Harold foot

A few weeks ago I got a text from harold with this picture saying I cut my foot with an axe while splitting wood. 

Then more pictures showing the boot and the x-ray. An axe got stuck in a piece of wood he was splitting so he lifted both to strike down to finish the split and the sharp axe and dry wood went faster than he was use to and the final blow ended up in his foot. This must be a lesson he needed to learn because a few weeks earlier he sent me a picture of a different boot he had sliced into with a box cutter. He did not cut through to skin that time. 

Can you see the split on the bone on the second set from the bottom? Yep broken foot with broken skin on top. 
 

Having been down this road with Mark a few years ago I wanted to demand he come home and sit in a chair for a month. I wanted to tell his bosses what to do and how to do it.  However, he is a legal adult and responsible for his decisions so that was not my say or place. He sent this picture a few days later of the stitches and bruising. I repeatedly told him to stay off the foot he had to just let it heal. 

This is not easy for the guy who has never sat still since he was an immobile baby. He figured out new less busy ways to move himself around and spent a week fixing horseshoes, but he was using crutches enough. The follow-up visit was a good reminder to be more serious about healing and staying off the foot. The doctor was surprised it hadn't healed more. Harold was admonished to be more vigilant and single footed. He obeyed this time and got this far in his recovery. 

This weeks appointment was positive he has another week at least of sitting around and hopefully using crutches. This has been an important lesson for me as a mom to watch from afar. This is not my problem, or foot, or consequences. This is his and he will deal with whatever he chooses. Of course I would love to make it all better but I cannot. So I encourage, ask questions, pray, and wait. That is really really hard to watch from a long ways away through pictures. But it is quicker than days gone by. I'm thankful he is healing and thankful he can still do things just much slower and more inhibited than he would prefer. I'm thankful Aliza is there to keep an eye on him. We are blessed as we learn and stretch and grow.