A Rhino Household Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!  We hope that Santa and his elves blessed you all with family time, love and warmth and a few gifts thrown it wouldn’t of hurt either, lol.

The Rhino household had a merry Christmas this year, being blessed with a healthy son and family galore {a few friends thrown in too!}. 

This year with Christian was another one for the books.  As he has gotten older, we as parents are finding it harder to shop for the Rhino {of course no Rescue Heroes again this year or Tonka trucks!!}.  This year his list consisted of CDs {about 20 in all} and really nothing else.  So yep you guess it, Rhino was blessed with some music this year.  Christian was also blessed with some very precious memories passed down by his Great Grandpa Frank {or Papa as we call him!}.  Christian received 2 books from Papa regarding Papa’s time served in the Army during WWII.

And last but not least, we were all blessed with some family time!  Gathering with both of the families is always a good time to be had and we are truly grateful for all the love, cheer, and laughter that we can experience with them because you never know when it will be the last.  And that we did, cherish our family gatherings, as you can see here.

Run, Run as Fast You Can!

Yes that’s right the Rhino has been given official RUNNING notice tonight.  We just got home about an hour ago from a session with PT Bob and he gave Christian the go ahead to start running.  YEA!!!! Rhino can even do the elliptical, treadmill, and the stair stepper.  In words of Rhino “I can finally get my legs back”.  So hopefully he’ll be doing more of this…..

 

and less and less of this………

In fact it’s a bet to see if Rhino will go running tomorrow and on his first day of Christmas break even…hmmm….my guess is NOT!

That’s ok, because little does he know that mom is going to start some boot camp PT of her own here in the house.  Maybe I’ll give Rhino a RUN FOR HIS MY MONEY once spring hits {and then maybe not, lol!}.

Are you ready?

Well the tree is up, cookies have been baked {and eaten I might add}, Christmas shopping is DONE and the presents are wrapped….all is in the holiday groove in the Rhino household.

Rhino still has PT 2 times a week.  Some have been asking why Christian is still in PT….well simple answer is, he had major surgery on his ankle {a bone removed and LOTS of nerves re-routed} and literally has to learn to re-balance himself and in a way walk all over again.  His foot moves now in ways that it never did before so hence his whole body has to learn to adjust to the movement.  He’s just now getting to the point that he can put some impact on it, like jogging.  Running is still out of the question and so is jumping but his ankle is getting stronger and his demeanor is great.  The biggest fear right now, since we have been blessed with snow  is that he takes a tumble on the slippery ice and does damage or breaks something BUT that is not going to happen so……

In other news Rhino made a trip to Gettysburg for Thanksgiving with the Eggie Family.  It was an opportunity that presented itself and literally couldn’t of been passed up so, Christian left Thanksgiving day and returned the following Monday.  Our first Holiday without the kid and boy it just didn’t seem right but I guess it’s a preparation for when he moves up and onward huh?

Really other than the holiday parties, school winding down for Christmas break, and preparing for Rhino’s up and coming 16th birthday {um that’s all I hear about now is how many more days till the big 1-6!}, the Rhino household has been running as normal {and the running part isn’t an exaggeration!}

We hope you all have a blessed Christmas {or whatever holiday you may celebrate!} and a healthy, fun filled 2010!!

Robo Rhino to the…..

Extinction!  Yes Robo Rhino no longer exists!! WOOT WOOT!

Christian had another follow up appointment with Dr. G on Friday and he decided to walk in with out his boot on since PT Bob has been doing wonders with him.  Dr. G was impressed with the improvement and the status of Rhino’s ankle so NO MORE BOOT! Robo Rhino has now grown up like a big little boy and gets to wear sneakers…hehehe!

I can’t say enough about the wonders that PT Bob has done with Christian.  Rhino is bicycling, doing leg presses and a pretty good weight, and even got to get on the treadmill on Thursday…not at a run or even a fast walk but none-the-less the treadmill!

It’s going so well infact that today Rhino was able to do this for the first time in months!!!!!

Yes that’s with his RT ankle, the ankle that only 6 weeks ago had surgery on!  Afterwards Christian had a HUGE smile on his face and stated “Oh mom that felt so good!”.  Now he didn’t go all out and yes he did feel some pain afterwards but it was wonderful to see him smiling and loving life again!  Wait till PT Bob hears about this.

