Cloudy with a chance of stitches.

 Writing about the kids injuries is starting to feel a little like a weather forecast.

"And tonight we have a 60% chance of concussion with expected stitches and hematoma..."

Landon had major repair work done on his shoulder in January.  This is the SIXTH injury requiring general anesthesia surgery to repair damage.  We are not even counting stitches and broken bones anymore.  Its just painful.

Truthfully this last surgery really does take the cake in the painful department.  Right up there with Benson's first broken collar bone.

Landon hurt his shoulder the first time playing rugby last spring (but he made a game saving tackle in the last minute of the game so it's all worth it right...?) and he finished it off in football.  Everyone (doctors, trainers and coaches alike) all kept telling us that if he didn't have a documented dislocation then he was probably fine.  We knew he wasn't fine.  Any time an injury makes Landon scream with pain we can bet the bank that it is an injury not just a hurt. He had one game where his shoulder 'popped' SEVAN  times.  But we did four months of physical therapy to assuage all the health care providers' worries that we were jumping into surgery prematurely.  Finally the physical therapist threw in the towel and declared that Landon needed to see a surgeon.

It turned out that Landon had a massive bankart tear.  Landon's tear went from the front portion of the shoulder all the way around to the back.  Posterior and Anterior.  They put in six pins to anchor the labrum back up to the shoulder socket.  Ouch.

The shoulder is in a big stabilizing brace and Landon isn't allowed to even ride an exercise bike.  He has been sleeping sitting up in a recliner for six weeks. The first few days were especially difficult.  General anesthesia makes Landon throw up for a while.  Nausea is the worst.  

He is over the worst now and just has to start physical therapy and get things healed well enough to go in and have the right shoulder repaired...the right shoulder is as bad or worse than the left.  Sigh.  

Landon was ranked number one in the state for wrestling.  He really finished off his right shoulder in one of the two matches he wrestled this year.  He won the matches but had to stop three times (screaming involuntarily) to have his shoulder put back in place.  (his right shoulder--the 'good' one...) I was mad.  Why does he continue when it hurts so much? He says, "nobody told me I had to come out..." 

sheesh.  

So with Landon out, Dallin moved up to wrestle 195 instead of 182.  It's hard for Dallin to maintain 182.  Dallin was doing great (also ranked #1 in the state!) until a big meet at Minico.  He smashed his head into the mat and got a major concussion.  Great. He was stunned and lost the match but nobody recognized the concussion symptoms (he kept falling asleep and felt like he was walking around in a fog) so he went on and wrestled through the consolation bracket and won his next five matches.  But it came at a heavy price.  He came home confused, exhausted (way beyond the normal...) and grumpy with a terrible headache and tunnel vision.  

Concussions are a big pain.  The only treatment is to not think. 

They take concussion treatment very, very seriously around here.  He wasn't allowed to go to school at all--no bright lights, video games, texting or exciting movies or books.  He had to go check in with the trainer every day.  There is a specific protocol that has to be followed to return to learn and then return to play.  You can't move up to the next step until you are symptom free.  If symptoms return with increased activity then you have to go back a step. 

He sat at home like a mushroom for two weeks and he would still get really dizzy and get tunnel vision when he tried to reengage in life.  They say that recovery can be longer in kids with ADHD brains...

Rustin gave him a blessing and he started to improve a bit.  He was able to get back to classes but he would have to leave some of the more mentally stressful classes and go to the library.  He also didn't attend band, Body development or Jive practice. 

Anyway, he finally got back to wrestling--we pushed the recovery schedule a bit to have him wrestle in district wrestling.  It turned out that the intense noise, lights and wrestling were too much and we had to pull him out of the meet.  He was bitterly disappointed but I think also relieved. It surprised me how disappointed I was to have him miss state this year! But it is the right thing to do.   Now if we can just keep him out of Rugby long enough to heal.  

Homecoming and an injury report.

The Bruins had a great game Friday night.  They beat Miniko (last year's conference champs) by five touchdowns.  Yea!  Dallin played right tackle and did a super job.  At one point we could see a scuffle on the field and some of the team members pulled Dallin back.  It turns out that the opposing team piled on the already tackled star running back.  Right in front of Dallin.  Duh. I think if I were a player, I would like to have Dallin around--he has no tolerance for anyone beating on his teammates.

