DOTY ;)

Last Wednesday I got a text message while I was at work from my sister in law Steph.  She said that Mum had been helping clean my sister in law Becky's house (as my brother Jared and his family were moving down south) and had fallen and had broken her arm.  Steph was at the hospital with her, and wanted me to know what was happening. 

I felt awful that I was at work and couldn't help out, but knew there was nothing I could do anyway.  Mum later sent me a picture of the X-ray and it looked so bad! I felt terrible for her as I knew she must've been in a lot of pain - especially because they didn't even put plaster on it, and sent her home! 

My brother Jared and sister in law Becky and their family stayed with her over the weekend, and were telling me how much pain she was in and Becky said she will probably need some help for a while, especially as my sister in law steph was going to be away for a week or so.   My Mum's friend Barb came to stay for a night, and we were so glad that she had lots of people dropping off food, and visiting and checking that she was okay.   We couldn't get to Mum's until Tuesday and were anxious to get up there, as she said she couldn't even stand up from the toilet, or get out of bed as the pain was so bad.

On Sunday night she was alone for the first time since the break, so I was messaging her to see how she was doing.  She didn't sound right and said that her pain was back up to where it was when it was first broken, and that her arm was swelling up and bruising really badly.  It didn't sound right, and I said it sounded like she needed to go back to the hospital.  Next thing I know I get a message from her, saying that my cousin Toni (who lives across the road) was taking her to the hospital.  I felt bad for Toni as she's already done so much, but she really didn't mind at all, and I was so grateful to have contact with Toni all night who was keeping me up to date with what was going on.  

Poor Mum was in so much pain and they decided (finally!) to put a cast on it.  Toni was sending me photos of Mum who was sucking on the gas for the pain and made me swear that I wouldn't put it up on social media.  I told her to tell Mum it was going on Instagram, but I wasn't that mean :)

 

We were glad that we could head up on Tuesday to help her out.  On the way we stopped off to grab some fresh veggies from a stall on the side of the road.

I love these little stalls and we often grab a pumpkin or something else whenever we visit Mum (and Dad when he was here).

Poor Mum was in bed and was miserable and in so much pain still.  She said it was a lot better since the cast went on though (which is understandable!) and was able to get in and out of bed on her own, but was wincing in pain the whole time (she wasn't keen on me taking a photo, but she had no choice! :)  She was keen for me to help her in the shower, and to change her bedding.  I'm not sure whether the shower was worth it though, as she was in so much pain afterwards.

My brother Eden dropped around after he finished work, and the boys were so excited to have a kick of the footy with him.  He then took them in his work truck to play basketball at school.

The next day we went over to my cousin Toni's house to catch up with her and also my friend Sarah and her boys, who were up from Hobart.  It was so nice to have a laugh with the girls (and Mum was happy for us to go and have some fun).  Toni introduced us to some yummy herbal teas (I'm not usually a herbal tea fan) and we were joking that we need a sponsorship deal with the company, as they were so good.   Toni would be a great model for them :)
I had to leave early to take Mum to a doctors appointment, so I stole this photo that Sarah took of the boys all playing Twister together :) My cousin Carli's two older kids were also down, so it was very loud, but lots of fun.  Harri said that night 'I had the best day today' as he loved playing with everyone. 

The next day Mum had an appointment at the hospital.  She hadn't been in clothes all week (they had to cut off her clothes the day she broke her arm!) so it was a big event to get dressed and get out of the house!  She kept complaining about her outfit but she had to wear what was easy to get on and comfy.

 

The doctor showed us the X-ray from Sunday night, when she had to go back in again because she was in so much pain, and we compared it to her first one. It totally looks like it had broken again (the right one is the second X-ray).  It's no wonder she was in so much pain! She said it was moving around so much because they just had it in a sling.  The doctor said that he wants her to get a brace put on next week, which is a brace that they can adjust as the swelling goes down.

After we got back from her appointment, the boys and I went into Devonport to go to the movies.
We had heard a lot about 'Inside Out' and were looking forward to seeing it, and we weren't disappointed. It was such a good movie and was quite emotional (I won't say which boy cried).

 Afterwards we went to the Bluff for a play.

 The weather was actually quite mild and it didn't really feel like winter. 

The boys spotted the soccer field across the road, and begged to go over.  Luckily we had a ball in the car. 

Before we went  back to Mum's I was feeling a bit nostalgic and decided to show them where I went to college.  On the way there I told them that sometimes during our free periods we would walk to the beach or catch the bus to KFC (I should've lied and told them that all I did was study in the library!).  Harri then cracked me up as he very seriously asked 'was KFC invented in the old days Mum!?'. 

The entrance had changed a little, but it was crazy how much it still looked the same - even 25 years later! 

When I was at there my friends and I named ourselves 'the gutter girls' as we always sat on the gutter of the road near the grass.  Not the classiest of names, but I can assure you we weren't rolling around drunk in the gutter! This is us back in 1991 (I'm the one in the purple at the back with the lovely permed hair!).

I made my boys sit in the same spot that we would sit in, and had a laugh as I messaged this photo to a couple of my 'gutter girl' friends later that day.

It was really nice and relaxing at Mum's even though we were there to help her out. Her new home is so beautiful, and it felt like we were staying at a 5 star resort.  During the day it's so sunny and warm.  Jay's favourite spot is her hanging chair in the living room, where he spent most of the time!

Kobe absolutely LOVED her bathroom because he could watch ABC Kids in the bath! I think he spent at least an hour in there every day (and so did I!).

Mum was feeling so much better each day. She's still in a lot of pain, but is now able to get up and about more, and spent more time with us out of her room yesterday.

The boys were quite happy, until the internet stopped working, and then they all slowly went a bit crazy!

Yesterday we had to go back to Devonport so on the way home we went to Latrobe for quick visit to Reliquaire, which is a shop which is absolutely packed full of rooms and rooms of collectables.

The boys were freaked out by all the dolls, but loved the other rooms.

 

The mining room.

 Cheeky Jay was trying to say he was taller than me! I had to prove that he's not there...just yet!

We left Mum this morning, and it was nice to see how much more mobile she is. She's still getting quite a bit of pain, but it's getting better every day.   Mum loves a clean house, so we made sure we did all the housework before we left, and cooked up some food so she has enough meals for a week.  

There's a running joke in our family that my younger sister Nicki is the favourite daughter.  My Dad even admitted it to the nurses when he was in hospital just before he passed away - and cracked us all up because he then said 'but you're my favourite today Lee, because you're here!

We have been joking today on Facebook with my sister that I'm not just Mother of the Year (MOTY) but now also Daughter of the Year (DOTY) but can only claim it because Nicki is in Melbourne.   We were lucky that it's school holidays at the moment and could go and spend so much time with Mum, while she goes through the worst of it.

We were so grateful for our friends Pip and Ben who were able to have Milly while we stayed with Mum. We didn't think Mum would appreciate a very excited dog, jumping all around her with a broken arm.   Milly loves it at their house - especially as she has another dog to play with.   She was very excited to see us when we went to pick her up this afternoon. 

Hopefully Mum will cope okay on her own now, but it's nice to know that she has a lot of friends and family who are close by, who can check on her.