Zack saw the doctor again today, and they did the x-ray thing again. Apparently, we've done something right because the leg is still looking good to continue without a cast or surgery. He's also made excellent progress with the physical therapy. Last week, he could barely bend the knee without pain. Now, he can bend up to 90 degrees without any pain, so that's good stuff. They still don't want him to put any weight on it for at least another 8 weeks, but we're cleared to go home!
So tomorrow we'll check out of the hotel and head back home! We're getting down to the exciting business of informing all the appropriate people of our return so that we get transportation and set up a new routine to fit with the injury. Zack will keep going to therapy in Sasebo and get his weekly x-rays there. I see a lot of new chauffering in my future, but I guess I should get used to that anyway. :-)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Sigh of Relief
So Monday Zack went in to see the doctor. They x-rayed and scanned and did their thing, and we found out several things:
1) Zack's leg, up in the knee joint, is broken.
2) The piece of bone that is broken off is only about 1 mm displaced from the rest of the bone, which is as close as they might hope to make it go with surgery, therefore...
3) No surgery is neccessary at this time.
4) Also, no cast is needed.
5) As best they can tell based on the examining they did, the tendons and ligaments, while possibly damaged, are not so damaged as to require any surgery either. They will fix themselves.
So here's the plan:
1) Zack will continue to wear the brace they gave him in Sasebo. They've done a little adjusting of the padding to customize it to his leg. He can take it off when he's not moving around, but should use it for support when he's out and about.
2) We will stay here for the next week doing physical therapy to keep the knee flexible while the bone is healing, but putting no weight on the leg at all.
3) On Monday, they'll x-ray again to make sure everything is healing right. If it is, they'll send us back home to continue physical therapy with occasional x-rays to keep an eye on the bone. If something has changed, then we'll start all over with a new plan.
In other news, a room opened up at the Navy lodge, so now we're in a room that costs half as much and has a kitchen area, dishes and what not. We also have a bunch more space, which is good since we'll be spending a good bit of time there.
We had a chance to have another Chili's dinner with friends on Monday night so that's good, and now we're just relaxing in our time off. I feel so much better knowing that we're unlikely to mess up the bone by moving the leg around as long as we don't do anything drastic (like hitting it with a baseball bat). I'm also glad Zack's getting good physical therapy here while we're waiting to see how the process goes. Having a space to do some light cooking (even if I still don't really feel up to it) is also a nice thing. So all in all, we have pretty decent news, considering how bad it could have been.
1) Zack's leg, up in the knee joint, is broken.
2) The piece of bone that is broken off is only about 1 mm displaced from the rest of the bone, which is as close as they might hope to make it go with surgery, therefore...
3) No surgery is neccessary at this time.
4) Also, no cast is needed.
5) As best they can tell based on the examining they did, the tendons and ligaments, while possibly damaged, are not so damaged as to require any surgery either. They will fix themselves.
So here's the plan:
1) Zack will continue to wear the brace they gave him in Sasebo. They've done a little adjusting of the padding to customize it to his leg. He can take it off when he's not moving around, but should use it for support when he's out and about.
2) We will stay here for the next week doing physical therapy to keep the knee flexible while the bone is healing, but putting no weight on the leg at all.
3) On Monday, they'll x-ray again to make sure everything is healing right. If it is, they'll send us back home to continue physical therapy with occasional x-rays to keep an eye on the bone. If something has changed, then we'll start all over with a new plan.
In other news, a room opened up at the Navy lodge, so now we're in a room that costs half as much and has a kitchen area, dishes and what not. We also have a bunch more space, which is good since we'll be spending a good bit of time there.
We had a chance to have another Chili's dinner with friends on Monday night so that's good, and now we're just relaxing in our time off. I feel so much better knowing that we're unlikely to mess up the bone by moving the leg around as long as we don't do anything drastic (like hitting it with a baseball bat). I'm also glad Zack's getting good physical therapy here while we're waiting to see how the process goes. Having a space to do some light cooking (even if I still don't really feel up to it) is also a nice thing. So all in all, we have pretty decent news, considering how bad it could have been.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Silver Linings
Saturday was a mad rush for me. I taught my usual four classes, in addition to getting Dory to her friend Jessica's for "as long as needs be", going to base to run a ton of little errands, and packing for the two of us. I didn't get to bed until 11:00ish, which is super late for me, but I got through the day without any real ill effects from all the madness, so I was rather proud. Also, I was relieved to find that subs have been found for all my classes except one, so that's good.