Landon had a great game too--for almost one quarter. 

Looks like he has torn the meniscus in his 'good' knee.  I could tell he was injured immediately.  He started limping and favoring his right leg right after a tackle in the first quarter.  Darn.  His knee is swollen double its normal size and it is super painful to bend.  And it is a nice shiny purple color on the back.  The father of the running back on the team (the same one Dallin fought for--see above) is an orthopedic surgeon.  He's also in my parents ward.  He took a look at Landon's knee and ordered a set of x-rays but we are betting that they won't find anything on the x-rays.  We will need an MRI.  

We were just in the office of our regular ortho surgeon on Thursday making shoulder rehab plans...  

Landon's shoulder still hurts like crazy.  

Have I mentioned how much I hate injuries?

Landon's knee didn't stop him from having a great time at the Homecoming dance!

Such cute, nice girls!  The boys got new suits.  Actually their first suits!

For some reason the dance was at the beginning of Homecoming week this year.  We are sad Landon won't be playing in the Homecoming game! Maybe next year...

I'm sure he will find something to keep himself busy!

Friday Night Lights

TFHS against Hillcrest (Idaho Falls)

Dallin and Landon played in their first varsity game Friday night!  

I am surprised at how much I enjoy watching football when my kids are playing.  

This game definitely helped in the excitement department.  

We won in quadruple overtime.

Have you ever seen a game with four overtimes?!

At the end of regulation time they were tied  12-12 so each team got four downs starting at the ten yard line to try to make a touchdown.  We both scored every time until the final fourth time around when our team ran the ball in for the two extra points and then they kept Hillcrest from scoring. 

Landon started as the Mike (middle linebacker) and Dallin started as the right guard on the offensive line.

  Landon ended up playing on the offensive line almost the whole game as well because one of the linemen dislocated his shoulder.  Kind of ironic because Landon has been fighting with an unstable shoulder all year.  He first injured it last spring playing rugby and now it keeps slipping around in the socket with the occasional partial to complete dislocation.  Ouch.  Really ouch.  He said he felt it pop in and out 6 times during the game.  The last time it slipped,  Landon's brace had come off so it (the humerus bone) moved more than normal and left him screaming with pain until it slipped back.  And then he played the four overtimes.  

I'm super frustrated. So is Landon. 

 We bought every extra protective piece of equipment we could find--gloves, forearm pads, extra neck braces, shoulder brace, knee pads...

 Have I mentioned that I hate injured kids?

So back to physical therapy.  With our fingers crossed!

Cool off

It's been hot this summer!  

I think we've had an entire month of near 100 degrees every day.  

Jackson figured out his own air conditioning method. 

Isn't Sadie the cutest puppy ever? I don't know if I have ever introduced her here in BlogLand. 

She is a first generation English goldendoodle.  Her mom is a black and white poodle, her dad is an English Golden retriever.  She will be a great mom for us in a year or two when she has her own adorable puppies!

Speaking of puppies...all the puppies have been gone for a couple of weeks and I must admit it is nice not to be a resident doggy day care!  They ended up all over the country--from New Jersey to San Francisco! We have been getting the nicest reports about the puppies we sent off.  So far they are all very mellow, easy going little guys.  And smart.  We get lists of tricks the new owners have taught their pups. 

 It makes me happy! My goal has always been to raise dogs that I would want to live with. 

Tomorrow begins our last week of summer break.  I'm handling it really well this year.  Sometimes the end of summer really, honestly gives me anxiety attacks.  I like having everyone home and I hate the crazy cycle of homework and constant activities.  I always feel like we didn't accomplish enough in the summer. This year I am excited for everyone and their fun activities.

Dallin and Landon have been busy with two-a-day football practices.  They are playing the SAM and MIKE positions this year.  That is strong side linebacker and middle linebacker.  I looked it up on the internet so I would sound educated! 

