you don't, it's so hard to see because it all happens so fast.  

Ty shook his finger and new he was injured.  He was taken out of the game immediately.  The coach asked if he could go back in.  Being the tough guy that he is, he said, "I guess!" Ty had no way of knowing the severity of his injury. He thought he jammed his finger.  Seems plausible, right?  So, the coach taped his fingers and back in he went.  AHHHHHHH! Had we KNOWN what his injury was, we would have known that that was THE WORST decision ever.  When the coach was looking at his finger, Ty said "The coach asked me to bend my fingers.  All of my fingers went down BUT ONE! It was so weird. I physically could NOT bend my finger! Like, it didn't work."

With the suggestion of Ty's coaches, after the game, I took Ty to the ER. The doctors came in and did a series of tests with his hand, just physically.  The X-ray revealed that there was NO BREAK. However, the doctors were very confident that Ty tore the tendon in his finger just based off of his inabilities to bend his finger.  Unfortunately, X-rays do NOT reveal a muscle tear.  We were sent home and told to schedule an appointment with a hand surgeon the next day.  We had NO IDEA what would be revealed next to us.  We chose Dr. Apel.

Before the night ended and long into the midmorning, the next day, Darren was at work TORTURING himself reading up on football injuries. He narrowed it down to three injuries: a jammed finger, a broken finger, and jersey finger.  The latter being the worst case scenario.  

After visiting the PA, Kathryn Hoyt (Dr. Apel was not available.), she was very straight forward and revealed to us that Ty's injury was indeed Jersey Finger. She proceeded to follow that diagnosis up with, "This is a very serious injury.  It requires surgery and an intense 12 weeks of occupational therapy."  The nurse made Ty a homemade brace, to rest his finger/hand in, and he was told to eliminate use of the hand altogether.  When you tear a tendon, the next 7 days are CRITICAL to the success of your recovery.  Ty should have NEVER been put back in the game.  What happens is, the more you TRY to use your hand the normal way, the further and further into your arm the tendon retracts. Ahhh, typing this makes my fingers, hands, and wrists just ache, thinking about it.  Because Ty continued to play the game, he was using his hand and trying to use his finger, so his tendon was retracting.  WHERE? Well, we wouldn't know until surgery.  SO, the next step... surgery. We scheduled it for September 11th.  

I called Darren and had Kathryn talk to him. He asked a few questions and then the phone was handed to me.  Of course, there was crickets on the other side of the phone and probably a tear or 10. Darren did eventually speak up and say, "OH NO! Kristin this was the worst case scenario." I had already known that based off of what the PA told me.

This was the update I gave to his team and coaches: 

We are finished up at Carillon Orthopedics. The news is, to say the least, not good. The surgeon diagnosed Tyson’s injury as “Jersey Finger”. She said this injury is detrimental and very serious. It will require a 90 minute surgery (at the minimum) on Tuesday afternoon. Depending on where the tendon has retracted to and is currently residing, will determine how far down they will have to cut on his hand. They will be doing zig zag stitches. It will be a 12+ weeks recovery process, which will require 2-3 days, per week, of physical therapy.  He will have to miss 3-5 days of school post surgery and is not allowed to play basketball this season. I recognize and acknowledge that this is all temporary and it could be a lot worse. It’s not cancer, paralysis, or death, but still not the easiest news to deliver to an athlete, at all. Thank you all for supporting us. Your kind messages and prayers are so very comforting. Ty will for sure enjoy a buddy or 10 to come hang out with him and cheer him up.  And if nothing else, I’m curious if this will be ending his FortNite career.  Trying to keep my humor during this difficult time. *Disclaimer: If you are queasy, do not click on the hashtag “jersey finger”!P.S. This is his writing hand, so does anyone have any idea how this will be handled at school as far as work load is concerned? #JerseyFinger

Ty shed a few tears.  I don't think he was truly aware of what the next 12 weeks would look like.  Denial was a good word. He did convince me to pick him up the NEWLY released NBA 2K19.  If he was out for the basketball season, the next best way to play was this game.  Although, how would he do that with one hand? #Pitiful

On September 8th, two days later, even if it meant he had to sit and watch. I recall dropping him off and watching him walk into that gym. My heart was simply BROKEN. I documented my feelings at this moment:

His struggle takes my breath away.  I've been crying on and off all day for him.  I'd take two broken legs in exchange for this trial he is enduring.  And now... he walks himself into open gum, with is head held high. This is the moment he's been waiting for literally ALLLLLLL Summer, just to sit on the bench and watch his p peers practice.  There's no "I" in team and he's making that very evident.  He has never made me more proud in all of 13 years of being his momma.  As I cry, he cheers others on.  