This morning we were up at 6:00 to get showered and finish getting the house closed up. The duty van came to pick us up at 8:00. By the time we got to Fukuoka, I think both of us had come to two important conclusions: 1) having a broken leg and potentially messed up knee is a really terrible thing. 2) It's also a free vacation. I've never been to the base at Yokusuka before, and it's not often that I get 24 hours straight with Zack even on the weekend, so we more or less made up our minds to enjoy the time off, even if it came with a pretty nasty price.
With that thought in mind, we arrived at the airport. The van dropped us off right outside the place where we were to pick up our tickets. Since this is Japan, the lady at the desk took in Zack's leg in one glance and immediately asked what she could do to help. I think she would have carried both our carry ons and our suitcase (we packed in one rolling duffle bag thing so I wouldn't have to lift anything), but she settled for getting us two seats that were in the center of the plane such that Zack had an empty seat next to him for the trip, giving him plenty of room to stretch out his leg. We checked our bag and then headed up to our gate. Zack was walking on crutches that were about 2 inches too small, so he was really struggling and neither of us thought much about food until we were through security and it was too late. So while we waited for the plane, I had a pineapple softserve icecream, as my second breakfast.
The flight was from noonish to 1ish, which meant that lunch for Zack was totally postponed. However, the seats were super cushy and (for me) comfortable. And they had a super cool feature on the plane that I'd never seen before. During take off and landing, they had a camera set up somewhere on the front of the plane that showed us on the screens inside what was going on out there. When we got too high for that to be interesting, it switched to a different view of the ground below us until the clouds covered that up. I was totally blown away by the chance to actually see take off and landing from the front. Very neat.
When we landed at Haneda, medivac was waiting to pick us up, much to my relief, having imagined taking us through the subways. They were waiting on one more person, so we had time to grab some lunch. By that time, though, the past two days were catching up with me, so Zack enjoyed some onigiri, while I had chips.
Medivac drove us straight to the hospital where we checked in and got Zack a better pair of crutches. Then the called the hotel van to get us and take us there. I was delighted to discover a free internet connection in our room. There's also a mini fridge where we can keep some snacky food. After a rest this afternoon, we went to base for dinner.
We had Chili's. I realize that this may sound like nothing, but I almost cried from the sheer excitement of it. It was so weird to see a menu of familiar, albeit chain restaurant, items. The tables were all the same and it was more American even than going to the food court on base. I had no idea I was homesick at all until I looked at the menu and felt a sudden rush of familiarity. I had a lovely bowl of broccoli cheddar soup, and all became much much better with the world. By tomorrow (after a nice long sleep), I for one will feel good again.
So now we're back at the hotel enjoying some History Channel (another American treat) and Zack has an appointment tomorrow to assess the damage and decide what to do next, at least in theory. We'll let you know when we have some real news.
This morning we were up at 6:00 to get showered and finish getting the house closed up. The duty van came to pick us up at 8:00. By the time we got to Fukuoka, I think both of us had come to two important conclusions: 1) having a broken leg and potentially messed up knee is a really terrible thing. 2) It's also a free vacation. I've never been to the base at Yokusuka before, and it's not often that I get 24 hours straight with Zack even on the weekend, so we more or less made up our minds to enjoy the time off, even if it came with a pretty nasty price.
With that thought in mind, we arrived at the airport. The van dropped us off right outside the place where we were to pick up our tickets. Since this is Japan, the lady at the desk took in Zack's leg in one glance and immediately asked what she could do to help. I think she would have carried both our carry ons and our suitcase (we packed in one rolling duffle bag thing so I wouldn't have to lift anything), but she settled for getting us two seats that were in the center of the plane such that Zack had an empty seat next to him for the trip, giving him plenty of room to stretch out his leg. We checked our bag and then headed up to our gate. Zack was walking on crutches that were about 2 inches too small, so he was really struggling and neither of us thought much about food until we were through security and it was too late. So while we waited for the plane, I had a pineapple softserve icecream, as my second breakfast.