Exhausted, triumphant, and just a little wacky!

Well life in the Rhino household is hectic as always, hence the reason for being M.I.A. recently.

As most of you know Rhino has been going to physical therapy 2 to 3 times a week.  Each time is a minimum of a 1 1/2 hour long session, sometimes almost 2 hours {this is not to mention the 1/2 hour drive in and the 1/2 hour drive back}.  This makes for a very long day for the Rhino and his mom too!  Normal day around here is like this {well 6 of the 7 that is}:

1. 6 am wake-up shower and get ready for work/school
2. 7:15 am drop Rhino off to school, I head to work
3. 2:30 p.m. pick Rhino up from school, drop him off at the house and I head back to work to finish out my day {Rhino would normally be a walker and well since the surgery….}
4. 4:15 p.m. done with work day head home to change clothes a fast as possible and either A) head off to the second job or B) grab the Rhino and head off for PT
5. Either running into town to do PT for the next two hours plus or work until 9:30 p.m.
6. End back up at home anywhere from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and finish up what I didn’t get done the rest of day
7. 11:00 p.m. fall into bed into a stupor and get up and do it all over again the next day

Needless to say blogging has not been high on my priority of list of things to do BUT I can add some major accomplishments by the Rhino has been seen in the PT area which makes all of the above worth every crazy, hectic, pulling my hair out, there’s not enough hair dye in the world moment.  Now if only someone could invent a coffee implant….I’d be buying stock in that!!

Rehabilitating the Rhino

**side note this was suppose to post November 10th**

I am sitting in rehab blogging away while Rhino is getting worked on.  This is our third rehab appointment and what a phenomenal difference PT Bob has made in Christian’s ankle.  Christian was able to finally get a sock on his foot yesterday for the first time..WOOT WOOT!  He’s not limping as bad and just moments ago actually got a sneaker on his foot to go get on the bicycle to go do some more PT {Rhino just walked in and stated “a mile under five minutes!”}.  What a difference the PT has even made in Christian’s morale too!  Oh I see good things for Christian’s ankle, his soccer future, heck his future period end!

On the Mend and the End

I know nasty right?  Well Rhino is on the mend.  The appointment with Dr. G went well on Tuesday.  Steri strips came off, and the stitches are starting to dissolve.  Rhino is still in the boot, still on crutches but is now allowed to apply some weight to his ankle which makes some things easier. {yea for being able to stand up in the shower now and for not having to bag his foot for mentioned shower!} So hence he still is Robo Rhino just not in full force!  Christian has his first rehab appointment on Tuesday…we’ll see how much pain he is in after that.  Dr. G’s plans of action is to get him completely off the crutches in one month and hopefully into a real {big boy} shoe in that time frame too.

On another side note, tonight was the last soccer game of the season!  It was cold {high 40 degrees} and rainy and very heart wrenching to watch.  I love all the players like they were my own and this year was the greatest.  The new coach really made a difference with the team, they’ve grown tremendously and we are all very proud of them!!! I will miss the 6 seniors and wish them luck {hopefully they will come back to see us in the stands sometime and for pizza too!}. Godspeed and only 8 months till practice begins again WOOT WOOT!

Robo Rhino

Thank you Suzie for inspiring us with Christian’s new nickname….ROBO RHINO!

Christian is doing O.K. at this point.  As you can see he got his walking boot on but is still non weight bearing.  He now has become a master at the crutches and has even demonstrated that he can dance with them {ask him to moon walk for you sometime on the crutches!!}.  His days are long and he’s quite tired by the time he gets home from school.  He’s having trouble sleeping due to the fact that he can’t get comfortable and once he does he rolls over and *strike* *gasp* hurts his ankle {he sleeps without the boot on, we tried with the boot on and that was even worse!}.  We are coping!!  Tuesday we go back to see Dr. G and if the plan still is in tact Christian should continue with the boot but be on off the crutches {glory be!!} and also start rehab for the next 4 months. 

