It's Broken

As I mentioned in my previous post, I found out last Friday that my hip is fractured.  Right after I left the ortho's office, my sister and I started getting ready for my mom's birthday weekend so I am just now able to focus on it.

The fracture is a hairline, stress fracture on the ball of the hip ball & socket joint.  Considering that I have been running on this injury since my youngest was a few months old (he turned 2 in Sept) I have likely been in various stages of fracture/healing for well over a year now.  I'm beginning to question the pain center of my brain after walking around with pleurisy from pneumonia for months last winter and running on a broken bone for over a year.  Not sure it's working right!  I felt pain with these ailments but nothing that would indicate the severity of both.

The likely cause is two-fold.  The first contributing factor was 3 very closely spaced pregnancies that sapped my bones and left them weak and brittle (there are only 3.5 years between my oldest and youngest).  Second, I felt so good after the delivery of my 3rd child that I was up and running within a week and up to 5 miles in a few months.

The good news is that whatever shape my bones were in when the fracture occurred, they look great now and the doctor is hoping that the fracture will heal on it's own.  I cannot run for at least 6 weeks, but can bike, do the elliptical or other machines, walk, & swim.  Plenty of exercise options!  If it doesn't heal on it's own, then they'll have to surgically put in some pins.(really hope that it doesn't come to that!) but it is not likely that that will be needed.  Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Mom!

My sister and I have been planning a surprise birthday weekend for my mom's 60th birthday since last February.  My mom is notoriously difficult to surprise because she delights in figuring out what we're doing for her birthday before it happens.  My father, the master of surprises, suggested we have her family 60th celebration out here.  It was a great idea and this weekend was a LOT of fun!

My mom was completely and utterly surprised!  She could not believe that so many people came out to help celebrate.  For me, it was so neat getting to show everyone around our town.  We kicked off the surprise at my house on Friday night.

The next morning was an early one for everyone to get to the balloon fiesta (hundreds of hot air balloons) before dawn.  A few who are not morning people (namely my sister and daughter) chose to rest rather than brave the early morning cold.

The afternoon, I took those who wanted to get a little exercise on a hike and the we finished up the evening with a fun evening of just hanging out.

Yesterday after church, a few of us took my mom out to get her a new outfit for the evening party.  We finished off the weekend with a dressy party at our country club.  It was a great weekend!  I found out on Friday before everyone arrived that my hip that was hurting when I run is actually fractured.  More on that later. :)