The flight was from noonish to 1ish, which meant that lunch for Zack was totally postponed. However, the seats were super cushy and (for me) comfortable. And they had a super cool feature on the plane that I'd never seen before. During take off and landing, they had a camera set up somewhere on the front of the plane that showed us on the screens inside what was going on out there. When we got too high for that to be interesting, it switched to a different view of the ground below us until the clouds covered that up. I was totally blown away by the chance to actually see take off and landing from the front. Very neat.
When we landed at Haneda, medivac was waiting to pick us up, much to my relief, having imagined taking us through the subways. They were waiting on one more person, so we had time to grab some lunch. By that time, though, the past two days were catching up with me, so Zack enjoyed some onigiri, while I had chips.
Medivac drove us straight to the hospital where we checked in and got Zack a better pair of crutches. Then the called the hotel van to get us and take us there. I was delighted to discover a free internet connection in our room. There's also a mini fridge where we can keep some snacky food. After a rest this afternoon, we went to base for dinner.
We had Chili's. I realize that this may sound like nothing, but I almost cried from the sheer excitement of it. It was so weird to see a menu of familiar, albeit chain restaurant, items. The tables were all the same and it was more American even than going to the food court on base. I had no idea I was homesick at all until I looked at the menu and felt a sudden rush of familiarity. I had a lovely bowl of broccoli cheddar soup, and all became much much better with the world. By tomorrow (after a nice long sleep), I for one will feel good again.
So now we're back at the hotel enjoying some History Channel (another American treat) and Zack has an appointment tomorrow to assess the damage and decide what to do next, at least in theory. We'll let you know when we have some real news.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Zack is broken
At 7:30 this morning, I got a call from Zack. He told me he had hurt his knee and that he was on his way to medical. He said I should just go about my day and he'd keep me posted. At 9:30, he called again to tell me that his leg was broken and they were inspecting for further damage around the knee. Again, he told me to keep on going about my day and he'd let me know when he was on his way home. Sooo... I went and volunteered at the thrift shop as planned.
No sooner had I arrived at the shop then I got another call. The doctors had decided to send Zack to Yokusuka. Would I be able to come along or would someone from the ship have to go? I said I'd go and then he got off the phone to head home. He said we could discuss when I got home.
Sooooo... at 2:00 I finally found my way home and got the whole story. Here's what we know so far:
In an unfortunate play gone wrong in a game of flag football, Zack made a block that caused the injury. The doctors here could x-ray, but dono't have the capability to do much more, so they called the ortho department up in Yokusuka (a much bigger base) who hemmed and hawed for a few hours before deciding they better send him up to make sure there wasn't further knee damage. On Sunday, we'll be leaving for Yokusuka, though exactly what time is still up in the air. There's no room for us at the hotel on base, so we need to find a place to stay. Zack says he'll take care of that tomorrow when we have the orders to go (he's feeling a little frustrated at the whole having to hold still thing). They'll look at the leg on Monday and decide if they need to operate or what. They say we should expect to be there about two weeks. If it's really bad, they'll send Zack on to Hawaii for surgery. He's not likely to set foot on the ship again for at least six weeks because until he's totally healed, he can't get on it at all.
Sooooo... the rest of the day has been spent scrambling for subs for the bazillion classes I have, notifying all the people who may or may not need me in the next two weeks, and finding a place to keep Dory. I'm also doing laundry and wondering about the state of the refrigerator. Tomorrow, I will teach four classes and pack us both up since Zack is more or lesss immobile. He's got a brace on his leg and his knee is super swollen. They didn't have any crutches tall enough for him, so he has a pair that barely reach the middle of his ribs. The scariest thing about the brace for me is that we have to take it on and off for him to change clothes or shower or what not, and I worry that we won't get it on properly and that we'll do more harm to him than is already done. I'll be glad when we're safely in Yokusuka and they have a look.
We'll keep you posted and let you know when we find out more.
No sooner had I arrived at the shop then I got another call. The doctors had decided to send Zack to Yokusuka. Would I be able to come along or would someone from the ship have to go? I said I'd go and then he got off the phone to head home. He said we could discuss when I got home.
