Auri has been having escalating problems with her feet. She started with sores on her Achilles from wearing ballerina shoes that didn't fit properly. Having her heels hurt caused her to put more pressure on the balls of her feet. Combined with the cleats and the increased pounding from soccer practice, the balls of her feet became increasingly painful...to the point that about 1-2 weeks ago she started walking on her heels with her balls up to avoid any pressure. Then, as predicted, yesterday her ankles hurt her so bad that she woke me up in tears at 6 something am.
We had been soaking in Epsom salts, stretching and massaging her feet thinking it was just soreness from the increased activity and cleats. However, it just seemed to be escalating not receding. So, I took her to the ER for eval (or lack there of as the case may be). A complete waste of time and money!! Diagnosis from ER doc: bruised feet from cleats, stay off feet completely for 1 wk, buy new cleats...realistic considering she has school- Not!
On the way to school, we stopped by Frenchtown Physical Therapy. They were great! After a thorough evaluation, they explained that her joints are hypermobile (move beyond the normal range of motion), they used the word "ridiculous" to describe her hypermobility (surprise, surprise and welcome to the family :); she has high arches and pronates (not a good combo..also not a surprise, don't you just love our genetics)); has comparatively tight medial ankle range of motion; All this combined with the previously mentioned factors related to wounds, cleats and increased activity, walking abnormally to try to reduce pain, escalated an already problematic situation into her current severely painful foot condition.
So, they taped her up really well, had her practice walking barefoot until she approached normal. She will need further gait training and lots of reminders to walk heel to toe and keep her feet straight. She walks with her feet wide, toes out and up (not even touching ground) and pushes off like a ice skater with each step instead of rolling through her toes and pushing with the balls of her feet. They also added pads under her metatarsals to relieve some pressure (which helped a lot in the beginning but was more painful by the end of the day); Told her she is not allowed to wear flip flops for 6 months, no ballerina shoes (or shoes without arch support); and to throw away her current shoes and get new ones. After watching her walk and seeing the conditions of the soles of her shoes, I had to agree. She would never learn to walk correctly in shoes she has worn down so completely. So after school, she hobbled home in tears, iced and took a lortab and ibuprofen. When she recovered enough to walk, a couple hours later, we went shoe shopping and bought her a couple of pairs of appropriate shoes and extra arch support insoles for her new sneakers. Between the PT, the shoe sales persons, Jan and myself hopefully we have finally convinced her of the importance of good shoes (over style).
She is very upset about not being able to play soccer and letting her team down and very hard on herself for not being as good as she wants to be. She will still go to soccer practice and the games, to support her teammates and to learn by watching and listening. We have another MD appt today to try to get an order to cover PT (required by insurance). So, once again we are spending money like it grows on trees...man I could use one of those trees :) Send her love and support, she needs it.
FYI Jamie chose not to play this year related to foot pain, so I will be taking him in for eval here soon also. I am sure he has the family feet also :) Yea...
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
End of Summer wrap up
Well, the kids survived their summer adventures. They both enjoyed their time in Vegas and Germany visiting with family and friends. Unfortunately, the summer is over. School starts tomorrow. I posted their holidays and breaks on our calendar (which also posts to the google calendar).
Jan and I spent the summer working on our property. So much to do, so few hours in the day :) We could really use a few more weeks to prepare for winter...hay, firewood, weather treating the fence and barn, preparing the ground and seeding for grass the entire pasture but most especially the area tore up during the barn building which is currently rolling piles of clay.
We bought used Noble feeders, cleaned them up and put them in the barn yesterday. Jan made an opening in each stall to pass the hay, grain and water through...very nice! It is going to be so much easier to care for the boys this winter. We also set up the panels to make stalls attached to the barn. Good timing as it is currently pouring down rain. The horses are trying to eat the barn. So, we sprayed with No Chew and will need to do further interventions later.