They come home and drink a gallon of milk and eat all the bananas and pineapple they can find.   It seems to be helping with the painful leg cramps that both boys were having at the beginning of the week. 

Dallin was released from physical therapy for his knee this last week.  Yea! So far he is totally healthy and doesn't have any knee pain for the first time in a long time.  He actually wrestled all last year (5th in state!) with the meniscus torn so I think it is a relief to practice without knee pain!

Of course Dal finished just in time for Landon to start therapy for a shoulder injury.  

Actually, it is not so much an injury as shoulder instability.  Apparently the humerus slides around in the socket more than expected. They think he is having subluxation rather than full joint dislocation so we are hopeful that physical therapy will help.  Lan first injured the shoulder when he took a really hard hit in rugby last spring.  It has been kind of 'popping' randomly during swimming etc., but this last week of linebacker practice really exacerbated it to where he doesn't want to move his arm and he is telling us about the pain.   Based on past experience,  if Landon complains about something hurting then it is usually injured...not just sore. So I have good reason to be paranoid, right?  

Anyway we have some fun plans for the last week.
 Actually they are just fun for me!  I'm going to make the kids help me with a bunch of projects.
Can't wait!

Fair and Balanced

           We love that Dallin and Landon get along and generally treat each other very fairly but these two seem to have an 'injury equality' philosophy that is getting seriously expensive.  

And painful for all of us.

Both boys somehow tore the meniscus in their  left knees last spring.

Landon  had surgery to repair his a couple of months ago.

We thought Dallin was going to get away with physical therapy but no luck.

Dallin had a flap of the meniscus hanging into the joint which (despite several months of physical therapy)  has gotten more and more painful and he also had a spot on the condyle of the femur that was smushed in (to put it scientifically...) from an  injury in a game a few weeks ago.  

So he had surgery today to fix the meniscus.  The bone will just have to heal on its own.

All day the nurses were saying "you guys look really familiar..."  

We were in the same room with the same doctor with the same knee injury and the "same" kid.

It was funny. 

He will heal well but he has six weeks of no running so football is over for this year.  We'll have to see about basketball.

In the meantime he is wearing support hose, watching netflix and eating Oreos.  

Boys in tights

Eighth grade was hazardous for Landon.  In one school year he managed to break both hands and tear the meniscus in his knee.

 We're about to make him wear full body armor. 

Yesterday he had surgery to repair the tear in his left lateral meniscus. It was in an unusual place in the meniscus and the torn piece was curled up into the joint so they weren't able to repair the tear.  They just shaved off the mangled portion and smoothed things out.  Everything else in the knee looked great and there is still a good amount of healthy meniscus so he should heal very well.  And of course he's still hoping to play football...

This is Landon getting in touch with his feminine side.

Shaved legs--

and tights are sooo much fun!

His knee is pretty swollen but it actually feels better than it did before the surgery and he is able to walk with barely a limp.  He is missing high adventure camp this week.  Rustin, Austin and Dallin are all gone.  This is the longest amount of time Dallin and Landon have spent apart. It's not a big deal to them now like it would have been when they were younger.  I think every developmental stage is easier if it is done in its own time without trying to rush things. 

Of course if I had my way no one would grow up and leave home.  They would just stay the same forever. Or at least move in next door.  

Just kidding.  I think.

Eight.

Benson broke his collar bone last week. Again.

Thankfully Ben has a high pain tolerance.  He always has.  We know when Benson cries he is probably really injured. Landon is like that too.

After I picked Benson up from school (he fell from the monkey bars--a failed 'cherry drop'...)  I got him settled down in the car and asked him if his shoulder hurt and he just looked up and said "no, Mom I'm fine," but then he cried when we hit a big bump in the road--a dead give away for a broken bone.  Sprains, cuts etc. don't hurt from bumps on the road or from just sitting down or getting jostled.

And for the record--we have never had a broken bone that made it impossible to move the injured extremity.  Even when Landon broke his metacarpal (finger bone in the hand--twice) he could always move his fingers.

This makes a total of eight broken bones for our family.

Did you know you shouldn't give ibuprofen (Advil)  if you suspect a broken bone?  Tylenol is better because it doesn't have any anti-coagulation effects.  Bet you wanted to know that...

