Nothing like being on crutches longer than anticipated during
a most crazy winter where we there is no lack for snow and ice. When I scheduled surgery on my right foot I
had in the back of my mind, No problem;
this one is going to be much easier than the last one. (In full disclosure,
the last one, in November on my left foot, went very smoothly and I was doing
planks, pushups, and jogging after two months.
I had two corrections on that foot.)
Well I was W-R-O-N-G!
Surgery was scheduled on the 5th of February. A brief trip down to Fairfield, Texas was
scheduled at the end of the month, February 28th. That should leave PLENTY of time in between do
everything necessary to keep up with the duties of maintaining a household, a
family, a foundation and pack up for the trip.
Oh, and throw in the fact that my husband, Stephen, started a new
business which requires being away from the family at times when he is usually
home. All of these wonderful and
important happenings occurring; however,
none of them have been easy.
Just to make it all a little more interesting my body reacts
to the stress of it all by having nasty
migraines that, basically, force me into a complete halt for at least 8 hours
and leaving me completely depleted of energy and brain functioning for days –
in this case weeks with back-to-back migraines.
(I literally forgot the name of a friend of mine one day - what the
heck?!)
So a week ago Thursday (February 27th), the Spear
family rented a vehicle and packed up, grabbed a set of grandparents and headed
south for the weekend.
I hadn’t yet mentioned the reason for heading to a small
town south east of Dallas-Fort Worth Texas.
Why else would the Spear family do such a thing? For those who are familiar
with me would immediately assume it has something to do with Pediatric Stroke
Awareness. That assumption is full-on
accurate! We made the trek and turned it
into an adventure! We went to show support for the Ward family. They have been deeply
impacted by stroke in a child. Alex
Ward, the youngest child of the family, endured a stroke around the time of his
birth. He is turning 7 next week.
Alex’s Mom, Jennifer, and I have become friends over the
years. We would have never crossed paths
if it weren’t for the fact that we have both been impacted by pediatric
stroke. Jenn was one of the moms who
became my lifeline during a time when I was trying to figure out how to help my
child. She and some of the other moms, I
happened to meet via Caringbridge, were a godsend in a time where no one else understood.
For the past six Brendon’s
Smile Rally/Walks to Raise Awareness for Childhood Stroke events, the Wards
and/or their extended family have come up to St. Louis to show support. With that being said, where else would the
Spear family be on March 1, 2014 for the 1st
Annual Righty Run to benefit Alex Ward, along with a portion of the
proceeds going to Brendon’s Smile and
ANE Foundation.
We made it there and had a WONDERFUL time in Texas with our
friends. Also, it was awesome to spend
time with my brother, Mike, and his oldest daughter (my niece) who were able to
travel up from San Antonio, Texas – where they currently reside. (My sister-in-law and youngest niece weren’t
able to make it although they had intended on doing so. The flu kept them from making the trip.)
After a very busy weekend we said our goodbyes and set out
to make our trek back home for a busy week involving our work with Pediatric
Stroke - the center of our focus - in St. Louis. It was Sunday morning and a winter storm
named “Titan” (how apropos!) was about to rip through our entire path home. We made it about 3 hours north of Fairfield,
just on the Texas side of the border into Oklahoma. Yeah,
I pretty much will admit that I was terrified about our safety and worried as
to whether we would make it off of the highway. God (yes, I went there) guided us safely off
the ice-filled highway to a nice place to hang out until we could get back
safely on our way. (And, I have to give a shout-out to Stephen’s expert driving
skills!) We were able to leave Monday
morning and made it home around 7:30 that evening.
Adelyn, by now, has had enough of being schlepped (another word so apropos – love my Jewish friends!) around
for the past six months and is quite ready for a routine. Brendon went to school on Tuesday. Addie and I worked on trying to get our home
back to normal after I had been out of commission for the previous four weeks. We made some headway. Oh, and we got our dog back from his resort
where he, too, had an unexpected extended stay.
Wednesday brought us to the long awaited meeting with Dr.
Heather Fullerton. Every year the Spear
family gathers with the guest lecturer for Annual
Brendon’s Smile Lecture at the Washington
University School of Medicine. We
meet at a dinner reception to welcome the lecturer and speak with other guests
who happen to be amazing physicians from the departments that are all impacted
by strokes in children at the St. Louis
Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Fullerton spent three days at the Washington University School of Medicine and the St. Louis Children’s Hospital where she consulted
physicians in regards to her expert knowledge about strokes in children.
Friday morning was the 5th
Annual Brendon’s Smile Lecture which I always attend. It was a “packed house”. Basically, 250 brilliant minds that
specialize in pediatrics, neurology, hematology… were gathered for the lecture.
After the lecture I met with several
people to discuss the impact this lectureship has on pediatric stroke. It was noon by the time Adelyn (who was
awesome throughout the entire lecture) and I returned home where I had a HUGE adrenaline
dump!
The feeling of empowerment is incredible. To go from completely powerless to totally empowered
is incredible. Brendon has inspired such
a powerful movement to help the masses and encourage learning to help other
children like him!
I am blessed!
Going back to Monday, February 24th, in regards
to my healing foot, I was given the permission to start weaning off of the crutches
over the next few weeks. After a
conversation that about drove my doctor nuts because he was dealing with me –
the “I can’t sit still, how long is this going to keep me down?” person that I
am – I learned that I should take it slow, wean off the crutches, yet the
weight bearing wouldn’t cause me harm as long as I took it slow. My doctor tends to look at me and shake his
head a lot. Sometimes there is an eye
roll. So by Tuesday morning I had
thanked the crutches for their service and bid them farewell!
I am still wearing a LARGE boot that is rather Herman
Munster-esse (as in Frankenstein – if you don’t get it then google it!). It is my dream that I can retire this boot
that has carried me through two surgeries and over ten weeks of service on
Tuesday for my follow-up appointment. I
want to wear a tennis shoe so I can move easier!
The picture is of me with Dr. Heather Fullerton after the lecture.
And there it is – a Whirlwind of a Past Week and a
Half! ;)
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