My little garden is struggling along. Between the hordes of grasshoppers, potato bugs and other misc bugs, there is not much left of the potatoes and cucumbers. The onions are beautiful and the squash is looking good too. Jamie is digging up the rest of the area a little at a time. Hopefully by next spring, we will have a much larger garden, better prepared ground and...maybe even a greenhouse??
Jan and I spent the summer working on our property. So much to do, so few hours in the day :) We could really use a few more weeks to prepare for winter...hay, firewood, weather treating the fence and barn, preparing the ground and seeding for grass the entire pasture but most especially the area tore up during the barn building which is currently rolling piles of clay.
We bought used Noble feeders, cleaned them up and put them in the barn yesterday. Jan made an opening in each stall to pass the hay, grain and water through...very nice! It is going to be so much easier to care for the boys this winter. We also set up the panels to make stalls attached to the barn. Good timing as it is currently pouring down rain. The horses are trying to eat the barn. So, we sprayed with No Chew and will need to do further interventions later.
My little garden is struggling along. Between the hordes of grasshoppers, potato bugs and other misc bugs, there is not much left of the potatoes and cucumbers. The onions are beautiful and the squash is looking good too. Jamie is digging up the rest of the area a little at a time. Hopefully by next spring, we will have a much larger garden, better prepared ground and...maybe even a greenhouse??
Soccer
Well, Auri survived her first two soccer games! They had 12 girls show up for tryouts, and convinced a few more to return to the team, bringing their number to 15 girls. With 6 girls returning from last year (Frenchtown's 1st season), most of the girls are new to soccer and the team. They began practice on the 18th, with their first games Friday the 29th and Sat the 30th. Due to regulations requiring girls to have 10 practices to be eligible to play, they only had 13 eligible girls (11 players, 2 subs). Most girls had to play the entire game...two 45 min halves.
I have to say we were SO proud of Auriana!! As a defensive full back (libero for our German family), she plays with alot of heart and a strong spirit!! She is sore all over, esp her legs and feet. She has sores on her heels from her shoes and the balls of her feet are killing her from running in cleats. Nevertheless, she really hustled around the field and maintained defensive pressure. No easy scoring on her!! They lost the game, but kept it in the single digits....which against the state champs is pretty good!!
I've posted her games to the calendar, most are within an hour of our home. The dates are Sept 6,9,11,13,19,22,23,27 Oct 4 & 11. Any who want to travel to see a game are welcome to stay with us!!
I have to say we were SO proud of Auriana!! As a defensive full back (libero for our German family), she plays with alot of heart and a strong spirit!! She is sore all over, esp her legs and feet. She has sores on her heels from her shoes and the balls of her feet are killing her from running in cleats. Nevertheless, she really hustled around the field and maintained defensive pressure. No easy scoring on her!! They lost the game, but kept it in the single digits....which against the state champs is pretty good!!
I've posted her games to the calendar, most are within an hour of our home. The dates are Sept 6,9,11,13,19,22,23,27 Oct 4 & 11. Any who want to travel to see a game are welcome to stay with us!!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Rearranged woodpile?
We got home last night from wine tasting in Missoula, and I noticed that some pieces from the woodpile by the fence had been moved. That's weird, I thought. Given that we've had skunks around, and rumors of a bear and lots of deer, I started racking my brain trying to come up with some logical explanation of how any of those animals (or perhaps our cats or dogs) could have moved the wood in this manner.
We walked over to the wood and took a closer, puzzled look. Pretty quickly it became clear that this was one smart animal, since the wood was moved in a very precise way. We looked and looked, and the meaning eventually became clear.
Check out the pictures here
We walked over to the wood and took a closer, puzzled look. Pretty quickly it became clear that this was one smart animal, since the wood was moved in a very precise way. We looked and looked, and the meaning eventually became clear.
Check out the pictures here
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tagged
Skunks! Phew!! Good Grief, what a stink!
Runt got tagged last month..poor thing. By the 3rd bath, he was sure we must hate him. He still has some residual odor. And what foul offensive odor should come in our door tonight????