Sooooo... at 2:00 I finally found my way home and got the whole story. Here's what we know so far:
In an unfortunate play gone wrong in a game of flag football, Zack made a block that caused the injury. The doctors here could x-ray, but dono't have the capability to do much more, so they called the ortho department up in Yokusuka (a much bigger base) who hemmed and hawed for a few hours before deciding they better send him up to make sure there wasn't further knee damage. On Sunday, we'll be leaving for Yokusuka, though exactly what time is still up in the air. There's no room for us at the hotel on base, so we need to find a place to stay. Zack says he'll take care of that tomorrow when we have the orders to go (he's feeling a little frustrated at the whole having to hold still thing). They'll look at the leg on Monday and decide if they need to operate or what. They say we should expect to be there about two weeks. If it's really bad, they'll send Zack on to Hawaii for surgery. He's not likely to set foot on the ship again for at least six weeks because until he's totally healed, he can't get on it at all.
Sooooo... the rest of the day has been spent scrambling for subs for the bazillion classes I have, notifying all the people who may or may not need me in the next two weeks, and finding a place to keep Dory. I'm also doing laundry and wondering about the state of the refrigerator. Tomorrow, I will teach four classes and pack us both up since Zack is more or lesss immobile. He's got a brace on his leg and his knee is super swollen. They didn't have any crutches tall enough for him, so he has a pair that barely reach the middle of his ribs. The scariest thing about the brace for me is that we have to take it on and off for him to change clothes or shower or what not, and I worry that we won't get it on properly and that we'll do more harm to him than is already done. I'll be glad when we're safely in Yokusuka and they have a look.
We'll keep you posted and let you know when we find out more.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
16 Weeks down...
So I had another doctor appointment today. I met a brand new doctor who I will not be returning to at least until after the baby is born, since my next appointment will be with the Japanese doctor. But my previous doctor has moved on to someplace new (actually, she was at the medical building today, I saw her, but just packing herself out to move), so that's just how it worked out. This new guy was just fine, too. He checked up on my chart, made sure my blood pressure wasn't sky rocketing or anything and then pulled out the doppler thing to check on the baby. No ultrasound, so we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl, sorry. At 20 weeks, I'm told my Japanese doctor should be able to tell me.
Baby is now hanging out between my belly button and my pelvic bone, for those of you who like to follow those things. As it turns out, Baby is a morning person (that or very very shy). The poor doctor had to chase it down to hear its heartbeat for more than a second or two at a time. I swear the kid was doing laps or something. The doctor assured me that it would be much easier in a few more weeks because the doctor would be able to feel where the baby was and just plunk the dopler over the heart. In the mean time, I allowed myself to be entertained by this guy's determination to get a solid heartbeat. His persistance paid off, and finally he got it so that we could hear the heartbeat over my own. Pretty cool, I gotta say. :-)
So we are again proclaimed healthy and good to go. I'm supposed to try to stop feeling sick soon and may be eat a little more, since I'm not gaining weight yet (despite the inability to fit into any of my clothes anymore). I'm also told that I shouldn't worry if I don't feel any movement until week 20 (despite everyone here asking me if I've felt it yet). Now that I know more or less where the baby is, I think I'll have a better idea of what is my digestive system and what is the baby, so that should help at least.
So now my new doctor will write up a referal to the Japanese doctor. Then, I'm told, I'll get a call from a nurse who arranges all the "out in town" births, and we'll set up an appointment with that doctor. My new doctor both suggested that I call him if I haven't heard from this nurse in about a week and that I should go ahead and make a 20 week appointment on base "just in case". So now we return to our regularly scheduled program of teaching, studying and eating lots and lots of frozen peaches.