Casts are a pain.  And they are expensive. But they really do help with pain control with broken bones.

Benson broke the same collar bone three years ago but last time  the bone pieces (broken in two places) were displaced and it caused extreme pain.  He {and I} were just miserable for three or four days.  Of all the injuries and surgeries our kids have had (we have honestly lost count...), Benson's first collar bone break was definitely the most painful.  There is no way to cast or set a collar bone so it is just a matter of stabilizing the arm and waiting for the bone to heal--usually 4 weeks or so.  They don't set or pin collar bones either.  They say if the bones are in the same area they will grow back together.  Good thing!

Ben's a trooper and I'm sure with a few more days to let the bone start to knit back together he will be bouncing around as usual.

Just in time for school to get out!

And again.

Another injury.
Ugg.

It looks like Dallin tore the lateral  meniscus on his left knee playing in the Explorer scout basketball tournament the other day.  Poor kid is walking like an alien.  I'm sure his weird straight-legged-side-leaning gait is making great impressions at the stake dance tonight...

He is most discouraged because he was merely seconds from getting on the "wall of 5" at school. The wall of five is for people who run the mile in under six minutes.  Dallin and Landon both hate it when people say that big guys aren't fast so Dallin has been running and running to prove 'everyone' wrong.  I think his last time was 6:10. So close.

We are going to try a couple of weeks of physical therapy to see if things get better.  If not...we head to surgery. Poor Dallin. Or maybe poor me.

Otherwise is it buisness as usual around here.

Jackson is so darn cute. And mischievous.
Jackson has been climbing on things since before he could walk.
He hoists himself up onto this old worn out playhouse that sits next to the computer.
He stands there with whatever prize he hauled along...

Then he squawks until someone comes to get him down.
Unless I ignore him long enough and then he gets himself down.
What a life.

What I've been doing in my spare time...

I give up.  I have asked, pleaded, begged...to no avail.

I think I am finally accepting that my children will be injured.

Last year we spent $22,000 on medical bills, medicine and insurance.  Seriously?! Seriously.   We were hoping to put our resources to better use this year.  Apparently we wished in vain.  Here's what Landon's hand looks like:

4th metacarpal fracture

Landon lost a boxing match with a basketball.  Actually he just jumped up to block a long pass in his last basketball game and somehow managed to brake the 4th metacarpal.  Not just broken but displaced.  The orthopedic surgeon was able to set the bone fairly well so we are hoping he won't have to have surgery or pins.

For the record--this is the third time Landon has broken a bone in his hands and his fourth broken bone.  Last fall he broke his left hand in a football game and he finished playing the game.  He did the same with basketball.  He played another {almost} two quarters with his hand broken.  He missed all his foul shots and he couldn't dribble.  I suppose we'll cut him some slack.

I knew his hand was broken.  I recognized the look on his face.  Or call it mother's intuition.  I really wanted to go down and tape things up and get some ice but 8th graders can't have their mothers babying them.
Can they.

So Landon is my excuse for taking a week to fix and reconfigure this blog.  I'm such an amateur. But I learned some new tricks on Photoshop.  And I figured out how to center my heading.

I'll post some tricks and tips tomorrow.

Assuming I'm not in some doctor's office.

Don't read this post if you have a queasy stomach.

I knew we were in trouble when I pulled up to the curb and found Benson standing with the principal and the school police officer.

I had just finished taking some padding to Landon so he could play in the final football game of the season with a cast on his arm.  On my way to get Jen and Ben a friend called and said to tell me she had picked up Jenna but couldn't find Benson because he had injured his finger.

I don't know what I expected,  but what I found was this--

 A seriously mangled pinky.
Yeowch.
This picture really doesn't do justice to the contorted appearance of the little finger  but most of my phone pictures didn't turn out well.  The underside of the finger was worse.

Benson got the honor of being the first Hatch child in Idaho to get an actual room in the Emergency Room.

Our new hospital is beautiful.  Benson was quite proud of being the first of his siblings in the new center.

