Elliot's Achilles Tendon Rupture

Everything I've looked up about Achilles Tendon Rupture fits pretty well with Elliot's circumstances: he's between the ages of 30-40, he was playing basketball, he didn't stretch or warm up properly, he just changed his physical activity, he's a male, etc. I also looked up some pretty gross pictures of the surgery. This isn't even one of them.

On Tuesday we had an appointment with Dr. Hansen (Keith did one of his rotations with him) for the pre-op and consult. We read the MRI results which said that he had a "near complete rupture" of the Achilles Tendon. Dr. Hansen and Dr. Bangart both agree that it was indeed "complete."

Apparently Elliot has an extra string-like tendon (or maybe ligament) by his Achilles that not everyone has (he's always been an over-achiever) that is making it possible for him to still move his foot and walk on it. Otherwise, he'd not be able to walk on it at all. Dr. Hansen did an ultrasound of his ankle and you can totally see the space in which there should be a tendon and there is nothing. I can't even see the extra tendon they said he had, but they said it was there.

He has just a little bruising that started yesterday and even the doctor was surprised at how very little swelling he has. Just looking at it, I can't see any swelling, but feeling the ankle areas I can tell.

Dr. Hansen described the ruptured tendon as mop ends dangling inside his leg. The picture I saw looked more like spaghetti . . . both undesirable conditions for an Achilles tendon.

I'm thinking of spray painting the boot gold and red so Elliot can be Ironman for Halloween.

The 3 options for repairing the Achilles Tendon:

1) Do nothing and see if the spaghetti-ish shards of tendon will heal on their own. Most likely have a floppy foot forever.

2) Series Casting: Putting a cast on with toes pointed down like a ballerina for 4 weeks and hope the tendons find their way back to each other, taking the cast off and changing angle and recasting for 4 weeks, taking the cast off and changing angle and recasting for 4 weeks, possible repeat . . . takes forever, highly likely to re-rupture, usually only done on old people who aren't very active. Not suggested for a 30-something guy who is as active as Elliot.

3) Surgery: sewing/braiding the tendon back together. This is the most suggested option because they can actually see what's going on in there and make the tendon stronger. Re-rupture is unlikely.

Elliot is scheduled to have surgery to repair the Achilles tendon tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 at a surgery center near the hospital. It's only supposed to take 45-60 minutes to complete the procedure and then I can take him home after recovery. Dr. Hansen said that he braids the tendon together to make it stronger and then grafts human heart tissue around it or near it or makes some sort of shaft to lubricate the tendon. He'll be in a splint for 7-10 days and then it'll be casted with his toes pointing down like a ballerina for about 3 weeks. After that, he'll be able to wear the giant robot boot he's been wearing this week. The only thing he's really concerned about is that he has to take baths instead of showers and that I have to drive him everywhere for a month. I'm concerned about the stinky cast and my sensitive sniffer.

But don't worry everyone, Elliot is fine and will only be getting this attention for a few short weeks after which it can transfer back to me real quick-like. True to my historically poor caretaking abilities (refer to the staph infection of 2001, Natalie Service), I can't stop making jokes about this whole thing. I wish someone was here to laugh at them with me.

Elliot had a blessing tonight and though we aren't concerned about the surgery or it's outcome, Elliot is really hoping for a recovery miracle, even if it's just for a few hours, for Friday so he can conduct the funeral of one of our sweet ward members who passed away on Monday evening. Also, he has to speak on Sunday for Easter.

I really hope coming out of anesthesia is Youtube-worthy!

Elliot's Owie

I think Elliot is a pretty active guy. He rides his bike to work (18-miles round-trip) 2 to 3 times a week, runs South Mountain, runs the canal, hikes, and tries really hard to stay physically active in his schedule. Several weeks ago, Elliot started playing early morning (5:30) basketball with his brother Adam and some other guys at the church in Chandler. After some minor stretching, Elliot started to play and by 5:35 as he was attempting a "sweet move" (his words) to the basket, he HEARD (yes, with his ears) a pop and felt severe pain in the back of his leg like someone had just bashed him in the calf with a baseball bat. He was down on the ground and after the guys rolled him off the court, he tried to walk it off unsuccessfully for a few minutes before deciding to leave. Adam wasn't there that morning, otherwise I'm sure he would have received infinitely more sympathy.

His parents house is so close to his work that he usually showers there and he quite enjoyed the attention he got (breakfast, ice packs, and conversation . . . something he doesn't get here in the morning) from his Father, Mother, and sister. They called me (against his wishes) to let me know he was injured. I got up in the attic to fetch the cane we conveniently have. After I dropped Stella off at school, I went to his work to see his coworkers giving him ample attention as well. I kind of missed the day they handed out the "good caretaker" cards.

Elliot works at a medical software company (for rehabilitation centers and hospitals) where they also have physical therapists on staff for development purposes. One therapist did a few stretching tests on him and told him to rest/ice/elevate and if he didn't feel better by Wednesday, that he should see a doctor. I had already called my podiatrist's office (Dr. Dan Bangart who also happens to be my sister's father-in-law) and said we might be coming in. I was sure that there was a difference between a regular ol' sprain and actually 'hearing' a noise with your injury. Thankfully Elliot also happened to have some clients in town (rehab therapists) and they told him to get to the doctor immediately.