After he walked into the building, I headed home, but had to pull over at our local library's parking lot and just cry and cry and cry.  

On September 10th, Ty got his second round of braces.  YUP, the day before his hand surgery.  It was a prescheduled appointment and there was no backing out.  We were counting down the days until September 11th.  Sounds odd right? NOPE! The sooner the better, the less that tendon would retract into his arm, and the closer he would be to recovering.  

In the meantime, I investigated Jersey Finger like it was a matter of life or death. I wanted to KNOW ALL OF THE DETAILS, good, bad, and HORRIBLE.  So, I began my own research and interviewing people who had been through this. The responses were, well.... not the easiest to hear.  Jersey Finger happens so infrequently. It's just a freak accident really. So I didn't have a ton of documented resources. I decided to use Instagram hashtags to reach out to people and learn as much as I could. Unfortunately, before I started documenting/using the hashtag myself, there were only about 152 hashtags for it.  I direct messaged those who posted on their injuries. Everyone responded, but their responses always had so much negativity attached to their recovery.  

I had to leave this entire situation in God's hands (PUN NOT INTENDED).  I had to trust that no matter what, HE was sovereign and that HE would secure the outcome! Stay tuned... before the week is over, I will definitely be posting some more about Ty's Jersey Finger experience, including photos of his actual hand surgery!

Here's a sneak peak photo of Ty pre-op!

One thing I will say is that our boys, especially, have been playing sports for YEARS and the fact that this was Ty's first sports injury, EVER, was amazing. BUT... Darren and I BOTH agreed, we would have much rather Ty BREAK his finger, than tear his tendon, unfortunately, that wasn't our decision.  It was God's plan and His plans are always better.

Whatever COULD go wrong, DID go wrong!!!!

Last night, While Darren was at the Tech/Clemson game with friends, I took the kids to their favorite store to "shop" and eat... Sam's Club. Upon entering the store, the sales clerk asked to see my club card. I desperately searched for my wallet and quickly realized *I left my wallet* at home. SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!?!?! I drove almost 16 minutes from home and forgot the means by which I could pay for my purchases???? THIS IS NOT HAPPENING! Bound and determined to not have to go home, I asked the sales clerk what my options were.

The sales clerk instructed me to go to customer service so I could get a temporary card. "Shew!" I thought! The solution to my problem. Or so I thought... The line was OUT THE DOOR. Was I missing something? Did Christmas come and go and it just so happened to be the day after Christmas? You know, where everyone rushes to the store to return their unwanted gifts. It certainly seemed that way. I *stood in line for 20 minutes* waiting "patiently" with three kids. While waiting in line, a Sam's Club associate decided to pass out free drinks to test taste. These drinks were NOT provided to us in mouth wash sample cups. *He gave each of my children a 16 ounce FUZE drink.* I tried desperately to convince Lilah to let me help her drink it, but to no end she would repeatedly say, "No! I do it!" It wasn't even 2 minutes and 2 sips in that she failed to sip the drink properly. *The drink poured out all over her.* She's been sick, so every little thing has been setting her off. This set her off AND me. I recall saying aloud, "Serves you right! I told you I would help you but no......" I wasn't hateful, just matter of fact with her. Her little cheeks were filled out, like a hamster preparing for hibernation, with this FUZE drink. It was too much to swallow so...... what can't go down, must come OUT! *And out it came. She was coughing and spitting the remaining BIG GULP all over herself.* The line behind me thought she was puking.

I get my temporary card and head over to the food stand. The kids agreed they wanted pizza. Oh how I should receive the "mother of the year award" for this dinner menu. I stand in that line for 5 minutes or more. I finally get to the register and begin placing my order. As I slowly start to say, "I'll take 2 slices of cheese pizza", the lady says, *"We don't have any cheese pizza left.* It will take 8 minutes at least." What's 8 minutes when I've already been in this store for 45 minutes without accomplishing a thing yet?, I recall thinking. So I said, "That's fine!" I ordered two hot dogs in the mean time and got the crew situated. As Jax prepared to take his first bite, he *fell backwards and busted his head on the table's bench behind him*. He received a golf ball size knot on his head, in the same place he fell playing in the rain a few weeks back. Geez, will that wound ever heal? I finally calm him down, we eat, and we prepare to shop. PS. I forgot my wallet at home, so HOW did I pay for our FOOD? I had my check book. Praise God they take checks. I didn't realize a store even accepts them anymore.