Stay tuned to see if the invincible Robo Rhino saves the world of the grasps of the evil Doctor Anklebiter or if RR will be forever reduced to just a bunch of bolts and nuts…MUAHAHAHA! {ok yes I have completely lost it….no sleep does that to a person!!}

One legged Rhino

Yes the Rhino is down to one leg and doing quite well on his crutches if I do say so myself.  He’s even mastered a way of going up and down our stairs on his own (we live in a two story house!) but he does technically sit on his arse for most of it..hehehe!

Christian is doing great, so great in fact that we let him go to the soccer game tonight and be with the team {this really boosted his spirits and it was a joy to watch all the team mates come across the field yelling at him!}. 

The nerve block did wonders for the pain (as to be expected!) and completely worn off on Saturday {even though Christian started to wiggle his toes on Friday} and he’s only had to take a couple pain pills so far.  We go back to see Dr G. tomorrow to get the splint off and see how things look, at this time it’s expect that Christian will get his walking boot on but to still be non weight bearing for 2 more weeks, then he will start rehab for 3 to 4 months.  I’ll be happy when he can just put some weight on it and I’m not popping up every two seconds to get something or “hey mom can you?” or “mom do you mind?” or “MOOOOOOM?” but you know what….as long as Christian is health I’ll take all those “MOOOOMS!” forever!

He’ll be heading back to school on Wednesday too {WOOT WOOT!}.  I think our couch could you the break and I know my laptop is screaming from all the teenage activity on it {I profusely apologized to it tonight!! and I apologize if I randomly start typing dude, sweet, cool, IDK, huh….I think those words on stuck on here…UGH!}

Thanks again for all your wonderful thoughts and prayers!  You all are amazing!

And Dude, I’ll try to keep you update but ya know I’m like busy and IDK with everything going on with my sweet life and all, well ya get my drift….oh sorry see it’s that dang teenage lingo taking over the laptop, LOL!

 

Just a little bone removal

Today was the day of Christian’s surgery!  Everything went well, it’s been a long day already and it’s only 2:30 p.m.  Christian right now is resting on the couch, feeling a little restless and out of sorts but I’ll take that {ask me in another day or two and I’ll probably have changed my mind}.  Thanks again to all of our wonderful family and friends for the continuous thoughts and prayers.

Last game

Well Christian’s surgery will happen on Thursday *deep breathe in and exhale*!

This past week, Christian had his last two soccer games of the season that he would be able to play in.    It was very nostalgic for me and for Rhino.  Monday’s game was played in 40 mph winds, low 50 degree temps and pouring down rain (gotta LOVE being a soccer mom!), Rhino only saw about 5 minutes of playing time that night {the coaches have been pretty caution with Christian’s ankle} and Wednesday’s game, well the wind was better, we had no rain but let’s just say the temperature around these parts is heading downward…UGH!  Christian got to see lots more playing time on Wednesday and played his little heart out BUT paid for it in the end with lots of pain! 

Let’s just say even though you’re really never prepared for surgery…..we’re ready for surgery at this point.

Thanks to all of our family that has come out to watch Rhino play this short season and to see him do his re-enactment too (yes, he is now done with that also because of the surgery and will miss a major event at the end of this month that he was desperately wanting to go to!).  I ask that you keep Christian in your thoughts and prayers over the next four months as he endures a new adventure in his life…..a new ankle, learning to walk again with rehabilitation, and the struggles of missing school during his sophomore year

Hopefully next soccer season he’ll be doing less of this…..

What has the Rhino been up to you ask?

Well the answer would be….what hasn’t he been up to!

Of course school is back into full swing and Rhino has a full class load this semester so that’s been keeping him busy. We’re learning French together…hahaha.  It’s comical in the household with Christian learning French and trying to teach his old mother, needless to say he hasn’t asked the teacher how to say some of the words that I REALLY want to know how to say (guess maybe he’s afraid to get kicked out of the class?).

Second, soccer season is full blown!  Unfortunately with Rhino’s ankle he’s not seeing to much field time…alot of riding the pine time…not too much play action.  But that’s ok, hopefully the upcoming surgery will make him stronger for next season and an added bonus to the team!

Third he’s still doing the Civil War Reenactment, infact as I type Rhino is on his way back from a weekend long event (which will be his last again due to his ankle surgery).  He had a living history day locally last weekend that I had the absolute pleasure in sticking around for.  One of the best days of my life and it was great to see Rhino smiling, enjoying himself, joking with the Pirates and all around having a good time!!

