A Series of Unfortunate Events

Poor Mark! Maybe if he had a nicer wife, this story would have had a better ending. In July, Mark was showing off his BMX bike skills for his nieces and nephews. He was well equipped with his cowboy boots, and his bike, a bike he last rode when he was twelve. Needless to say, things didn't turn out well. I was inside talking to his parents, when Lauren came in. "Jenny, Mark needs you." I went out on the back lawn and there he was all crumpled in a ball. He told me his knee had popped. Being the patient person I am, my immediate response was anger. I asked him if he could walk and he said yes. I told him to buck up and get moving. He ended up driving us home a few minutes later. He handled things pretty well and just complained that it was sore. I thought since he had no swelling and was able to move around, it probably wasn't that serious. For months Mark did pretty good. He complained occasionally of soreness. I kept telling him he had sprained it and needed to give it time. I really thought he was being a little bit wussy. He gave up golfing, running, his BMX biking days.....and started to feel pretty good. I even got him to the gym in October and he was beginning to work out regularly. He was feeling so good, that he decided to play in the annual Turkey Bowl.

I usually go and play, but I am a fair weather football player and since there was snow on the ground, I bundled up Mark and sent him on his way. It wasn't 30 minutes before I heard the back door open. He came limping in and said he had slipped. I was a little more understanding this time. After all, it had been about 6 months. The Roderick's, sponsors of the Turkey Bowl, captured the special play for us.

This is during

This is after. Take a close look at his face, it is actually pretty funny. We appreciate Dr. Roderick, the team doctor, giving immediate care. After a round of applause, the golf cart came on the field and carted Mark away. He had a tough time walking after this one. I gave in and we decided to go to the doctor on Tuesday. The doctor knew right away Mark had blown his ACL. The wife felt pretty stupid and guilty at this point. I guess I should have listened a little more. We scheduled surgery for Friday. It was a pretty crazy week. Friday morning we arrived at the hospital and I took a before picture.

Nothing like a hospital bed and gown. He was pretty nervous at this point, but I had absolute confidence in the doctor. After they wheeled Mark to surgery, I headed to the cafeteria for lunch. The first person I saw was our doctor. I was a little surprised and tried to figure out where they had taken Mark. The doctor assured me they wouldn't start surgery without him. Confidence restored. About 2 1/2 hours later, Mark came back looking pretty chipper.

His knee is still wrapped up so we don't know what it looks like under all that mess. I can't imagine its pretty. The surgery went well and he had no other damage other than the ACL. He has his first physical therapy session tomorrow and we are looking forward to putting the therapists' kids through college. The whole event came at a bad time. We are really wanting to adopt and are a little frustrated the money we have been saving will be drained rather quickly. He has a pretty long road ahead of him, but he is young and healthy and he should be feeling much better in a few days. Hopefully he can ditch the crutches in a week and it has to be uphill from there! We appreciate our friends and family for all of their love and support. We both will be ten pounds heavier thanks to all the goodies.