I realize this looks like a weird, stretched-out picture but he’s just real tall, ok? This past August, we were told by Branko’s pediatric orthopedic surgeon that he would require surgery on his legs and ankles in order to eventually be able to walk. Until then, he felt that AFO’s (ankle-foot orthotics) would be necessary. Our […]
Read more "Let’s talk about baby leg braces; Show me the Money"There are definitely people out there who know exactly what to do in tragic circumstances. They know what to write on a card, what to say in that initial, awkward phone call, what type of flowers to send, and what kind of food to bring to the hospital. I am totally not one of these […]
Read more "Killing, or at least, maiming with kindness"Branko is currently sleeping in an ICU bed at the hospital. He has Influenza B, and pneumonia in his left lung. He has an IV in both arms, and tubes sticking out of his toe, chest, and nostrils. His breathing sounds treacherous; I will definitely need hypnosis to forget these sounds. My husband brought him […]
Read more "A garbage-y day turned into an okay day"This isn’t going to be a post about my kid. This one’s all about ME. I had a miscarriage a little while ago. While I won’t go into detail about what my bathroom looked like (it was gross) or about my shitty doctor (he told me to stop using midwives due to my advanced maternal age), […]
Read more "All About Me!"In an effort to make myself seem like less of an angry psycho, I am writing this to let the world know, “I am not an angry psycho!!!” I love my friend’s kids. I love hearing about funny shit that they do, like punching mom in the face, or shitting their pants on Santa’s lap […]
Read more "Why I’m allowed to brag; Why you are not, Part II"Sorry to brag, but here he is. DOING THE ROBOT Just so we’re clear: I am allowed to brag about my son. Sorry. You, on the other hand, you lucky parent of a developmentally-normal toddler, you may not. That’s just the way it is. Let’s do the math. My son, who is almost 21 months old, […]
Read more "Why I’m allowed to brag; Why you are not, Part I"Branko was scheduled for pretty major surgery this past March. Surprisingly, our orthopedic surgeon has somewhat neat handwriting, and he described the procedure as “B/C ankle pseudoarthoses correction i intramedullary stabilization and casting. Instrumentation: Williams Rod.” We are PRETTY SURE this means they are going to line up his tibia to his ankle to correct […]
Read more "Surgical Dress Rehearsals"When Branko was about 3 months old, we noticed a bony growth on his rib. We weren’t concerned at all, but our pedeatrician wanted to do a chest x-ray, just in case. I remember taking Branko to the x-ray department at Sick Kids, all by myself, and not! even! worrying! for one second. Nothing could […]
Read more "First Hospital Visit; Our Health Care is the Shit"Well here is little Branko riding the bus, on his first birthday no less! This was an especially bad day for us; our roof was being fixed, so no nap. He also barely ate anything that day. It was hot. He refused to go in the stroller, so I used a carrier. Soon enough, the […]
Read more "Weight Gain; We ride the bus"Here it is. Branko’s left leg. And don’t even get me started on the right one. If you look very carefully, you might notice that his tibia (biggest bone) is not quite lined up with the ankle. In fact, the bottom of the tibia is nearly poking out of his skin. What we thought was […]
Read more "The left leg; Some Uncertain Certainties"
Mother of Bones 