Earthmovers and Sandcastles

This will be our last full day here in the Dells, and although we’re feeling the end-of-vacation let-down, there’s still some frustration in coming up with what to do. Gabe is opposed to hanging out in the waterpark, where Sam would love to be. Neither boy can handle doing anything remotely frightening, and that includes water slides beyond the toddler level. We’ve hit most of the major attractions that appealed to us, and now there’s the question of what’s left to do today. Oh, and they’re calling for possible rain in an hour or so, though it may not last long.

Probably, Eric will take Sam to the water park and I’ll take Gabe to Wiley’s Woods, or vice versa. It’s already paid for, you know.

Last night, we did the local casino, which has an enormous kid care room for children to use while the adults gamble. Sam and Gabe loved it and have demanded to go back if we can. Sort of ironic that what they adore is the place we stashed them so we could have some “us time,” but whatever. We only won a nominal amount last night (I say “we,” but Eric was the winner, playing roulette), which may have just covered the cost of the kid care. Note to self, though: next time, skip the buffet. Yuck. And the only vegetables on the thing were the very limited salad bar selection (lettuce, tomatoes, peas, and Eric thinks he saw some beets).

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Okay, some of the stress returned yesterday. We never do learn our lesson, but you’d think we’d make some headway toward figuring it out: every time we try to add in some structured event to the vacation, we run the risk of the boys standing in opposition, whether intentionally or just by being themselves.

Yesterday afternoon, after a pleasant morning at Wiley’s Woods, we decided to do the downtown area. Sam saw signs for Wizard Quest and was immediately taken with a need to go there. Every other store: “Can we go to Wizard Quest now? Please? Wizard Quest?” We asked him to stop nagging. I reminded him that when we looked at it two years ago, he was scared of it. (”I’m not little anymore! I’m not scared this year!”) He was hopping from foot to foot in excitement by the time we got there and priced it out. Gabe was extremely hesitant, but we made sure we could get money back for me (he went in free) if I had to take him out within the first few minutes.

But it wasn’t just him who flipped out when the doors closed behind us. Even though we had bought glowsticks to help them feel reassured, and even though there were stairs for people who wanted to avoid going down the darkened slides, and even though the whole thing wasn’t really creepy at all, both boys were shaking, freaking, and begging to leave for the whole fifteen minutes we lasted before giving up on trying to calm them. Gabe was convinced we would be trapped there forever; Sam just kept saying, “This is too creepy!” It was frustrating to have to leave (not to mention a waste of money), and it put a damper on the afternoon for all of us.

So we came back to the hotel, took a rest in the room, and then Eric and Sam went back to the waterpark to chill while Gabe and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching the Olympics. Everybody benefitted from the downtime, and it feels better now.

Today, since we never, ever learn, we’re going to try to go on a boat ride. Now, theoretically, this should be awesome, as the boys love boats; they even chose for souvenirs miniature versions of the boat we’ll be riding. Will it be fun for all, or a complete disaster? Tune in to find out!

Oh, and Sam lost his tooth yesterday. The tooth fairy even comes to the Dells! Yay!

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Oh, Alysia, this would crack you up. We’re at the Great Wolf Lodge, and Eric’s polite chat with the desk clerk netted us an unasked-for, completely free upgrade from a regular room into a King Suite. We have our own room, and the kids sleep in theirs! Can’t wait to do Wiley’s Woods again (an indoor playland that is a ton of fun, or, at least, certainly was when we were their with Alysia and her kids).

Yesterday, once we got here, was just ten times better than the first part of the trip, in terms of relaxation. Pretty much, we were in the hotel’s water park for about five hours, during which time Sam discovered that he loves wave pools and Gabe learned to mistrust cheerful-looking signs. He and I wandered into an area that was designed and portrayed to be for small children, but we weren’t there for thirty seconds before he got blasted in the face with a spurt of water, turned to flee, got blasted again, stopped to howl, and had a giant bucket dumped over him from above. After that, the water park wasn’t quite as fun for him; even the lazy river was a tense exercise in “Okay, this is fine for now…fine for now…what’s that around the corner?!???”

But Sam made us all smile with how, even after he would be upended and dunked by giant waves, left sobbing and quaking, he would stumble after the innertube to go back out again, eyes still squinting through tears. Back on the horse! And by the end, he wasn’t even crying after being dunked, which, for Sam, is a huge deal.

Oh, and then in the evening, we took the kids to the lobby for an organized bedtime story program. I could have hoped it would settle them down for sleep more, but that would have been asking too much.

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Heading out to the Dells this morning. Truthfully, this is probably the most stressful trip I’ve ever taken in my life. Gabe is being SO VERY THREE, which entails throwing tantrums at random moments and a complete inability to tolerate any form of silence or tranquility. The cave visit yesterday? I have a wonderful picture that I’ll share when I get back to our home computer that just epitomizes the whole thing, and all it needs is the caption “DO NOT WANT” under his shrieking, livid face. (Thank God for the very sweet guide, who let him hold her flashlight; that added bit of security went a long way toward reassuring him and stopping the howls.)

Sam has a rip-roaring case of the “gimme-gimmes.” Any tips on helping him through that? I suggested that we could give each boy a set amount of money to spend on souvenirs (obviously Gabe wouldn’t understand, but he does understand “NOT FAIR!”), but Eric said, quite correctly, that it would only solve the issue for the first half-hour, during which Sam would blow through the entire amount on Beanie Babies and jelly beans.

Anyway. To the Dells! Oh, and these crutches are pure torture, and I think I prefer to hobble with just one. Thankfully, my foot seems to be improving (fingers crossed that it’s not just my imagination…).