Baby is now hanging out between my belly button and my pelvic bone, for those of you who like to follow those things. As it turns out, Baby is a morning person (that or very very shy). The poor doctor had to chase it down to hear its heartbeat for more than a second or two at a time. I swear the kid was doing laps or something. The doctor assured me that it would be much easier in a few more weeks because the doctor would be able to feel where the baby was and just plunk the dopler over the heart. In the mean time, I allowed myself to be entertained by this guy's determination to get a solid heartbeat. His persistance paid off, and finally he got it so that we could hear the heartbeat over my own. Pretty cool, I gotta say. :-)
So we are again proclaimed healthy and good to go. I'm supposed to try to stop feeling sick soon and may be eat a little more, since I'm not gaining weight yet (despite the inability to fit into any of my clothes anymore). I'm also told that I shouldn't worry if I don't feel any movement until week 20 (despite everyone here asking me if I've felt it yet). Now that I know more or less where the baby is, I think I'll have a better idea of what is my digestive system and what is the baby, so that should help at least.
So now my new doctor will write up a referal to the Japanese doctor. Then, I'm told, I'll get a call from a nurse who arranges all the "out in town" births, and we'll set up an appointment with that doctor. My new doctor both suggested that I call him if I haven't heard from this nurse in about a week and that I should go ahead and make a 20 week appointment on base "just in case". So now we return to our regularly scheduled program of teaching, studying and eating lots and lots of frozen peaches.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
September ILC Meeting
The first ILC (International Ladies Club) was last week. Usually this meeting is rather on the dull side because it's the annual "general meeting", so they just introduce the new board and talk about how much money we donated to various organizations and then we all eat a lovely Japanese lunch. I go to this one usually because all the Japanese ladies whose names you can never remember are always so delighted to see you again after a two month break, it just would make anyone feel special. I did come prepared, though: I haven't been having much luck with Japanese food, so I packed myself a lunch (which I started eating while the general meeting was still going on, much to the amusement of the ladies at my table who understood my reasons).
This meeting, turned out to be rather amusing, though, because the group in charge decided to teach us some string games after lunch, with the help of these lovely ladies:
I know the picture just looks like they all have put white gloves and t-shirts over their nice clothes and they have chef's hats on, but these women are fingers. Each of them has a lovely fingerprint on their hats (and a red nail on the other side). The one on the left is the thumb. One of the other women would explain to us how to do the string trick, while they would demonstrate on stage where we could all see:
It was really quite impressive. I've played a few string games before, and I never would have thought of using people as fingers to teach a crowd. Afterwards, they all came around and showed the tables individually what to do, so we could imitate their results:
Going to ILC and OSC events is like having a very large group of mothers around. Since all the Americans know I'm pregnant (I told one or two and it just spread), I have been getting boatloads of American advice. At ILC, one woman told me a horror story about her daughter's water breaking after she lifted and moved a bunch of stuff and bent over too much. I assured her I wasn't doing any heavy lifting. Heck, even my groceries don't weight that much (but Zack carries them when he's home anyway).
Japanese advice, on the other hand, has been minimal so far. I don't know if this is because 1) not that many Japanese people know yet, 2) they're just not as advice-giving in general, or 3) something else. I have recieved a few interesting tidbits for those of you who are curious though.
Fun fact 1: Japanese people count a pregnancy as 10 months, not 9. This makes explaining how far along I am a little challenging because I'm not really sure where the 10th month goes. I generally just say the weeks instead.
Fun fact 2: Japanese doctors worry if Japanese women gain more than 20 lbs during pregnancy. Thinking back, now, I wonder if the lady who told me meant kilos (which would make total sense with what Americans say), but she's usually on the ball when it comes to those kind of conversions, so may be they really are expected to gain less. I will be interested to see what this means for me when I go to the Japanese doctor in another month or so.
Advice on morning sickness: Take a walk/get some fresh air. This came from one of my classes of grandmother-aged women. It never would have occured to me, especially in the heat, to go outside when I felt sick. In fact, my instinct is to find someplace to lay down, not go out. But hey, it might work... If my whole neighborhood didn't usually smell like someone cooking something...
Dietary advice: Eat more fish. This one come from one of my bosses, who knows I eat almost zero fish on average. He cited the fact that fish have proteins (or are they fats) that are in the brain. When I told him that most American women avoid fish because of mercury, he replied that mercury really only builds up in "flat fish", the ones that live at the bottom of the ocean. He suggested salmon or tuna, which more or less lines up with some of the less conservative articles I've read.
