The Foot in Pictures

I can only imagine that on many future van rides up to the North Rim with our Goodman family crew and friends, we'll be talking about the time when Ryan hiked out on his broken foot.  So in case we ever feel the need to come back and re-live those memories via pictures, here are a few we've snapped over the past week and a half.

I took this one right after we got home late Saturday night/early Sunday morning from the drive back from the South Rim.  This is what Ry's foot looked like after having hiking the 17 miles and then driving back with his foot elevated on his own van bench.  The picture doesn't really do it justice, and the swelling hadn't nearly reached it's max. 

And here's an excerpt from Ryan's email to our hiking group on Monday, September 26th after going to see the foot doctor (I had emailed everyone with his status update shortly before this and received so many nice replies):

"Everybody...  I had a great time!  Thanks to Ryan (Alder) and Kelli for hanging back with me.  Sorry to take so long and I'm sure Kelli was biting her lip the whole time as we both had talked about running a lot of the way and crushing our time from last year.  I'm glad it's ONLY a broken foot.  I got back and found out a client's mom had a heart attack, a friend in our ward had a stroke, and Bishop Jim fell and got all scraped up.  I'm fine and anybody who wants to come by and sign my red cast is welcome!  I tried to pick the most "Grand Canyon-esque" color available.  Plus, who gets red??  I thought I would stand out (as if hiking 17 miles on a broken foot was not cool enough).  Thanks for a great time and after I get the surgery & recovery stuff all done, I'll have 9-10 months to get ready for GC '12!" 

Such a good sport!

Here's Ry at his pre-op appointment with Dr. Nguyen last Friday.  Shortly after this, they cut his cast down the sides (but kept the whole thing on and wrapped it up in an Ace Bandage).  They said they wanted the core of the cast cut to be ready for surgery early Tuesday morning in the clean room. 

I'm sure my good man was thrilled that I took this picture right before surgery, but hey...all in the spirit of documenting the life of the Mesa Browns, right?  I told him that hat reminded me of giving birth.  Confused, he said, "What?"  So I explained...during my last two C-Sections, Ryan was wearing one of these butes and I can totally picture him hovering above me on my side of the big drape, peering over as the doc performed his magic and delivered our babes.  He smiled.

And here's the foot right before surgery - the purple bruise is now greenish yellow, but the foot is still pretty swollen.  I like how they wrote "yes" on his right foot to make sure the doc cut into the correct foot.  I asked if his left said "no", but it didn't :)  Everything went great with the surgery and Ry is now the proud owner of a 2 inch titanium screw.  He may forever beep in the airport security lines!

He goes back to the foot doctor tomorrow and will be getting a new cast, then back in about 10 days for stitch removal and yet another cast - lots of real estate for the autographing.  The kids will be stoked that they get to sign 3 casts!

But the best picture of all is this 80's mint green gem of a scooter that Ryan gets to proudly ride all over the house.  He hasn't taken it out in public yet.  He reserves his crutches and/or wheelchair for his public appearances :)  After getting some friendly flack from a handful of people who have also had their turn with a Roll-A-Bout but whose scooters were either a cool flame red or black and chrome, Ry called the place where he rented it and asked if he could exchange it for another color. 

Too bad, so sad.  It only comes in green.  Geriatric green as he calls it.

He's recovering really well and was back to work yesterday for a while.  He says he's not in any pain or anything, just doesn't love the hassle of it all and he has to keep it elevated as much as possible to prevent too much swelling.  Between the crutches and the scooter and the wheelchair that are all routinely parked in our family room, we look a little like an old folks home around here.  Hopefully we'll be able to figure out a good cast sand-proofing system for Ryan during our week of beach camping coming up.  I know he's a little frustrated about that and not sure how it will all  play out, but we're hoping for a great week in Carlsbad for Fall Break.  The kids can't wait!