So we drove out to Peoria to see Dr. Dan (we also saw the dead guy on the road who jumped off the overpass, but that's a different story) and after feeling his ankle for approximately 1.4 seconds, he said that Elliot no longer had an Achilles tendon. I was fascinated.

(you can sort of see a little swelling, but you can feel the the space)

He let me do my own little exam and you can totally feel the empty space where the tendon should be. He suggested surgery, but gave us the other options as well. We would have loved to have Dr. Bangart do the surgery or even his son (my brother-in-law Keith who is finally moving back to Arizona with my sister and 2 nieces from Indiana this weekend), but driving out to Peoria for the follow-ups several times didn't quite make sense, so he gave us a referral to Dr. Myron Hansen in Chandler and sent us on our way for an MRI and equipped with a giant robot boot.

Guess Who Felt Her Brother Kick?

The flash wasn't on, but this response was too good not to share! Elliot felt the BOY move a couple of weeks ago and I tried to get Stella to feel him kick, but she couldn't hold still long enough to focus on feeling him.

This is Stella focusing really hard on trying to feel him again.

And it worked. She is absolutely overjoyed!

Treasures From Idaho

I've never actually seen the show "Hoarders," but I can imagine the severity of that issue for I have a minor issue with it as well. It's been handed down from my own sweet mother. Even as I sit here at my computer, the pathway to get out is slowly closing in on me because of all the things I think are necessary to keep. I need help.

So my dear parents just moved to Arizona from Weiser, Idaho after living there for the last 40 years. Actually, my Dad was born there almost 70 years ago, but you throw in a mission and college and marriage and you get 40 years straight for both of them. I still don't have a straight answer from either of them as to their reasons for the move, but it's always fun to have a fresh start. However, their fresh start occurred with only 13 days of packing up over 25 years of hoarding stuff in a 3-story house! I was sure they'd have to get 2 U-Haul trucks to move everything, but amazingly, they got it all into one.

Having such a short time to go through that much stuff, my Mom stopped sifting through each of her 7 childrens boxes and just packed them up and dropped them off to everyone. Luckily I only ended up with 2 boxes, but this is only because I've been slowly stealing stuff from my Mom's house over the years. Lindsay has 6 boxes. Had I known the absolute entertainment that came from opening my boxes and going through it's contents, I would have waited until ALL of my siblings could have been there to enjoy the hilariousness of the things my Mother thought I'd like to keep. I'd like to share some of these things through picture. Here we go then:

A Mediterranean family of toilet paper dolls. Yes. You read that right. Toilet paper dolls. Made even more hilarious by the fact that they are from 6th grade (1990) AND that they were safely enclosed in that red plastic Happy Meal box from McDonalds (year unknown). Gee, thanks for keeping those Ma.

I think the simple instruction of "keep picture, letter, newspaper" and "throw away Young Women stuff" didn't quite register or it became entirely too overwhelming to sift through. This is how this gem and flower made it all the way from Idaho along with every quote I ever received on an index card from every Young Womens class I ever went to.

Not mine, but I did steal a dab or two of that sweet Avon fairy perfume every chance I got. I'm sure I also tried to get some money out of that piggy. Natalie would have killed me if she'd known.

I maintain ownership of my old retainer, but having my orthodontia before and after pictures as well as my head gear seriously just completes this package for me. Honestly though, this is a good one to keep. I'll try to find a picture of me in my head gear.

The Random. I was actually befuddled when I pulled these little treasures out of the box. Identify with me, if you will, a shower cap, a box of crayons with my name written on it in my 2nd grade handwriting, a scented bar of soap, and pictures of a random skier from Sport Illustrated Kids. I don't even know what to say.

Now this little box, which is in mint condition I might add, carried lots of letters from my cousins which I'm grateful to have. It's original purpose is the hilarious part. Remember in 6th grade when the boys went to one class and the girls went to another so someone could give you "the talk" and you could watch that video of the girl who started her period, suddenly grew armpit and pubic hair, and felt awkward that her boobs were different sizes? We each left the class with this little box filled with sanitary supplies and quotes to help us along our journey through puberty.

For some reason I have ALWAYS had this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt memorized. Now this is a keeper.

Nelson. My brother-in-law Bill was a security guard at their concert one time and brought me this autographed picture as well as one of their guitar pics. I can't even think of one song they sing and yet I kept this. It also enjoyed the journey from Idaho.

This is just skimming the top of the boxes and the pure entertainment I enjoyed while going through it. Among the gems was a picture of my very first date when I was 16-years-old with Tyson Youngberg when he didn't even speak to me at all, but sang every song on the radio and every song we danced to. He also swerved to run over roadkill on Main Street. Twice. I kept notes from my friends from 6th grade all the way to high school and I had such a great time reading the stories they'd write to me. Amy Neddo Rodriguez . . . just you wait until I send you copies of those letters. H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S! I even still have drawings from 4th grade HOBO WEEK. Yes, Hobo Week. That might get it's own post.