And finally, I got in the car with a Japanese woman (another of my bosses) today and automatically buckled my seatbelt as usual. She was absolutely shocked. I should begin by stating that wearing a seatbelt has only recently (like within this year) been made a requirement in the Tokyo area, and around here kids rarely use car seats and even adults don't use seatbelts that often (though all the American rules apply on base). I suppose the fact that accidents are less common here might have something to do with this trend. Apparently, though, doctors actually advise women here not to wear their seatbelts after 4 or 5 months (depending on where that 10th month falls)! I assured this woman that my (maternity) pants were tighter than the seatbelt, and the baby would be fine. She was probably as amazed as I was.
Baby is doing just fine by the way. In a sudden burst of generousity, it allowed me to go out for Italian last night with no ill effects. I finished my pasta at lunch today and was very happy for what seemed like a "real" meal for once.
As usual, we'll keep you updated!
This meeting, turned out to be rather amusing, though, because the group in charge decided to teach us some string games after lunch, with the help of these lovely ladies:
I know the picture just looks like they all have put white gloves and t-shirts over their nice clothes and they have chef's hats on, but these women are fingers. Each of them has a lovely fingerprint on their hats (and a red nail on the other side). The one on the left is the thumb. One of the other women would explain to us how to do the string trick, while they would demonstrate on stage where we could all see:
It was really quite impressive. I've played a few string games before, and I never would have thought of using people as fingers to teach a crowd. Afterwards, they all came around and showed the tables individually what to do, so we could imitate their results:
Going to ILC and OSC events is like having a very large group of mothers around. Since all the Americans know I'm pregnant (I told one or two and it just spread), I have been getting boatloads of American advice. At ILC, one woman told me a horror story about her daughter's water breaking after she lifted and moved a bunch of stuff and bent over too much. I assured her I wasn't doing any heavy lifting. Heck, even my groceries don't weight that much (but Zack carries them when he's home anyway).
Japanese advice, on the other hand, has been minimal so far. I don't know if this is because 1) not that many Japanese people know yet, 2) they're just not as advice-giving in general, or 3) something else. I have recieved a few interesting tidbits for those of you who are curious though.
Fun fact 1: Japanese people count a pregnancy as 10 months, not 9. This makes explaining how far along I am a little challenging because I'm not really sure where the 10th month goes. I generally just say the weeks instead.
Fun fact 2: Japanese doctors worry if Japanese women gain more than 20 lbs during pregnancy. Thinking back, now, I wonder if the lady who told me meant kilos (which would make total sense with what Americans say), but she's usually on the ball when it comes to those kind of conversions, so may be they really are expected to gain less. I will be interested to see what this means for me when I go to the Japanese doctor in another month or so.
Advice on morning sickness: Take a walk/get some fresh air. This came from one of my classes of grandmother-aged women. It never would have occured to me, especially in the heat, to go outside when I felt sick. In fact, my instinct is to find someplace to lay down, not go out. But hey, it might work... If my whole neighborhood didn't usually smell like someone cooking something...
Dietary advice: Eat more fish. This one come from one of my bosses, who knows I eat almost zero fish on average. He cited the fact that fish have proteins (or are they fats) that are in the brain. When I told him that most American women avoid fish because of mercury, he replied that mercury really only builds up in "flat fish", the ones that live at the bottom of the ocean. He suggested salmon or tuna, which more or less lines up with some of the less conservative articles I've read.
And finally, I got in the car with a Japanese woman (another of my bosses) today and automatically buckled my seatbelt as usual. She was absolutely shocked. I should begin by stating that wearing a seatbelt has only recently (like within this year) been made a requirement in the Tokyo area, and around here kids rarely use car seats and even adults don't use seatbelts that often (though all the American rules apply on base). I suppose the fact that accidents are less common here might have something to do with this trend. Apparently, though, doctors actually advise women here not to wear their seatbelts after 4 or 5 months (depending on where that 10th month falls)! I assured this woman that my (maternity) pants were tighter than the seatbelt, and the baby would be fine. She was probably as amazed as I was.
Baby is doing just fine by the way. In a sudden burst of generousity, it allowed me to go out for Italian last night with no ill effects. I finished my pasta at lunch today and was very happy for what seemed like a "real" meal for once.
As usual, we'll keep you updated!
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