Romeo...got tagged. I think he got it in the face and shoulder mostly. Poor thing, he is drooling and looks miserable. At least we are getting plenty of practice in animal bathing and skunk odor removal techniques :)
Anyone want to go skunk hunting?? Do you have to have a license or is it justified????
Runt got tagged last month..poor thing. By the 3rd bath, he was sure we must hate him. He still has some residual odor. And what foul offensive odor should come in our door tonight????
Romeo...got tagged. I think he got it in the face and shoulder mostly. Poor thing, he is drooling and looks miserable. At least we are getting plenty of practice in animal bathing and skunk odor removal techniques :)
Anyone want to go skunk hunting?? Do you have to have a license or is it justified????
Monday, July 28, 2008
summer update
Well, the summer is flying by and we still have so much to accomplish before the winter weather returns :)
The barn is complete and paid for (ouch!) and we are happy to have a sheltered place to take care of the boys. We still have quite a bit of work to do inside the barn (no-chew, paint, gates, etc) but we will work on that as time and money allow. Our top priority now is getting the grass growing strong on the hills around the barn before the horses return (They are currently down the street a ways "mowing" our neighbors backyard (about 3 acres of grass :) We do most of our pasture development and maintenance in the morning and evenings when it is cool. I have started composting the horse manure and am looking forward to using it next season in my garden :)
The garden is going well. The potatoes are growing strong as are the onions. I have been fighting with a few pests (lately grasshoppers by the thousands) and am looking forward to having chickens next year!! My carrots and radishes are going well in my herb garden on the patio. However, the carrots and radishes in my garden where consumed before they could sprout well. But, for my first garden, it is progressing well.
They kids are in Germany visiting Oma and Opa. Jamie has been there a week and is having a splendid time playing outside with friends and eating sweets!! Auri just arrived today and is very tired, of course!! Jamie is already planning on returning to Germany as an exchange student next year. I guess we will be learning German and speaking at home this year!! Yea, maybe I will finally learn the language :) Jamie will be returning to Vegas the 31st to spend another week with his father before returning to Montana with his sister Aug. 8th.
I am healing well. Much faster then anticipated (Yea!!) I rode my motorcycle for the first time Sat. It was great! We are tentatively planning a horseback ride this evening (my first since the accidents). I will probably start working with Mave this week to see if we can turn him into a horse that is enjoyable to ride and safe to be around. Sypreme has gotten a bit ornery with me being down for most of the last 7 months; luckily he snaps back into line really easy.
Mom is settling in well. She sounds happier then I have heard her in several years. They have just about finished the Major Overhaul of the apt in WSS. Jan and I will be heading over this weekend to join in the painting party :). Her stuff is scheduled to arrive from Vegas in a couple of weeks. John missed his lifestyle in Vegas and decided to return to Vegas on July 4th. He was in a car accident outside of Cedar City and has whiplash but is otherwise OK.
The barn is complete and paid for (ouch!) and we are happy to have a sheltered place to take care of the boys. We still have quite a bit of work to do inside the barn (no-chew, paint, gates, etc) but we will work on that as time and money allow. Our top priority now is getting the grass growing strong on the hills around the barn before the horses return (They are currently down the street a ways "mowing" our neighbors backyard (about 3 acres of grass :) We do most of our pasture development and maintenance in the morning and evenings when it is cool. I have started composting the horse manure and am looking forward to using it next season in my garden :)
The garden is going well. The potatoes are growing strong as are the onions. I have been fighting with a few pests (lately grasshoppers by the thousands) and am looking forward to having chickens next year!! My carrots and radishes are going well in my herb garden on the patio. However, the carrots and radishes in my garden where consumed before they could sprout well. But, for my first garden, it is progressing well.
They kids are in Germany visiting Oma and Opa. Jamie has been there a week and is having a splendid time playing outside with friends and eating sweets!! Auri just arrived today and is very tired, of course!! Jamie is already planning on returning to Germany as an exchange student next year. I guess we will be learning German and speaking at home this year!! Yea, maybe I will finally learn the language :) Jamie will be returning to Vegas the 31st to spend another week with his father before returning to Montana with his sister Aug. 8th.