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We’re in Madison! Walked around downtown quite a bit yesterday - or perhaps it just felt like that because of the crutches. I now have huge blisters on both my palms. I’m not sure which appeals less to me: using the crutches again today, or hobbling on the sore foot. Of course, I’ll use the crutches, but oh, do I wish there was a third option. I do have the athletic tape; maybe I can rig up something so that my hands and blisters are more protected. Should have brought my weight-lifting gloves. On the other hand, this sure is giving me good upper-body workouts; my shirt was damp with sweat by the time we hit the car to come home last night, and it wasn’t a hot day. Very glad that I’ve lost the weight and done strength training, or this would be much harder.

Anyway, more sight-seeing today. There’s a cave Eric wants to go see! The boys really just want to swim, but since we’ll be doing a ton of that when we get to the Dells, I’m trying to put it off. I did pick up a swim cap yesterday, trying to protect my scalp a bit. There’s a running/triathlon store right by our hotel, and I stopped in there (it’s where I got the cap) and chatted with the guy for a bit. He thought most people he knew who had peroneal tendinitis had about three weeks off, but he also felt like I wouldn’t have to start back as far as I feared I would in my training when I get the go-ahead. Fingers crossed!

Sam wants me off so he can update his weblog now. Anybody have any idea why, when people hit “submit” for comments on his site, they get redirected to my main page?! I’m lost. I did remove the “must register” option on there, though; was trying to protect him from spam, but it was proving headachy for people.

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Most of the clothes packed? Check.

Swimsuits? Check. (Ooh, don’t forget Sam’s goggles!)

Camera and batteries? Check.

Kids already acting like total maniacs? Oh, heck, check.

Nosy-ish neighbor watching the house and watering plants? Check.

Little toiletries, looking cute? Awww, check.

Feeling grumpy and ticked off from another morning of no running? CHECK!

Husband pretending he has no family, so who are these people trying to drag him out of bed? Check, with a bodyslam.

First fight with Gabe already out of the way? Check. (He wanted to wear a sweater and jeans today.)

Coffee in the vicinity?
Coffee?
Cup of life…?
Okay, I have to go now.

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…no need to come in. They’d tell me to RICE, and to also take some ibuprofen. Don’t run until my orthopedist appointment. Swimming and cycling are fine.

I feel reassured.

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So, going through everything I can find, I’m almost positive that I’ve got peroneal tendinitis. Last night I had Eric help massage my foot and ankle, and there it was: pain in my ankle, just above and behind the ankle bone. The tendon in question runs from there around the outside and underside of the foot, where my initial pain was and is. Thing is, even if I’m wrong?

PT: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate; if it gets worse, perhaps surgery.
Stress fracture: Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate; if it gets worse, perhaps surgery.

Of course, the surgeries would be different, but from my end of things, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of difference in the meantime and barring that worst case. Once the pain is gone, there are stretches and exercises I can do to help if it’s PT, but I’m not there yet.

I have a call in to my primary care doctor, so that I can discuss the issue with her and see whether there’s anything I should do before my orthopedist appointment and whether it’s okay to wait so long in the first place. I expect that she’ll be asking me about my own comfort level - if I feel like I need to be examined now - and I hate being put on the spot like that. I’m no doctor; you tell me if I need a scan or whatever. Take it out of my hands! I can never tell if I’m over- or under-reacting to anything regarding my own health.

I just want to get to a hotel with a pool and exercise room, heavy on the pool. Cross-training never sounded so good. Except…the bulk of our vacation will be to the Dells, to one of those water park hotels, and for the life of me, I can’t tell from their website whether they have an actual pool. Water slides, treehouse with fountains, toddler splash zones, bridges and lazy rivers, sure. But do they have a place where I can actually swim? For maybe more than twenty feet in any one direction? Without getting plowed by a couple of ten-year-olds on an inner tube? I’ll have to call and speak to a real person, I guess; ordinary, run-of-the-mill swimming pools aren’t cool enough to warrant mention on a website for these places.

Going to be a fun trip, I hope. The kids are bouncing around madly in anticipation. I just hope the bouncing ebbs a bit for the driving portion of the vacation.

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Sam speaks.

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Researching a little.

“At the base of this bone there are tendon attachments that are easily strained with overuse and improper foot support…It is not a common area for a stress fracture but still a possibility.”

“The tendons hurt literally along the edge of my foot where it touches the ground…he did an ultrasound on my right foot, discovered the pain and soreness were due to inflammation of the peroneal tendon. I was put on Arcoxia (NSAID) and given Vitaxicam (massage gel). My doctor also adivsed me to cut down my weekly mileage by half, all easy runs with no speed work.” I haven’t been taking an NSAID since the first day, but ibuprofen is certainly available and (for me, personally) a benign enough addition.

Peroneal tendonitis: Typically, patients complain of pain and swelling located in one or two of three areas…Base of the 5th metatarsal - the prominent long bone on the outer side of the foot.

One piece of advice that sounds helpful: regardless of the two upcoming races for which I’ve already registered, I may choose a race 4-6 months in the future, put it on my calendar, and use it as a motivator for rehabilitation. Hmmmm…

“Pain is most commonly found at the insertion of the tendon at the base of the 5th metatarsal. Pain is usually insidious in onset. Pain normally begins with the start of an activity that tends to warm up and subside as the activity progresses. Peroneal tendonitis does not normally cause swelling or redness.” Yep, I don’t have swelling or redness, and it stops hurting entirely when I take weight off it.

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