We got back from Hawaii late Tuesday night. Wednesday was a whirlwind of excited (and jealous) kids. Thursday was filled with meetings, appointments, and general catching up.

then.

Friday hit.

Friday morning Jess’ sister had surgery (second in a month). Friday night I started chemo. Friday night India got her toe smashed under my parents front door. Her and Jones were playing and chasing each other when next thing we knew India was outside screaming. From the window next to the front door my dad could see India laying flat on her back with her toe wedged in the shut door. The only thing we could think to do was to rip the door open. The girl was in pretty extreme pain and the toe was mangled to the extent that the four seasoned parents present were awkwardly shook up. To make a long story short, by Saturday and after a trip to the hospital (our wonderful medical care does not have urgent care nor are they able to do same day or, as it would seem, same week appointments), India’s toe was “simply” mangled and bone bruised but not broken (they don’t think).

Saturday and Sunday consisted of chemo, a housewarming party, our regular Sunday Community meal, Jess taking care of her post-surgery-sister, a kids birthday party, and India’s hospital visit for her toe.

Monday morning at about 8am as India was laying in bed something popped in her neck. She cried and screamed for about forty-five minutes and did not move her neck (literally) from that moment until this morning (Tuesday). Not knowing what happened nor the extent of the damage we were instructed by the advice nurse to not move her and that she needed to be seen by a doctor. So we called an ambulance. The paramedics were able to discern that it was most likely nothing having to do with the spine and was probably muscle pain. They were able to get her to wiggle her head just a bit, enough to give us confidence that she didn’t need to be shipped via an ambulance. We decided to give it some time, if it was just muscular in nature then we figured a kinked neck didn’t necessarily need hospital treatment. Then we started reading about tetanus symptoms (remember India had just had her toe shaved off by the metal flashing from a door and has not had a tetanus shot) and decided that maybe we should take her in! On the way to the ER we called our naturopath to get some advice and even though it was his day off he had us meet him at his clinic. At the clinic Dr. Zeff checked her out, gave her some magic homeopathic stuff, and ruled out tetanus. Still unable to move her neck and still in incredible pain we at least re-confirmed that it wasn’t some catastrophic bad thing. That night we took her into a chiropractor (he stayed after hours in order to treat her!) where he spent about an hour and a half working with her, helping her understand what was going on, and trying to help her remove some of the pain and gain back mobility. We couldn’t have been more impressed with him (we’ll see him again today).

The good news is that India woke up this morning with better movement, less pain, and more energy. Mom and dad on the other hand…woke up this morning exhausted and ready for a vacation. Hawaii anyone?

Here’s India’s take on the whole thing:

Once I hurt my toe it was so bad I cried and cried. And they had to lift the door up to get my toe out and pull it open and some of my skin pulled off. And umm once my neck got hurt as I was rolling in the blankets. And I thought it popped but it just automatically got hurt. The end.