We just can't stop having fun!

Well more excitement in the Titus household this week. Thursday morning at work I did not answer my cell phone when it rang because my head was literally in the sink as a gloved nurse helped me wash my face and hair. Don't ask why, I had obviously showered and dressed before going to work, but something really gross at work caused me to start all over. Now it turned out that this just happened to be one of those calls you really don't want to miss. By the time I get another shirt on and my hair wrapped in a towel Steve is on the office phone sounding very stressed. He began telling me that S had been hurt while she was riding horses at her aunt's house. So I immediately call the aunt and hear commotion in the background as the aunt tells me that S fell off her horse that morning and has obviously broken her arm and they are taking her to the ER! They put her on the phone and she burst into tears saying it really hurt. Needless to say my day at the office was over and I bolted for the door. They were going to a hospital a little over an hour away from where I was and of course my gas tank was on E.

When I get to the ER over an hour later she is pale and very still. She already has an IV in place and has had some morphine. I help them hold her for the X-rays, which was painful for her, and we soon learn that she has broken her little arm in 3 places. Two bones are broken completely in two and overlying themselves and the elbow is cracked. They will need to send her to the OR to reset the arm. This required intubation and complete sedation. While waiting for room in the OR they gave her 8mg of morphine through her IV and she never closed her eyes for more than a mere second or two!

She was in the OR and recovery for about an hour and came through the procedure fine but in a lot of pain. She cried more after they set it than I had seen all morning. The doc said it was very difficult to set and they really had to manipulate it to set it. He was glad they had chosen the OR route instead of trying to do it in the ER. (Me too!) But now because it is after 3 they are short staffed and send her to a regular room to finish up the recovery. Due to her pain level we stay about 3 more hours.

Finally about 12 hours after checking in we put her in the car and head home. Fortunately, she slept all the way only moaning with one bump! Through the night we got up every 3 1/2 to 4 hours to change the ice bag, potty and get more pain meds. Her arm has been cramping and spasming a lot. This morning she was nauseated and her belly hurt. Then we had to get out to get the boys from my cousins house and she was really beat by the time we got home. She slept a couple of hours and woke up feeling much better. But the tears came again tonight. She hurts more when she is tired. So I am trying to keep her quiet and rested. She has also been running a low grade fever and I am watching that closely.

We go back in one week for X-rays and a permanent cast. They put a splint cast on because they are anticipating swelling from the difficult time they had setting the bones. They said 5% of these types of breaks require pins, so please pray we will be in the 95% that do not!!

Since riding horses is her favorite thing in the world, everyone keeps asking if she thinks she will want to ride again. She smiles and says she thinks she will but might need a little time to get well first. We are planning on taking her to see the horse this weekend if she is up traveling that far in the car.

I hate ticks!

If you all remember last summer S had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a tick bite. Well, thanks to country livin' little J now is on antibiotics for another tick borne illness called Ehrlichia! The kids have all run through 5th's Disease the last two weeks. It is just one of those childhood rashes that come and go. It started with S then move to H the 2 days ago little J began his bout. But yesterday morning he woke up with a scary rash. The type that can be from vomiting to much, crying really hard, being strangled, bad disease or things like leukemia. Well you don't just ignore that so I had his blood drawn but wasn't too concerned because he had cried a lot when I put him to bed the night before. But two hours later he had the same rash on his arm where they held him to draw blood. Possible just from the arm holding but a little unlikely.

When the lab came back it looked a little unusual and I freaked just a little, so I called the doc on call since my doc was out of town. (I don't treat my own kids!) He took a look at the lab and said he wanted to see him. He said he thought it was 5ths disease although a little atypical and not to worry. Well,when my doc called to check on the office I told her about our scare. She asked me several questions and then said do you have ticks at your house? Well of course we do and we have been outside A LOT lately. She said well then this is considered Ehrlichia with a normal platelet count and slightly elevated WBC until proven otherwise and put him on antibiotics. He has not missed a beat but I am thinking townhouse!

What I have been up to!

I have been without a computer and either no Internet or very poor connection for several weeks. But we have been busy cleaning up the yard. I feel like I post about the yard all the time, but this place has been so neglected for so long, it is going to take a lot to get it in shape. Our latest venture is selling timber. We have had several log trucks leave with our trees. I have grieved the poor trees. I love trees. I have my favorites and there are several! I kept bargaining for their very life with Steve and the log guy. My first to save was the little crooked tree by the road. He certainly couldn't sell that one and it looks so cute. Then I was after two oaks in the back. They were on the line Steve had drawn. I just redrew the line. Then there was the large red oak that he buggered up cutting one next to it. It looks bad but will heal. Then there was the large white oak that was on the trail to the long forgotten pond that filled in when the new road was cut 20 years or so ago.Next was the ironwood that I am still not sure about it's safety. Steve agreed to leave it but reserved the right to take it's life later on if need be. But my most passionate plea was for all my dogwoods. I love love love my dogwoods. I lost several just in the falling of the trees. I think a few more will have to go for the barn. Then lastly the big double moss covered oak by the road with the wisteria vine as big as my leg! I am beginning to think I will name all these precious friends. Steve finally told me that I was no longer allowed to go outside and talk to the tree guy. But my MOA was to take him a nice cold Mt. Dew (the man's favorite of course!) Works like a charm. I even had ice cream sandwiches when necessary for the negotiations!

So for the last three weeks we have spent almost every single moment at home in the hot weather hauling, cutting, moving and burning tons of tree tops and limbs. The ash pile in the back yard is almost as tall as me and at much greater in diameter! I would have tons of potash for my soap making if it wasn't mostly pine. After all my tree rescues I didn't think it would be prudent for me to ask the men to burn two separate piles! Hardwood ash makes the best lye. The funny thing is I had salvaged a big pile of apple wood (the best for lye) and had it drying in the sun. The tree man was very kind to keep most of the tops in the burn pile so we had less to clean up with our small tractor. Well one day he scooped up my pile and burned it thinking he was helping! Steve was pretty glad he got rid of the pile while I stood looking at the spot with my mouth open. Oh well, apple trees have to be trimmed sometime!

I had the electric and phone company come to remove the lines for the day so that he could fall trees across the driveway. So we were without power for a day and the phone would have to wait because they wanted to bury the line and reground the new line to try and help out Internet problems. The next day the gas line was hit as he fell a very large pine on the road side. We knew it was going to be the hardest to get out, but one of the more important since it blocked our view to the very busy road we live on. When the gas company came out to shut off the gas, he said sorry now that it is broken you have to replace the line all the way to the house and then took our meter! So for the next week we heated water for the kids (and me occas.) sent the kids next door and took cold showers! I was so happy to get the hot water back. I am rethinking my position that hot water is a luxury! Anyway, they could not hook up the phone until the gas line was finished. So no Internet for 2 weeks.

Well that is enough rambling for tonight, my fingers are cramping!

Who do I want to be?

Okay so I just get this crazy forward text about how wonderful women/mothers/sisters are and I had a revelation! Hard to believe that a sappy text could help me define my life but it happened. In one short statement at that! Are you ready? It has a bad word.:-) Okay you were warned, here goes! I want to be the woman that when my eyes open in the morning the devil says "Oh crap, she's up!"