Lilah, "*I have to pee." Mom, "Of course you do!" Jax, "I have to pee too.*" I leave my 6 year old to watch the shopping cart filled with my purse, our coats, our left over food, Lilah's baby etc.... and I bring the twins into the bathroom. Lilah is sitting on the toilet and *smells poop (someone else's poop).* She thinks it's coming from her stall and her toilet bowl, so *she refuses to use the bathroom*. Jax then decided he doesn't need to go, BUT, both kids have now touched everything in the public restroom, so we have to still wash 2 sets of hands. AHHHHH! SERIOUSLY!!!!!! I just want to get food for my house and go HOME.

While shopping, *Jax gets his hands stuck in the shopping cart.* MINOR bump in the road compared to the knot on his head.

We complete our shopping experience. While standing in line to pay, the Bolling kids decide to play "ring around the rosie." And of course what goes along with that song....."WE ALL FALL DOWN". Yup, onto Sam's nasty/dirty floor. Oh well. Bath time is approaching rapidly.

We load our food/toiletries onto the conveyer belt and the cashier says, "You're total is $182.51." I replied, "Great, no problem. I do have to write you a check though okay? I left my entire wallet at home." The cashier was fine with that. I pull out the check book that I used to pay for our $8.00 dinner and was mortified to witness *THERE WERE NO CHECKS LEFT.* Are you FLIPPIN kidding me? Okay, no worries. I have 3 checking accounts. I pull out my next check book and to my TOTAL shock, *that check book had no checks left either.* I forgot I had given my last check to my cleaning lady on Thursday. Okay, praise God for three checking accounts. I pull out my FINAL check book to find that that check book only had 1 check left *BUT IT WAS A STARTER CHECK.* The cashier took it, but then said, "I'll have to see your i.d." HELLLLLLOOOOOOO! I left my wallet at home remember? After holding up the line and explaining all of my drama to the manager, in hopes she'd have compassion on me, she finally let me use the starter check.

We pay. We head towards the doors that lead us outside and guess what happens NEXT? YES, something ELSE actually WENT WRONG. *It started to DOWN POUR rain.* And not in 90 degree weather either. In 45 degree weather. So here I am pushing a heavy cart full of food, with one sick child soaking wet, with one child who has a golf ball knot on his head and bruised fingers, and with one energetic 6 year old (who thinks this cold rain is "awesome"), heading towards my vehicle. The wind was blowing like crazy, Jax was screaming crying because it was so cold, and I was ready to throw my hands up. We find the car and *I cannot find my keys.* It was dark out and my purse wasn't organized like normal. I finally found them though. I put the kids in the car and I open my trunk to put my stuff away and *I find 3 LARGE rubbermaid containers in the back of my van* that I meant to bring to Once Upon A Child. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Where do I put the food???? I had to utilize my entire vehicle to store the food (front, back, sides, and waaaay back!).

I headed to Once Upon A Child around the corner and dropped off the tubs. It was at that moment that *Jax decide he needed to poop.* I left Tyson and Lilah in the car and ran him inside Once Upon A Child to use the bathroom. Once I got back with Jax, guess what happened next? YUP, you got it, *LILAH had to pee.* With twins, things NEVER happen ONCE. They always happen in 2's.

WHATEVER COULD GO WRONG, DID GO WRONG THIS NIGHT!"

Needless to say, it's moments like these that I swear to never shop with my children again. :)

I found it!

I found the other half to the "stick" that was sticking either inside or outside of Jax's foot.

PS. It wasn't mulch. The playground is "worn" and it had dangerous wood shavings sticking up. I didn't know that until BOTH of my kids got these "sticks" stuck in them. This could have happened just as easily with their little hands. So for anyone who is judging me because I let them run around without shoes on.... THERE! Serves you right. LOL!

