Last night after we put Andrew in his bath, I wanted to grab the load of clothes out of the dryer. I was carrying the laundry basket down the stairs and before I got the landing, I must have misstepped and fell down the stairs. I was either at the second or third to last stair from the landing--not too far down. But I landed strangely on both my ankles. I immediately screamed in pain and James yelled to see what happened. I yelled back to him that I had fallen down. Andrew also heard me scream and was wrought with worry. Daddy put Andrew in a towel and took him down to check on me. I couldn't get up yet and crying from the pain. Both my ankles hurt, but my left not as bad as my right. I have sprained my ankles plenty of times before, but I knew this was different. I told James that my right ankle was pretty bad. I told him to put Andrew back in the tub so he wouldn't see me like this. Andrew didn't want to go, but I told him I was okay and for him to go back to the tub.
After Andrew was back in the bath, James came down to help me. We decided it was better to get me downstairs. I hopped down with my arm over James's shoulder. He got me to the couch and helped me elevate my ankle and got me ice. Then, he went back upstairs to tend to Andrew. After he was dressed, Andrew came downstairs to see me. You could see the worry on his face. It was very sweet. He even kissed my leg for me.
We talked about going to the emergency room, but I wasn't sure if that was warranted. So, we agreed to wait overnight and then gauge the situation in the morning. I was hoping it would be better by then. Daddy needed to put Andrew to bed; poor Andrew was sad that I wasn't going upstairs with him so we read night night books downstairs. He was so worried about me; it broke my heart. Daddy took him upstairs and I could hear Andrew ask for me a few times. He finally fell asleep.
Daddy came downstairs to check on me and help me get ready for bed. I opted to sleep on the couch because I didn't want to have to go back up the stairs just to sleep. I slept okay and wasn't in too much pain.
When I woke up, I tried to walk, but it still hurt quite a bit. I could move it more this morning, but it still hurt a lot to put pressure on it while trying to walk. I was worried that it might be worse than I thought. All these thoughts went into my head. This was bad timing!! Daddy and I tried to figure out about getting Andrew to school. I called Ngoai who could come up later in the day and could pick up Andrew and take drive us to speech therapy. I called Aunt Linda to see about a referral to a podiatrist or orthopedic surgeon to look at my foot. As luck would have it, Ryan's dad was in town visiting and he is an orthopedic surgeon. They offered that I could come over and have him look at it first. I was grateful for the evaluation.
So, Daddy got Andrew ready for school and we drove over to St. Luke's. Andrew was sad that I wouldn't be walking him to his classroom, but seemed to understand that I had a boo boo on my foot and couldn't walk very well. Daddy said he was good about drop off and didn't cry. We then headed over to Linda's house. Dr. Armstrong ascertained the facts, asked me about the movement of my foot and ankle, and then looked at both. He seemed to think that I would be okay and that I probably didn't break any bones. Since it had gotten so much better overnight, he thought it would heal on its own in a few days. He understood my concern about treating it since we are supposed to go to Minnesota to see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Marta on Thursday. After talking it over, we decided we would wait another day. If it didn't get better, I could make an appointment with a doctor. Dr. Armstrong also suggested I buy a new pair of shoes with a shank at the bottom for added support.
Then, James took me to Academy for some shoes and a cane. I hopped from the car through the parking lot and got to the entrance. Daddy was going to get me a shopping cart to lean on. But a gentleman said they have a wheelchair inside that we could borrow. Hooray!! It was so much better!
We asked a salesman about shoes with a shank and he showed me a running shoe that had one. I was sold. I really didn't want a boot. I didn't realize that they made shoes with a wooden or plastic shank in tennis shoes! Then, we went to get a cane, rather a walking stick to help support me. I didn't want to get crutches yet if I didn't have to.
Then, James took me home and got me settled in the guest bedroom downstairs. He then made me lunch before he had to head back to work. Ngoai was due over in less than an hour.
One of the things that I was worried about with my hurt ankle (first was the trip to Minnesota) was something that I had planned on for at least a month. I had been waiting so long to see Bobby Flay who was doing a book signing at Sur La Table for his new book, Bobby Flay's Throwdown. James had even planned on meeting them during his lunch break, but since he took off the morning to be with me, it wasn't going to be feasible anymore. I really felt bad that he was going to miss him because of me. Boo for me! But I asked Ngoai if she would take me there and help me out. She thought I was crazy, but she still kindly agreed. I had called the store a couple of times to inquire about the length of the line. It was almost 115pm and getting near the time for him to leave, which was at 2pm. So, Ngoai drove us to the store, which fortunately is like less than five minutes from our house. The line wasn't too bad at all. It was still out the door, but just right in front of the entrance. We got in line and an employee came by and took my order for the new cookbook. How convenient was that!?
We continued to wait in line and we got closer and closer. We kept watchful eye on the clock because we still had to pick up Andrew by 230pm. It was almost 215pm by the time we got to see him. Ngoai asked if she could take a picture with him too so she did. And then it was my turn. He took one look at the hiking stick, smiled, and said "come over here". I replied to him "I just had to come see you!" So, we got his autographed cookbook and photo opp and then were off to go pick up Andrew. We arrived just in time and Ngoai walked into to get him while I waited in the car. Andrew loved having Ngoai pick him up and was very proud of his ghost that he painted during class today.
Then, Ngoai offered to make us dinner to make things easier on me. So, we went to Krogers and her and Andrew went grocery shopping while I sat in the car again. Ngoai said he did great in the store only asking for ice cream and then wanting to get out during check out to help.
We went home and I made my way back to the couch to rest while Andrew played and Ngoai started dinner. After Daddy came home, we ate dinner and James took Andrew up for baths. Ngoai is spending the night in case I need her help tomorrow or if she needs to watch Andrew if I need to go to the doctors. Everyone is asleep now while I am back on the couch icing the foot. I still can't believe I did this. I go down those stairs everyday and just took it for granted. That's what I get for trying to do the laundry!!! Ha!! But I am thankful it wasn't more serious. And hopefully, Andrew can at least learn from my mistakes. I hope that he understands that he needs to be more careful going up and down the stairs.
And thanks to Daddy for taking such good care of me and also for having to carry the extra load of taking Andrew without my help. And also, thanks to Ngoai for coming up and helping us out. I am so very appreciative of you both and of everything you have done these past two days for me!!
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