Jackinator

Low Key Vacation Week

It was a low key week for Jack.  He had a friend over every day to play video games and he also played a lot of hide & seek.  I noticed, though, toward the end of the play date, he would start to get rambunctious, but for the most part, he kept himself toned down.  Next weekend, he's allowed to swim again, so that'll be good to give him something active to do.  Here's a recurring conversation from this past week:

Mom....Jack, stop jumping.
Jack.....I'm not jumping.
Mom....Yes, you are; I saw you.
Jack.....But it's not much jumping.

So, he still bears constant watching.  This weekend, he's been keeping the score sheet during Amanda's basketball tournament.  This is something he loves doing, AND he doesn't mind sitting at the score table for hours on end!  One of the team's little brothers, who Jack played with during the entire middle school season, is quite dismayed by Jack doing this rather than playing with him.  He said yesterday, 'Jack, I don't see how you call this fun.' 

We'd also like to wish PoP-PoP, and our little friend Robert, a very Happy Birthday!!

Steppin' Up

We met with the orthopedic doctor today.  Jack's incision is healing nicely but he still needs to take it easy for another 4 weeks.  He can start walking around the house & classroom without crutches, but no running or jumping yet; there is still a large wedge in his upper thigh bone that needs to fill in.  So, for recess and P.E. class, he will stay in a wheelchair because I think it would be impossible for him not to run, especially at recess.  In 2 weeks, he can start swimming so that'll be nice to get him active again & start building up his leg muscles, yet again.  In 4 weeks (just in time for Spring!) he can resume 'normal' activities.  For him, this will be training for his school's 5K, which the doctor said was an excellent activity to build up his leg strength.   He may also take a low-key Aikido class in late spring that doesn't involve being thrown to the mat!  In the fall, he can (finally) do flag football which he's been looking forward to for years. 

Hip hip hooray!

Poetry

It's back to school for Jack on Monday!  He has completed all of the work that was sent home.  One of the pieces of schoolwork was a poetry worksheet.  He is writing about Martin Luther King and had to complete various sentences that start with I See, I Want, I Hear, etc..  We worked on it for an hour and he surprised me with some of the phrases he came up with.  Especially since for the first 10 minutes, he was trying to include 'hopscotch' and 'french fries' in his poem!  I only had to nudge him a little, mainly just by reading the I have a Dream speech to him so he could get ideas.  Here are some of his responses:

I hear black men sing of freedom
I see injustice and must change that
I pretend hatred means nothing to me
I touch the bars on my jail cell
I feel cheated

We may have another writer in the family!  In school, there is an inter-classroom mail system where the kids can write letters to each other.  Well, a few weeks ago, Jack wrote a letter to the garbage can in his classroom.  His teacher said it was just delivered last week so we'll be eagerly anticipating the garbage can's response :)

Feeling Good

Jack is feeling good today - his fever is gone.  He's been up & about this morning, playing on the floor and skyping with Matt.  Later this morning, we'll be heading out to the library.

Last night, the DMS girls basketball team played tough but ended up losing 49-35, after being tied at 22 at half-time.  The other team had a lot of depth, which wore out Amanda's team.  They also had a big girl that Amanda said was like a brick wall.  Rumors were that she was 6'2 but Dad said she was probably 5'11.  That's still about 5 inches taller than anyone on Amanda's team!  Jack nick-named her 'the beast woman.'  Well, DMS had a good run and still comes away with the Southern Division Champion title!

Doing OK

I don't think this fever has anything to do with the surgery.  Jack took a shower and then I changed the bandage on his incision.  Everything looked fine and he insists that his hip does not hurt.  I gave him some Advil and he's in good spirits.  He just asked me what the 'lunch special' was today :)  He's also itching to get out of the house.  Yesterday he asked if he could go to school today!  I said No so then he said he would settle for going to the grocery store with me this weekend.  I think we'll plan a trip to the library over the weekend, then.  That would get us all used to the wheelchair routine again, too.

I had a friend all lined up to watch Jack tonight so I could see Amanda's game, but now I'm going to stay home with him.  So, DMS will just have to win so I can see them in the finals next week!  Dad is able to go to the game so he'll be able to give us frequent updates.  I also emailed our local on-line news group to see if they could broadcast the game live on-line.  That would be really cool!

Fever

Jack woke up with a slight fever & headache this morning.  He says his hip feels fine, better than yesterday.  So, hopefully this is just a virus he picked up in the hospital and not an infection in his hip.  He'll be getting in the shower this morning and then I'll be changing the bandage.

Hip Notes

Jack continues to do well.  He's been up & about a bit on his crutches, but mainly hangs out downstairs in the office on the guest bed.  No pain in his hip, he says, unless he moves his leg too fast.  Yesterday afternoon, he got some schoolwork done (without too much complaining), skyped with Isaac and then Grace & Ethan stopped by with dinner (thanks, Diane!)  Today will be much of the same. 

On another good note, congratulations to Amanda and the DMS girls basketball team - they won their second playoff game on Tuesday, with authority (Amanda had 29 points!)  They now advance to the semi-finals, which will be played Friday evening. 

Overnight

Jack slept all night!  I slept with one ear open expecting him to wake up.  I was dreading a middle-of-the-night pain med administration but it was not needed.  He actually did pretty well with his dose last evening.  I only had to stand in front of the TV for 5 minutes before he took it.  This morning he said his pain level, on a scale of 1 to 10, was a 0.5, and he claims he's not just saying that to get out of more medicine.  I think I believe him - he's been chomping at the bit to get up & crutch around the house.  So, since he's feeling pretty good, he'll be doing some school work today, much to his dismay, and then should be up to some Skyping with friends this afternoon.  So far, so good!

Home

We are home.  Jack is resting comfortably, watching TV and having a snack.  His hip is still numbed up but Dad is out filling a prescription for a pain med.  Let's hope I can get him to take it this year.  I had such a hard time last year.  Well, as a last resort, I could always take the med instead and knock myself out!

Surgery Update #2

Jack is out! The doctor said he did well and that his hip looks good. He is in the recovery room and is starting to wake up now.