"Boo-Boo" X 2

Today, I left my house at 10:15 am to drop cake pops off to our church staff. Then I headed to Ty's school. We had lunch with him in the courtyard. So sweet. On my way home to see my sick husband for lunch, Jax was upset because he didn't want to go home. They've started this thing where they say, "no home mommy. no home!" I was beat (thanks no caffeine) but I agreed with Jax. WHY am I rushing home for 10 minutes with Darren (that's all his lunch break consists of). So, I turned the car around and headed to Greenhill Park. At the park, the kids asked to take their shoes off. I agreed because they were NOT properly dressed for the park and mulch kept getting into their shoes, Lilah's especially. They played. WE played. Thank Lisa for the "duck, duck, goose" and "red light/green light" introduction because we did that again today and they were a pile of belly laughs. I swung them around until they got dizzy. The used the wooden guards as a balance beams and went around and around in a circle TWICE. It wound up being an incredible park outing. UNTIL.... Jax needed to pee. So I ran down and got the potty out of my car. He peed. Lilah watched. I then left them at the play area to take the potty back to the car (10 feet away) and all of the sudden Jax was screaming crying. I kind of ignored it for a second because I thought he was just being a weakling. He kept on and on, SO I said, "What's wrong Jaxey?" He said, "Hot" or so I thought. I said, "Well if it's hot, just get up and keep on walking." I couldn't figure out why it was hot to him but not to his "little" sister. He refused to get up and then I realized, he's not saying "hot" he's saying "hurt". NO LIE.... Jax had a 3 inch long 1/4 inch in diameter BIG splinter stick in his foot. It was NOT a splinter. It was HUGE for his tiny foot. It was so long that let's put it this way, it was 2 inches in his foot and when he BENT is big toe in the "stick" would hit it. Kind of hard to envision but I'm sure you're thinking "so what, no big deal. It's sticking half in and half out just PULL IT." I tried. No luck. I ran to the car to call Darren with Jax in my hand. Lilah was screaming crying for me. I thought she was upset because I "left" her. Well, wrong again good mommy that I am. I went to grab her and brought her to the van. As I am crying to Darren, on the phone, in panic, she is screaming in the background. I turned to her and said "BE QUIET, Jax has a booboo" She said, "ME TOO" I thought for sure she was lying and was just jealous that Jax was receiving so much attention, but low and behold she was right. She too had a "stick" in her foot. Only her's was almost in a worse condition that Jax's was because her 2 inch "stick" was inside her food. All the way in. I had two babies sitting on my lap in the car screaming crying. I wasn't sure what to do, so I tried the only EMT I know, SHAWN, no answer. I then called Jill (she's a working mommy at our Church). Her kiddoes were in school, so I figured it would be the best person to ask. She agreed to come help. Darren arrived first and was really flustered with me because he was holding Jax's leg and I was asked to pull the "stick" out and I tried and the harder I pulled the louder Jax screamed so I couldn't bring myself to do it. Eventually I did, but Darren said he had to go back to work and that we didn't have the right supplies to help with Lilah's. I was leaving to go home and halfway out of greenhill and Jill Higgs pulls in with Gretchen. AND they saved the day. They were STUNNED to see what I pulled out of Jax's foot and were even more astonished at what was in Lilah's foot. We had to lay her down in the back seat of my van, jill and I had to restrain her (those little kids are TOUGH and stronger than I) and Gretchen came with needles, tweezers and peroxide in hand ready to go to work. She "operated" on Lilah and pulled out the 2 inch "stick" in pieces. Lilah kicking and screaming bloody murder. After it was all done, Lilah was WORN out. She did thank Gretchen and Jill though. So sad and so cute. What a nightmare! My twin babies have been injured twice now in their life and Gretchen has been there for both occasions. How weird that they have been injured twice and both at the same time. I guess they are NOT called twins for nothing.

Jax's foot after "stick" was removed.

Lilah's foot after "stick" was removed.

I wanted to save the "stick" to blog about it, but upon carrying it into the house it broke in half. This was all I could salvage. If it broke IN HALF, than the this is proof that it was a minimum of 2 inches if not 2.5" - 3" longs.

To give you a idea of the thickness of it, pull a fork out of your drawer, it was as thick as ONE of a fork's "tooth". See the wood piece on the above fork?

CLOUDY with a Chance of RAIN!!!!!

At 3:40 pm, I loaded up the car in a SIMPLE fashion (unheard of for me) and headed to the pool so the kids could get a quick hour of swimming in before Daddy arrived home for dinner. About 4:40 pm, the sky turned DARK black. The pool guests quickly packed up and rushed to their vehicles. I more so than them because I just washed my car today.

Being our pool time was cut so short, I decided to let the kids try something NEW. Something even Tyson has never experienced. I let them play in the rain.

It's raining, It's pouring, the kids were ENJOYING....... IT!

Lilah and Tyson wait for the rain. They were so excited even though they really had no idea what to expect.

At first, Ty wasn't sure if he liked it or not. It was cold and fairly HARD rain.

But Lilah was showing him up. She was handling it like a man!

Tyson turned his lemons into lemonade!! Not really, lol, it's just rain water.

This is by far my favorite shot. Tyson and Lilah enjoy the rain while Jax's head peaks out at them. He's my reserved child. I kind of like that I have one of those. He has to really take some time to decide if it's worth it or not .

Big brother and "big" sister were really putting the pressure on. (Lilah copies EVERYTHING her big brother does.).

Jax finally caved. He was having the time of his life, until he began running. I warned all of them NOT to run, especially into the garage. The floor is SOOOOO SLIPPERY. Dangerously slippery.