The bone in his pinky was fine but the tissue was pulled off and to the side (de-gloved) and some of the skin had to be trimmed off.

It took quite a few stitches to re-attach the tip in its proper place...

Benson was a trooper.  He sat completely still (with Rustin by his side) for all the numbing shots and he watched all the stitches go in with comments like "it looks like you're stabbing my finger", and "that doesn't even hurt at all--it's a zero (on the pain scale)."

We packed up and went over to Dallin and Landon's football game which turned out to be more painful than Benson's finger.  More on that later...

Third time's the charm.

This is Landon.

He broke his thumb playing football last Tuesday. (cracked through the first knuckle but not displaced)  He'll have a cast for three weeks but he will be able to play in the all important game against the city rival tomorrow.

For the record, that puts Landon up three casts to Dallin's two.  We hope Dallin will just let him get away with the win in this department.

This injury happened when boys' football team was playing the only other undefeated team in the district on Tuesday so the stakes were high. They were tied 0-0 at halftime which made this the first competitive game to watch this season.  Landon and Dallin both had a great game and they won 22-6.  Landon broke his thumb playing defense in the fourth quarter.  He came out of the game for two plays and had his thumb/hand wrapped and went back in the rest of the game. Trooper.


Tonight Landon taught the Family Home Evening lesson.  He got the idea from a young men lesson.

He started with a beautiful scoop of ice cream--a  "Sundae."
Then he added things to make the sundae 'better':

The other children watched in horror.

Rustin tried to pay them to eat the ice cream.  No takers.

We then talked about how we add things in our house to our "Sundays" that ruin the day.  The six children and I are usually alone most of the day and I am sad to say sometimes our day is less than holy.  We are working on it.

The kids came up with a list of things that ruin the day:  waking up late, playing too rough, tv/video games (we don't do either one), waking up mom when she wants to take a nap (!!-they said it...) and not being able to find clothes in the morning.

Of course tonight I had to physically separate Austin and Benson and I had to instruct Dallin not to talk to anyone in order to keep everyone from bickering during the lesson.  I think the point was well taken though.  Now I'll be able to say "who is pouring hot sauce on my ice cream?" when they are misbehaving on the Sabbath.

I think we all have a pretty good mental image of what a ruined Sunday looks like. Thanks Landon.

Another one bites the dust

Poor little Aust is the latest to get the eye junk running through our house. So far Austin has had the worst case of us all.  He has both eyes hit at the same time AND he developed a complication called Filamentary keratitis .

This basically means that the mucus in his eye adhered to the epithelial cells of the cornea which causes the outer layer of the cornea to slough off when he blinks.  It hurts a lot.  Rustin had to numb his eye and peel the filaments off the cornea.  If you look closely you can see that his tears are bloody.  ouch.

Dallin hasn't had any infection so far.  Either he will get lucky or he will come down with red eyes just as school starts.  Knowing our luck I would bet on the latter.

We are busy enjoying the last couple of weeks of summer. Too much to do and not enough time for sure!

Non-contact sports and Jedi training

The terms "non-contact" and "sport" don't belong in the same sentence with our boys. I'm sure that the average child would be able to make it through swimming season without any major injuries but we don't have average children.  They are exceptional.  They have the distinct ability to injure themselves in just about any situation. 

Last week during swimming Austin somehow managed to get hit in the mouth hard enough to knock his bottom left front tooth loose.  Actually it fractured the bony plate under the tooth killing the blood supply.  He had a root canal Monday which will be finished next week.  So for now his bottom teeth look like they have an extra tooth shoved between them.  It's lovely.

   

 In the mean time Jackson is in Jedi training school. Sweet little guy.  

I'm hoping if he learns to use the force soon enough he can make it through childhood without any visits to the ER.  

Either way he certainly keeps his siblings entertained....

....which keeps his mom happy!

Easter, week three and injury

This little one is three weeks old today.  This picture was taken two minutes ago... I'm sure it is against the laws of the universe to have a nursing infant have a stuffy green nose.  At least it should be.