This I could not do without! The sheet music to "The Final Countdown" from my trumpet-playing days before I became a heathen and got kicked out of band. This is going straight over to my friend Kimmie so I can hear it blasted from a trumpet as it should be.

I'll be a back up playing this sweet baby.

Thanks for keeping my memories Mom, whether they were ridiculous or not. I CANNOT wait for the reveal of my other 6 siblings boxes.

1st Grade Field Trip

First graders are the best. Seriously, they don't even care who you are, they just love you!

I had so many kids hanging off of me as I chaperoned Stella's field trip to a production of Charlotte's Web in Scottsdale a few weeks ago. Stella didn't even sit by me on the bus or at the production because all of her classmates wanted to. I guess she sat on my lap for the last 15 minutes, because heaven forbid she actually sit still for longer than 45 minutes!

For some reason the school thought it was necessary to leave super early, so we went to Kiwanis Park to play for about 30 minutes and then eat lunch at 10:30 which is almost 2 hours BEFORE they usually eat. I made sure there would be a treat for later because even I couldn't wait that long!

(Crazy bats Stella and Cili) Everything went well and no peed pants to report, so I call this another field trip success!

Dibble Reunion - Day 3 & 4 of 4

We started the morning with a hike to Doe Mountain. It's where female deer go to give birth, and while I was planning on hiking, I wasn't planning on giving birth there. It was beautiful though.

All of the kids did FANTASTIC on the hike! I didn't even see Stella most of the time!

Grandpa took us to a spacey diner for lunch and we tried to get 13 exhausted people to eat lunch.

Then we tried to make those 13 exhausted people do a little more sight-seeing. Looks like I'll have to invest in an actually maternity jacket.

Then the smallest of those 13 exhausted people somehow wanted to go swimming! AAHH!! I'm glad I wasn't in charge of that one and that their good daddies took them instead. FREEZING!

I was, however, in charge of the pedi's and mani's with Aunt Xan after the FHE that night.

We were an hour early to church the next day, so we had some time to do a little more sight-seeing before the LONGEST SACRAMENT MEETING IN THE HISTORY OF TIME! Good grief. Towards the end I was devising a plan to get a group of 13 people out of a room without being noticed.

After church, we had a picnic in the windy park before heading back home! We had such a great time in Sedona! Thanks Adam and Xan for the place to stay! We can't wait to determine the status of "annual" in the title of our Dibble Reunion! :)

Dibble Reunion - Day 2 of 4

Grandma Dibble made us all T-shirts with all our names on it . . . now if she can strategically fit the BOY's name in there for next year, we can wear them again.

"I still love technology, but not as much as you you see, but I still love technology . . . always and forever, always and forever." These boys (and occasionally ME and ELLIOT) were hooked to the iPads and Kindle playing games. Darn you technology!

The kids were always so happy to see Grandma first thing in the morning . . . of course, I was still sleeping, but they seemed happy. :)

They must be waiting for breakfast.

Lucy & Grandpa

Technology.

Grandpa Dibble signed us up for a Trolley Tour of Sedona. Grandma and Lucy waved at the passersby while we waited.

Beth had a date while we waited.

Stella was always perfectly glossed.

Besties. Most of the time anyway.

The Dibble Clan (and a sleepy Elliot)

The Grandparents

Silly Lucy with her Dad (Adam) and brother Ray
So I'm not a huge fan of t-shirts. I'm pretty sure I wore them when I was younger, but I don't really like my neckline that close to my neck (I prefer a plunging neckline . . . scandalous) and also a guy I loved at college told me once that he wanted his wife to look good in a t-shirt and jeans . . . he probably said that to make me stop harassing him because we both already knew I didn't look good in them.
Xan and an unimpressed Claire.

Stella is forming her own fashion opinions. Sometimes I fight it, most of the time I don't.
Lucy practicing Grandpa's look.


Today should have been a hat day.
Lucy fell asleep on the way back. So did the other 3 girls.

We ate lunch at this tiny little restaurant with HUGE sandwiches. Seriously huge! I'm not sure they appreciated having 13 of us there all at once.
We walked around downtown Sedona and of course stopped in at the fudge shop. Stella chose this little candy and then actually had to eat the cute little thing.



"The Best Little Horr House In Sedona" . . . I laugh.
While Ray and George and Elliot were shopping in silly game shops, Stella and Anabelle made use of their time in the sparkly stores trying on jewelry.
Sitting on the trolley and eating fudge was about all I could handle for the day, so Elliot and I took a nap while Adam and Beth took ALL of the kids to the park for a while.


We had another FHE about having our "glass half full." Grandma and Grandpa worked hard on their lessons and I hope the kids will be able to appreciate these important lessons from their Grandparents.
Then Grandma busted out the fake mustaches. I think part of this one ended up in Lucy's diaper the next day.
We all had a pretty good laugh, which in turn made Grandpa inhale part of his mustache. We weren't sure he was going to make it.


Uh, that's upside down Beth.
Then Grandma had the girls make their own little activity bags. Lucy's was a beautiful disaster of Sharpie scribbles.