4 weeks post-op, bucking broncos and jail break

Today was another milestone for Mitchell as he was able to attend the morning portion of the Boys and Girls Club Before/After School Program at Marlatt since before his surgery.  He was very happy to be back with the many friends he has there.  Hard to believe that his second frontal orbital advancement was 4 weeks ago today.

October 17, 2011 and 4 weeks post-op

This weekend Collin got to ride a REAL horse again at the Lazy T Ranch which renewed his love for all horses.  Sunday he gave the bucking bronco on our playground equipment a real work-out with a little help from Daddy.

Apparently our 10 year old indoor only house cat found a new sense of bravery and exploration! The boys thought it was hilarious that she snuck out of the open screen door on Sunday.  She provided lots of pre-lunch entertainment with her own version of jail break.

Conversations at the dinner table

The directions a conversation can take around the dinner table with a 3 and 7 year old boy is interesting....

This is classic Collin!  His preschool teacher sent this to us....Collin was pretending to play the guitar using a shovel and was "rocking out ."

Dog pile Daddy!

During supper Wednesday night Chad announced that Grandma and Grandpa Bunger were coming for a visit this weekend. Here is where the conversation went from there....

Mitchell: Are they coming because it's Christmas time?
Chad: Mitchell, do you really think that could be right? Is it that time of year yet?
Collin: No because the snow will fall and santa will come and then I will get MY AIRPLANE CARRIER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mitchell: Whatever you do just don't eat the yellow snow Collin
Collin: Oh, okay!

All Chad and I could do was shake our head and laugh at this point......

I hope to get a few easy runs this weekend and return to training starting Monday.  My goal is to run the 5 mile Turkey Trot in Kearney, NE on Thanksgiving and the Winterrunderland 10K in December.

Leaf walk

I'm down and out for the next few days and won't be able to run.  But Collin and I got out and did our own discovery walk around the neighborhood looking for leaves this afternoon after a brief downfall of rain.

 Most of our walk consisted of Collin making lots of sound effects as he hurled himself over puddles and cracks in the street.

 Finally he came to a sudden stop and said "I FOUND IT MOMMA!"

 Collin kept picking up leaves, looking at them and then saying "no, this one is still wet, it needs to dry first."

We finally settled on one red and one yellow leaf to take home for daddy before suppertime.

First day of school....again

We had a great post-op appointment with Dr. Singhal yesterday and Mitchell was cleared to start full days back at school today!  He was very excited to be back with his class and all his friends for the entire day, said he only laid down briefly twice and didn't need anything for pain all day. Still no PE or recess until Halloween but we are getting back to normal a little more each day.

Thanks to the Cranio Angel Network for Mitchell's pirate do-rag!  He's doing his best impression of a pirate in the picture and wears this under his helmet to school every day.

Wood chips 1......Collin 0

This last picture is Collin's latest run in with the ground.  We have Collin's first preschool parent/teacher conferences next week!

Amazing. Stud. Hero. Rockstar. Mitchell.

Admittedly, my post as of late have had very little to do with the title of my blog.  While a journey to my next half marathon looks like it will have to wait until 2012, the journey our son has been on during these past few months has been a huge part of our lives.  I've kept lacing up my running shoes when I can, but his strength, courage and resilience is greater inspiration than any 13.1 mile race could ever be.

Mitchell on October 2, 2011....13 days post-op

Mitchell will start back to school tomorrow with 1/2 days in the mornings. Two weeks ago he underwent a major surgery....he continues to almost scare us with how quickly he is bouncing back!  He misses his friends and was ready to go back to school last week so he is very excited to start trying get back into the school schedule.  We make the trek to Children's Mercy again on Wednseday for another post-op appointment.  That trip seems to be one of the few criptonites for Mitchell in his recovery as he is usually very tired from the long day of traveling, getting up very early, etc that comes with making a 9 a.m. appointment in KC. 

The only other pitfall that Mitchell seems to struggle with is rest.  He wants to go and do just like the usual, active 1st grader that he is.  Getting him to rest or even.....heaven forbid nap <gasp> is a tall order to say the least.  So when he pushes too hard, he not only gets overly tired, but then he has night terrors.  We haven't dealt with these since he was 3 years old.  They were no fun then.....and trying to deal with him now as a big 7 year old (who just had surgery...ah!  watch the head!) is a short lived nightmare for mommy and daddy. 

But worrying about keeping him safe at school and night terror that even happen during an afternoon nap..... seem like small potatoes at this point.  Mitchell's attitude and recovery are the reason for the title of this latest blog.  Here is part of a conversation I had with Mitchell that sums it all up.

Mitchell: Mommy, I wasn't worried at all about my surgery

Me: I know you weren't

Mitchell: But you were worried about it a lot.  And you know what?  I didn't even hurt that bad.

WOW.  Who was comforting who here?????

8 days post-op

Just a little over a week after Mitchell's frontal orbital advancement and his progress is amazing!!  Chad took Mitchell back to Children's Mercy again on Monday to check the swelling /fluid build up on the sides of his forehead.  Everything checked out well and we will be back for another post-op appointment next week.  Soon I believe our van may just drive itself the 2 hours to Kansas City and Children's Mercy Hospital.....

It's hard to believe Mitchell's surgery was just 8 days ago!

Sunday during dinner, Mitchell was sure he was going back to school on Monday and couldn't see why he had to wait another week.  He has skyped with his class and also made a visit today to Marlatt as well.  The staff, students and parents have been so supportive of Mitchell and we appreciate all they have done for him during this time.  I think the hardest thing for Mitchell is knowing that when he returns to school he cannot participate in PE or recess for about 6 weeks.  He feels good and wants to return to being a very active 1st grade boy again. 

Cowboy Collin is home and working out his bucking bronco

We missed Collin so much last week and it is great to have the little ham back in the house. Anytime Mitchell has visitors over the past few days, Collin goes into full show off mode for them. 

No plans for a race for me in the immediate future, but I've kept up with my running routine to keep me going.  Hopefully we'll be able to run the 5 mile Turkey Trot in Kearney, NE over Thanksgiving and a 10K in December.  For now, the next 1/2 marathon will most likely be in late April 2012.

Even rockstars have an off day

Yesterday was a hard day for Mitchell. We had to get up and head to KC very early for our first post op appointment. And with all the car riding, pushing to get there on time and just not being home to rest, ice and take it easy....our rockstar patient was not feeling well at all.

September 24....5 days post op

His post op appointment went fine. They took out the drain and also removed some excess fluid that had his forehead and sides of his forehead very swollen. We are a little concerned because the fluid is back again today.

Thanks to Coach Sieben for the Manhattan Indians football stickers to complete our helmet!  Mitchell will need to wear this at all times during school or anytime we are out and about for the next 3 months.

After sleeping over 15 hours, Mitchell is feeling much better today and is acting like his old self again. We are very excited that my folks are bringing Collin home today from his week in Minnesota playing with them and cousin Daniel. He had so much fun and we are very grateful for my parents watching him this past week.

I was able to run a bit this week which helped clear my head.  I ran around the courthouse and government buildings in KC one day which was a very cool but super hilly run.  My quads and gluts weren't sure what I was doing to them by the time I finally made it back up another huge hill to Children's Mercy.  I was able to get in a quick tempo run and also ran a 10K distance long run yesterday which seemed very slow and was a bit of a struggle.  But it felt good to stretch my legs and clear my head after this very long week.

We are excited to settle in as a family again and will keep an eye on Mitchell's swelling. If it does not improve, we have been instructed to call Dr. Singhal's office on Monday.