I love his fuzzy clean mow-hawk hair.  It smells delicious.  Of course it is nearly midnight and he is still bright eyed.  Speaking of eyes--we think he is going to follow Jenna's footsteps and be blue.  Today they look completely purple.  His eyes get lighter by the day!

We had a good Easter weekend though it was incredibly strange not to have a single member of our families here for egg hunts and baskets.  We missed everyone!  Rustin was swamped with a funeral and lots of stake conference meetings so we squished things in where we could.  It was a gorgeous day outside for once.

You'll notice Landon is missing from all the Easter pictures.

 He jumped off the play house onto the trampoline and after a few crazy bounces he ended up on the ground with a severely injured back.  It has been four days and it was just today that he has finally been able to walk to the bathroom without tears and help. And lots of pain medicine.

This is Landon trying to enjoy his birthday candles on Monday.

It looks like he most likely 'just' tore the muscles in his lower left back--no broken ribs or vertebra.  He isn't able to walk more than a few feet at a time so we aren't sure what to do about school.  He is obviously done with track and basketball.  Darn. We are praying that we will know what to do to help him recover in the best way possible.

I am off to sleep.  May you all have sweet slumber and happy spring! {or winter if you are in Australia!}

Injury number 5,789

It should come as no surprise that we have yet another set of stitches.  I honestly can't even remember how many sets of stitches we have had around here.

This is living proof that even on no-school days, video games are dangerous.  (Kids were out all day Friday so they played and played and played...we don't have video games during the school week at all...) Dallin got frustrated and chucked his controller across the room nailing Landon on the eyebrow.  What are the odds?   Five stitches.
And a big fat swollen eye.

And here is a really pretty close-up.

10 reasons the Hatches have never been to Disneyland...

 In  no particular order and counting only the last two years...

And excluding shoes that last no more than two months per pair, cars that get totaled right AFTER they are paid for and scout uniforms...

10.  Stitches

 9.  Broken Collar bone

  8.  Broken hand

 7.  Flooded basements

 6. stitches (again)

 5. Flooded basement again (x3 actually...)

 4.  Broken Ankle bone

 3.  Stitches (yet again)

 2.  tonsillectomy, tonsillectomy and ankle surgery (see #4)
and our favorite...

  1.  Puppies who eat tiny stuffed animals and have to have surgery to get them removed.

Genetics?

Here's one good reason to get the bunk bed project finished.


(yes those are five kids sleeping on the floor)


Here's the reason that it might take me a bit longer than planned.



I guess the kids did inherit something from me after all. A bit of clumsiness. ouch.

Does a thumb with five stitches count as an excuse to have laundry waiting to be done?
I say it does.

The old big bulky beds are now downstairs in the missionaries' apartment. The new beds won't take up as much space and will have lots more storage. If I ever get them finished.

We are Loving the fall-ish weather. Jackets in the morning--shorts in the afternoon. Perfect corn, tomatoes, apples and all kinds of yummy stuff.


And of course football. The three big boys are loving football but they secretly can't wait until they have afternoons free again. So they can practice the piano. uh-huh.

Not for the faint of heart

**warning--I have included pictures of our latest injury**
Dallin lost a battle with the pruning shears yesterday.
It felt like this.





Thankfully we were able to forgo our traditional bed in the hall of our local E.R. in favor of a very posh room (warm blankets, quiet bed and valium to relax)at the plastic surgeon's office. (He's in our ward--don't you love ward families!)



After checking the too-close-for-comfort nerve bundle and tendon (both were okay), click on the picture to see the GORY details...


Dallin got to have a very pretty Zoro style incision stitched up.


His finger is swollen at least twice the size of the finger next to it but he is doing great. It is a little more sore than stitches usually are (we have a lot of experience with this) because of all the exploring inside the incision. But he is happy to be out of dishes duty and lawn mowing.

In other news, Dallin's CT scan showed that the marble sized bone growth behind his ear is a benign tumor called a mastoid osteoma No worries and no reason to remove it unless it really gets too big. So all is well.

Our other injured child, Benson, is bouncing around the house like a little monkey. He tries to tell me that he can't make his bed (or unload the silverware or whatever) because he has a broken bone. It isn't getting him too far any more. Poor kid. :)