And fourth but of course not least Rhino is just being a teenager.  Driving us nuts with some attitude at times, texting away like crazy, counting down the days till he’s 16 (a lot of his friends have been turning the big 1-6 the last couple weeks!) and enjoying LIFE as he knows it!!  We continue to be amazed at all the wonderful things in life Christian has brought to us (even though there are times you just really want to sell him to the highest bidder or ship him off to a boot camp!!), we know we are truly blessed with our teenage rhino!!!

Will the REAL rhino please stand up!

Just thought we’d show you truly the REAL rhino.

Not to be confused with the “fake” Rhino.

But I can truly see where you can be confused!  The similarities are quite stunning, aren’t they?  I mean they both have a face only a mother could love!

And well this mother loves her teenage Rhino beyond words.

October is the date

Moments ago I got off the phone with Dr. G’s office.  Rhino’s ankle surgery has been moved up to Thursday, October 8th. 

Guess he can go trick-or-treating this year as a Rhino that got him by a safari truck…lol!

Thanks to everyone for all your positive thoughts and prayers…keep them coming if you don’t mind.  The next 4 months will be a long road ahead!

Part Duo!

Just when I thought dreamed that we had everything under control health/medical wise in the Rhino household….whammo!

Let me back up a minute, as previously mentioned Christian and I headed off to see the sub ortho specialists about his ankle, Dr. G this past Friday.  She’s WONDERFUL!  Rhino feels sooo comfortable with her and sure enough he needs surgery.  We scheduled everything that day for November 30th, so Rhino could continue to play thru soccer season and re-enactment etc, etc (this was per request of Rhino!).

Now today I pick the beast up from soccer practice to see him limping off the field, he crawls up into the vehicle to kindly state…”mom could we please move my surgery up because I’m in so much pain that I can’t play, so it’s either I’m in so much pain that I can’t play or have surgery and not be able to play.  Either way I’m not playing!”.  I could just see the pain in his eyes and the disappointment.  So needless to say, I’ll be on the phone with Dr. G’s office tomorrow to see what can be done!

In other Rhino news…….there’s a Rhinoette (we’ll call her J) roaming around the savannah these days!  Yes, Christian has a girlfriend.  And I believe this one is his first real puppy love…the words “this means alot to me” was spoken and he has a different demeanor about him with Rhinoette.  I’ve yet to meet J, and she lives in another school district, actually another state away but is only about 1/2 hour drive.  We’ll see how this pans out, specially with everything else going on in Rhino’s life.  But I guess if she can handle being thrown into a pond by Rhino and dished it back out at him, J’s gotten one point from me already!

Big Heart

Well the results are in from all of Christian’s cardiology testing.  I came home from work yesterday to a message on the answering machine from Dr. B’s office stating he wanted to see us ASAP, my heart dropped, I got on the phone right away but the office was closed…UGH!  I called first thing this morning and got an appointment for noon time (Rhino was at soccer practice all morning long!).

The news is…..no news!  Yep, really no news, which is good right?  All the tests came back great, no damage to Christian’s heart, all blood flow is flowing, no blockages, the only thing that Dr. B did find was that Rhino’s main chamber of his heart is SLIGHTLY enlarged, only slightly he kept emphasizing.  And really this is to be expected due to his heart working harder due to Christian having the hole, yada, yada, yada (this would not cause any of the problems that Rhino has been experiencing either!).  So where does that leave us?  Right where we are today….watching everything, taking life with each breathe at a time, day by day.

So we keep plugging along down the great path of Rhino’s life.

Enjoy your life Christian with each and every breathe that you take!  Don’t take anything for granted for you blink and it could all disappear! Stay strong, play hard, live harder!

I love you with everything that I am ~mom

New Beginnings

“A New Beginning” that’s what the back of Rhino’s warm up soccer shirt says.  And yeppers, that’s what this year has in store for Rhino a bunch of new beginnings.

First, tonight we got our new soccer sign for our front yard.  New design, all new sign, and Rhino’s full name!  Second, tonight was his first Sophomore season soccer game.  He got to start on the JV squad….hoping this is a trend that continues!

