Chicklet’s Ankle Update

Okay, peeps.

Chicklet had her latest orthopedic appointment this morning and transitioned from her traditional cast to this walking boot:

Now. Typically, I’d be inserting all kinds of exclamation points and woohoos, but if I’m being honest, this round of kiddo injury/cast has felt harder than previous rounds.

Not that any have been fun, and perhaps I have to allow for some revisionist history, here, as well, but…this accident and subsequent healing process has really gotten my Chicklet down.

From the get-go, I think I expected her to be a bit more resilient with it all—especially since she’s my kiddo who’s been through this whole rigamarole before and adapted well and breezed through most of it.

But this injury has impacted her to a greater extent than the last leg cast, and it’s been equal parts mental and physical challenges she’s had to work through. :(

For the first few days, she powered through on momentum, the zaniness of commitments we had to make it through (hello, Confirmation), and the novelty of a cast and the attention from friends and family.

Then we were just biding our time until the official pediatric ortho appointment and the true diagnosis and recovery recommendations.

But I knew the reality would eventually sink in, and boy did it.

About 10 days after her initial injury (and about 5 days after her official cast and first attempt to make it through a pretty full school week), my girl finally had her breakdown.

It was in the bath, as I was helping her. She just started crying and letting it all out. All the things she’s missing out on. All the things she can’t do—great and small. The long road ahead and the sadness of missing out on her favorite thing: swimming. She even wept over not eating lunch with her friends, because the teachers park her at the end of the lunch table instead of her usual spot.

That was the night I officially launched my Chicklet’s Mental Health campaign and made it my personal mission to lift her spirits and turn her frown upside down as much as possible.

Since she was stuck in a different lunch spot, I met her 

 at school for a special Mama/daughter Chick-fil-A meal. Here’s a pic of us riding the school elevator…

On the night her siblings went to swim lessons, Daddy took her on a special grocery run and joy ride…



Any time it’s possible, I haul her for special after school snacks or weekend treats. Anything that will give her a smile…



The new iPads that we’ve been anticipating for a couple of years were a MAJOR boost (more on that in a different post), and I downloaded a couple new games that made her giddy…



Even the hubby’s own injury (MUCH MORE on that in a subsequent post) weirdly helped to improve Chicklet’s mood (but only for a hot second), because someone else had to suffer through the pain of crutches and hobbling around—and admit how hard it all was!

I even dragged my girl to Tarjay after her appointment today, to select some happy pool floaties to launch her (very delicate and non-rowdy) upcoming swim time that’s been approved. Anything to have her focusing on recovery and gaining strength and coordination.

Despite all these efforts, it’s just been a daily—and sometimes hourly—struggle to keep my girl from feeling blue over all this. And days with appointments don’t help, because Chicklet ends up in more pain and discomfort because of all the changes and new movement she has to power through. 

I thought she’d be overjoyed to be in a walking boot, but for the most part, it just made her anxious and a bit overwhelmed.

She ended the night in tears again, just sad over the challenge of it all, and all I could do was validate her feelings, give her love and snuggles, and then distract her and lift her spirits to the best of my ability. 

I know that this, too, shall pass, and that we’ve hopefully made it through the hardest initial weeks.

But, man, do I wish I could hit the fast forward button and put this all in the past.



On the plus side (because I seriously try to think of any silver linings), it’s been a major blessing to navigate all of this toward the end of the school year. 

Because most of the hard-core learning and testing and benchmark evaluation and homework and all that jazz has already come and gone, I’ve had the flexibility to keep Chicklet home when it’s best for her. Like today. After her appointment.

So we’re just going to keep trying to see the positive, anywhere we can. And my girl will continue to take those baby steps toward recovery.

Okay. More mañana, peeps.

Over and out. 

P.S. Because you just can’t make this stuff up…guess who wound up in the nurse’s office today and had to be picked up due to his fever?

And, yup, he’s doing really really well, but this definitely happened to the hubby:

I legitimately had not one, not two, but three different staff members at school today tell me that I needed to take a vacation. And a fourth told me I should sage our house, ha.

THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS.

Over and out (for realsies).