I am healing well. Much faster then anticipated (Yea!!) I rode my motorcycle for the first time Sat. It was great! We are tentatively planning a horseback ride this evening (my first since the accidents). I will probably start working with Mave this week to see if we can turn him into a horse that is enjoyable to ride and safe to be around. Sypreme has gotten a bit ornery with me being down for most of the last 7 months; luckily he snaps back into line really easy.
Mom is settling in well. She sounds happier then I have heard her in several years. They have just about finished the Major Overhaul of the apt in WSS. Jan and I will be heading over this weekend to join in the painting party :). Her stuff is scheduled to arrive from Vegas in a couple of weeks. John missed his lifestyle in Vegas and decided to return to Vegas on July 4th. He was in a car accident outside of Cedar City and has whiplash but is otherwise OK.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Flying lessons
Poor Sara. She just can't catch a break.
We had the vet over yesterday to take care of some issues with the horses (animal dentistry, to be precise), and the vet of course sedated both horses to work on them.
While Maverick was sedated, I held his head up so the vet could insert the power-tool to grind his teeth down. He didn't like it very much. Can't blame him.
After that was done, I asked if sara wanted me to spray some stuff on his leg-wound also, while he was out (he doesn't like that either, since it hurts), and so I went to get the stuff from the barn. Next thing I know, there's some weird commotion outside and the vet asked her tech-helper "what happened?!".
I rush outside, and sara is about 8-10 feet away from maverick on the ground. She had been about to look at something on the inside of his leg, when I had started to go into the barn. Apparently he'd had enough, and even though he was sedated heavily (close to falling over, actually), he still managed to kick sara with such force she flew back 8-10 feet.
I was not happy with him, but we haven't killed him yet.
Sara's wrist/ulna hurts where his foot connected with her. Also her thigh has a nasty looking bruise, and of course she fell on her hip when landing, and there's some nasty bruising happening there as well.
We'll have to decide what to do with Maverick. This is not the first time he's hurt her, and she's the most experienced of us where horses are concerned, so really it's only a matter of time before one of the rest of us gets hurt by him.
I guess she'll work with him in a VERY serious manner to get some respect out of him, and if that proves too much work or fruitless, we'll probably sell him and get a different horse. He's just too unpredictable and dangerous. I do like Maverick a lot. When he's well behaved, he's a sweetheart. But being unpredictable and lacking respect is dangerous to all of us.
We had the vet over yesterday to take care of some issues with the horses (animal dentistry, to be precise), and the vet of course sedated both horses to work on them.
While Maverick was sedated, I held his head up so the vet could insert the power-tool to grind his teeth down. He didn't like it very much. Can't blame him.
After that was done, I asked if sara wanted me to spray some stuff on his leg-wound also, while he was out (he doesn't like that either, since it hurts), and so I went to get the stuff from the barn. Next thing I know, there's some weird commotion outside and the vet asked her tech-helper "what happened?!".
I rush outside, and sara is about 8-10 feet away from maverick on the ground. She had been about to look at something on the inside of his leg, when I had started to go into the barn. Apparently he'd had enough, and even though he was sedated heavily (close to falling over, actually), he still managed to kick sara with such force she flew back 8-10 feet.
I was not happy with him, but we haven't killed him yet.
Sara's wrist/ulna hurts where his foot connected with her. Also her thigh has a nasty looking bruise, and of course she fell on her hip when landing, and there's some nasty bruising happening there as well.
We'll have to decide what to do with Maverick. This is not the first time he's hurt her, and she's the most experienced of us where horses are concerned, so really it's only a matter of time before one of the rest of us gets hurt by him.
I guess she'll work with him in a VERY serious manner to get some respect out of him, and if that proves too much work or fruitless, we'll probably sell him and get a different horse. He's just too unpredictable and dangerous. I do like Maverick a lot. When he's well behaved, he's a sweetheart. But being unpredictable and lacking respect is dangerous to all of us.
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