Rhino also went thru his nuclear stress test today at our cardiologist office (he’s been having some issues with his heart lately that he’s never incurred).  Everything went well as can be…he didn’t pass out, didn’t run into any unusual SVT (really high heart rate), etc, etc, etc.  It’s now a wait and see for the rest of the test results….UGH!  Could this lead to another new beginning?  A beginning that we have been blessed enough not to have to endure….surgery, medications, and/or both.  It’s been discussed also, with the cardiologists about pulling Rhino from sports again.  At this point in the game (no pun intended there!) Rhino’s cardiologist feels that he is still safe enough to continue to play soccer.  Rhino’s coaches have been informed of the situation and they monitor him as well.  I sit in the stands at every game and monitor my son too.  We’ve discussed as a family the probabilities of Rhino “crashing” on the soccer field and well…..we’re not going to stop him from something that he loves, that he finds joy in and quite frankly it’s like anything else in life….if we’d sit here and dwell on Rhino’s VSD and put him in a bubble he wouldn’t have a very productive life!  That bubble would burst some day anyways and he would of missed out on a life……..

“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

So it’s a new beginning all around in the Teenage Rhino household, one that is leading us down paths of unknown but sometimes those paths take you to the greatest adventures you’ll ever encounter!

Testing to the Limit

All this week Rhino has some kind of medical testing to go thru. 

To begin with, he’s been having some minor complications with his heart.  At our annual EKG and Echo everything looked the same and we continue to say how blessed we are compared to other heart families, so maybe this is why it’s scarier, because we have been so blessed! (Now I’m not trying to take away from anyone else and I’m not trying to say that our situation is worse etc, etc so please don’t take it like that.)  The cardiologist feels that there might be some underlying problems that aren’t showing up on the “normal” testing so off we go for some extensive testing BUT then again this just might be “growing pains”.

Secondly, as previously mentioned, we head off at the end of the week to see the sub specialists for Rhino’s ankle.  She will be the one that will definitely tell us if/when surgery will ensue.  Rhino and I had a nice long talk about impending surgery, what he would like, what I would like and technically what is.  I’m thinking praying we are as prepared as can be.  I even went to the high school the other day to speak with them as to what mayhems would incur there…..oh this could be a long winter.  But as long as Christian remains as healthy as possible that’s what matters in the long run!! (and may I have a bottle of wine to get me through the long winter, lol!)

 

A Future Penn Stater

If you see us walking around, walk into our humbly hectic messy household, or heck even speak to us, you know our family is Penn State fans ALL THE WAY!  Christian has been wondering around Happy Valley (for those of you that don’t know that’s Main Campus, State College, PA) since the ripe old age of 2! We’d push him around in his stroller, bouncing him down the steps…his biggest thrill…feeding the squirrels the unshelled peanuts.  They literally come right up and take them out of your hand because they are so use to people and they would run up one side of Christian’s stroller take the nut out of Christian’s chubby little hand and run right back down the other side of the stroller…I can still hear Christian’s childish laughter, unfortunately we were such young struggling parents…no camera to prove it!

(Christian’s old favorite PSU hat!)

(Christian’s new favorite PSU hat!)

Christian has grown up with no pressure from us (other than stating you CAN NOT go to Ohio State!!!!) wanting to go to Penn State. I’d love to see this happen.  We try every year (recently most haven’t been successful) to go back for a visit and did just that yesterday.  Memories flood back every time BUT this time it was so different.  Christian is bigger, he’s the size of a college kid, he’s closer to BEING a college kid.

  I stopped and watched my little boy walk those steps that we used to stroll him in and I started to cry, right there and then.  Yep, the mom broke down like the biggest dork ever but it also made me realize thankful for what a wonderful child that I have!

Christian for whatever the future holds (again as long as it is NOT Ohio State, LOL) you’ve made us proud of who you are and who you maintain to be.  Keep walking that right path down that narrow slippery road.  And oh yea maybe there will always be some Creamery at the end for ya!

 

Only a mother could love this..

Yes, that is my 15 year old son with HIS new FAVORITE Penn State Nittany Lion hat.  We just got home from our trip down to PSU and we’re all exhausted, happily exhausted though but I thought knew I had to share this we you all first.  More photos and the story to come later.