And to no avail, all good things must come to an end. Look what happens when you don't listen to mommy. That is a GOLF SIZE knot on Jax's head. OUCH! He wasn't being disobedient. I really just think he forgot.

Brother consoles Jax. "It's okay buddy!"

Later, Jax gives it another try. I should have ended the fun there, but this was priceless for me. I've never seen so much laughter. You can tell in this photo that Ty is telling Jax to "walk" after he tried to run AGAIN!

TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS TAKEN HAVE FUN VIEWING THE PICASA ALBUM BELOW.

A New Friend Becomes An Enemy!

Yesterday, while mowing the lawn, Darren spotted a turtle. Tyson is dying for a new pet, so we agreed to let him keep the turtle over night. Okay, I agreed to it, not Darren. Tyson put him in a pot (not a pot I cook with, he tried, but I went ballistic. It's the pot we use to clean our tires on our vehicles.) and placed him on the floor next to our fish tank. Unbeknownst to me, Darren put the pot in the garage later that night. It sure was a good thing! This morning, upon entering the garage, Darren noticed the turtle vanished out of the pot. I thought turtles are supposed to be SLOW? Hours later (noonish) we found the turtle. He was hidden in between a propane tank and a cooler in our garage. Tyson was relieved and thrilled. He had his pet turtle back again. Well this "friend" was not a friend much longer after he was found. We were just about to let him loose and I said, "Ty, hold on, let me take a picture of him!" Ty, of course, being the ornery kid that he is, rolled his eyes with annoyance, but did as he was told. As he held the turtle and waited for me to snap the camera, the darn thing HISSED at him and BIT him. He screamed bloody murder, I screamed and began crying, and Jax fell to the floor in a panic. Darren came running, frantically to the garage where we all were, and was expecting to see the twins run over by a car in the road. YES, that's how LOUD our screams and cries were. I expected to seriously see Ty's finger snapped off. Oddly enough, even after the chill bump hiss and snap, he had a non-existent wound. I'd say God's angels were with us today for sure! NO MORE PETS: trained or wild. I have enough wildness in our home as it is. Needless to say, this friend quickly became an enemy.

Ewe! He's creepy looking.

Double Trouble!

I am not a lover of the phrase, "double trouble". I was, until I had twins of my own. I like to say, "twice as nice." BUT, this story warrants the phrase to be used.

Two weeks ago, Gretchen and I took a short road trip to Christiansburg. We wanted to visit the GAP Outlet and a few other stores in the area. As we arrived at the mall, we unloaded the car, put the twins in the stroller, and proceeded to head towards Dick's Sporting Goods. Gretchen was kind enough to show me what I will need for Tyson who is starting T-ball in April. Lilah and Jaxon were in their stroller, unbuckled, unbeknownst to me, and all of the sudden, stood up, turned around, and the stroller got top heavy and BAM!!!!! CRASH!!!!!!! TWO SCREAMING BABIES, BLOOD EVERYWHERE, and my Starbucks iced tea all over the place.

I ran to rescue them in desperation, as did Gretchen. "Who do I go to first?" "Who do I help?" They were BOTH crying, screaming more like it. They were BOTH bleeding. They were BOTH suffering. It was awful. Blood all over my clothes, their clothes, Gretchen's clothes and to think it was JUST the first store. What a terrible way to start our lil trip.

I couldn't bring myself to ask Gretchen if we could leave. I knew she had an agenda and I didn't want to ruin that for her. I had to purchase a new outfit to wear, Jax fell asleep after 30 FULL BLOWN minutes of crying. I know he cries A LOT, but this was different. This was a "I'm in pain" cry. Jax got it the worst. So bad, that that night, we went to a party, Darren was holding Jax and a friend, Jonathan Murphy, said, "Hey Darren!" Darren replied, "Hey Jonathan!" Jonathan asked, "Who is this you're holding?" Jax was definitely disheveled. Gretchen and I both agreed he looked like a rhinoceros. Poor thing. Lilah's nose appeared to have gotten the WORST damage. Her forehead, chin, and mouth were sparred.

The photos you see were taken about 24 hours after the incident. It's amazing how resilient children really are. Bruising around their nose is still a little present. Just in time for Lilah to fall again today and bust her lip and her nose (again... blood everywhere).

When it happens to one, it usually happens to BOTH. So I anticipate a fall sometime today from Jax.

Jax drooled for 3 straight days. I guess he couldn't swallow properly. He had NO PROBLEM taking his passie however. AND certainly wasn't fearful to try to get hurt again. These photos were taken while he was jumping off of the couch onto the couch cushions. AHHHH! These kids are going to give me a heart attack.