#WhenitRainsitPours #AlmostMadeittoDenver

We've had a long, good, emotional,short Christmas break. This is a picture of the boys at war (They got pellet guns for Christmas.) 

Well, at the moment it's not raining on my little corner of the universe, but it's been a bit of a showery week.

A week ago this morning we were at Porter Adventist Hospital, checking Kenna in for her surgery and then waiting during her surgery and then talking to Dr. White after her surgery and seeing her and helping her and sleeping there and crying when she hurt and smiling when she made it down the hall on her crutches.

Between now and then, we've done Christmas Eve (simple) and Christmas  day. (Also simple...and late! We didn't open presents till 8,  my mom did the pies, and the gifts were a little haphazard since I normally shop Christmas week and I couldn't.)   We've stayed up nights and adjusted the CPM and given meds and taken meds away and massaged feet and combed hair and done all kinds of other  things. This morning I even took one of Kenna's pills by accident (Luckily, it wasn't morphine or Valium!) And, speaking of those meds, they were horrible. Awful. Sure, I guess narcotics have their place in relieving pain, but I will never take them without researching other options. Ugh.


Today we loaded up a walker and a pair of crutches and some ice packs and snacks and headed out to see Ron, our new favorite physical therapist.  Ron is a hip expert, having had both his labrums repaired and then reconstructed. And Stephanie recommended him. I'd go see anyone that Steph recommends.  He's in Denver, and he'll be coordinating Kenna's program. If anyone dares not follow Ron's protocol, they won't work with her. I'm serious about her recovery. (Note--we "fired" our secondary therapist after a couple of visits. He was nice, and proficient, but he was not a hip expert and his protocol, had we followed it very long, would have impeded Kenna's recovery. And her recovery has been amazing!  She is young, strong, and is way ahead of schedule. And she's only needed therapy every 2 weeks or so.  And Ron is. awesome. Some day I want to be like him.)

 Anyway, on December 30th we were going to Ron's. He's on Fox St in Denver, not far from the Pepsi Center. We were taking Taylor's car, because she was with us and Kenna wanted to ride comfortably.  Her battery warning light had gone off just out of Sterling, but since I was unfamiliar with her car and she was driving, when she deactivated it I assumed that her car often gave warnings and that maybe the wiring was faulty and she was just accustomed to it. Plus, Kenna really wanted to be comfortable in Taylor's car, and we didn't have time to switch vehicles. So, we kept going. When we reached Hudson, I was driving and Taylor's battery gauge started a steady decline from the midway point toward the low end of the gauge. I called Jared--I was worried!--and I was praying as I talked to him. I did not want to be stuck on the side of I-76. I usually feel pretty vulnerable when I have car trouble on the interstate.  Long story short, we limped along for another 25 miles or so and ended up stranded at a gas station in Lochbuie. I was so very glad that we made it to a gas station!  I wasn't nervous because we were safe, there was food, we were laughing, and we were close to home. In fact, Caleb was at a friend's house in Brush, so he came to get us. We figured the problem was the alternator, so we charged the expedition and started home with Caleb following us. We ended up having to pull over and charge the battery every 15 miles or so, and Kenna was getting tired. We eventually left the explorer in Wiggins and crowded into the Volvo in order to get Kenna home; she was just a week post -surgery and needed to be able to rest. So, it was a long, funny, emotional, good/bad kind of day.  Jared spent all day at home trying to find a trailer to borrow, and he and I went back to Wiggins that night to bring the darn Explorer home. 

During Christmas break, we spent many hours in this room.