Not Lost Just Playing Opossum

I know it’s been a long time since we’ve posted but as things here as normal as possible.  Christian has been doing his civil war re-enactment about every other weekend plus having soccer practice 2 to 3 times a week.  Soccer season doesn’t official start until next week and re-enactment will die down then so it’s all washing out.  I don’t know if Christian is as excited for soccer season as I am…..I just can’t wait to get back on those fields and root for our boys!!!

 

In other words, soccer season just might not happen either.  We just found out the Christian’s ankle that he previously injured isn’t “right” and we are more than likely (the orthopedic specialist is saying 100%) that he will be having surgery on it.  We go see a sub-specialist that just specializes in foot and ankle orthopedics the end of this month and see if she confirms this!  I’m hoping that we can talk her into letting him play out the season and then just to the surgery in October/November.  At this point he can’t do any more harm to his ankle so…….

 

Well stay tuned to see if the Rhino gets to charge the field…….or just gets to play opossum (or ride the pine) like here during a recent re-enactment.

A Weekend with the Rhino…finally!

We finally got to spend a whole weekend with Christian and not having anything that we HAD to do.  We started our weekend on Thursday night with going down town for Roar on the Shore.  Christian seemed to really enjoy himself and was talking about how he’d like to get his motorcycle license.  Friday, after soccer practice, Christian and I just hung out for a while and did a little shopping for some soccer items that he needs for season and we just enjoyed being together.  Off to work I went and the Rhino had the night time to spend with the dad and Papa Glen (they had a men’s night!). 

Saturday we went off as a family to the annual Cherry Festival in North East and to the longest VFD parade in PA!  Sorry to say this was the first year that Rhino wasn’t out there fighting for candy (or getting candy thrown at him!) like the rest of the kids…..guess this really does mean the kiddo has grown up…ugh!

The weekend was one for the books and even Rhino mentioned that it was nice to finally have time together.  Guess being away from the parents so much lately made this weekend extra special for Rhino too!

Shackled by Pirates?

Rhino had an interesting weekend to say the least.  He got whipped by pirates for supposedly stealing their flag.

 

So being a thief he was shackled (the sign around his neck reads “Tic Tac Thief”)

and led among the crowd for over an hour for display and harassment then only to be SHOT to death (I’m being told he died well too!)

and of course then his comrades steal his shoes and socks and pick pocket him. But they did leave him with his pants on……lol!

and the best part of it all……………….he gets to do it again in two more weeks!

And if you get the opportunity to see the Lake Erie Pirates grab it by the horn and run with it.  These group of individuals are GREAT!

Fireworks

The Rhino had another Civil War Re-enactment this weekend closer to home (only a 45 minute drive this time!) and the bonus on top of it all was the Battery got to start the firework show on Friday night! WOOT WOOT!

 

You can see here the fireworks and the civil war era tents the guys use!  So it was double bonus for the hubby and I to go and see the kiddo in action plus to see a firework show! 

Rhino is home now, stuffing his face full of food and off to use the world of modern technology….for how long he will stay home well that’s a wonder unto its own.  I’m thinking these days are preparing us for when Rhino leaves the nest for college. Yes I know we have 3 more years till then but I KNOW I will need those years to nicely ease myself into knowing my son won’t just be gone for a weekend, or a night at a friends house but for months on end….Argh.

Why’s this person calling me Mom?

The Rhino has been an illusive beast this summer (as previously mentioned!). 

Other than our family trip to Columbus we’ve hardly seen the lad for more than 24 hours here and there!

Now I know the feeling my parents must of went through when I hit my teenage years and was constantly on the go (or wanted to be constantly on the go!).  Christian was invited to spend the weekend with Eggie and family at their camp over the 4th of July weekend and again he’ll be off for re-enactment on Thursday!

So truly who is this beast that walked into my house with a duffle bag FULL of dirty laundry….calling me mom ….demanding what was for dinner….and then marching off to the great wonders of modern technology? 

Because my sweet little boy is still in the back yard playing with his Tonka trucks and Rescue Heroes while I’m drawing his bath water and getting ready to tuck him in for the night…….aw the memories!