A Break in the Action

Usually, taking a break is a pre-planned, much-anticipated respite from intense activity for the purpose of rest and relaxation. And other times, well, not so much.

The last thing Kevin expected when he headed out to the barn one cold, snowy February morning to get the tractor to plow the driveway, was that he would slip on a patch of ice hidden beneath the snow and come crashing down on his buckled-under right leg, causing a complex spiral fracture of the tibia and also breaking the fibula.

Game changer.

Although he was able to control much of what followed–wife driving him to the hospital rather than calling an ambulance, refusing pain meds, staff at Dixon hospital working with staff at Naperville Hospital to allow him to be transferred (again, without an ambulance), and getting accepted by the surgeon of his choice to operate and put a rod in his leg the following day–the one big thing he could not–and cannot–control is the length of time it will take the bone to heal and the degree to which he is debilitated in the meantime. As it turns out, he broke the slowest healing bone in the body, and he broke it in the slowest healing spot on the bone. He can put absolutely no weight on it for at least eight weeks, and he can’t expect full recovery for about six months.

X-ray — Complex Spiral Fracture of tibia and fractured fibula

Xray with rod — After surgery–titanium rod and screws in place

So…all those finishing touches on the house and the all the projects outside? They’ll just have to wait.

And…the handyman business that had just started picking up? That will have to wait.

After the initial shock of realizing he broke his leg (the loud crack it made and the fact that he couldn’t control his foot), Kevin sighed and said, “Okay, God, You’ve got my attention. You must want to teach me something.” And the next thing he thought, after letting it soak in a minute that he would not be able to work for an extended period of time, was that he would NOT spend the next few months sitting on his duff scrolling through mindless YouTubes and following politics on his phone. Handing his phone to Sue, he said, “Here, check it a couple of times a day to be sure I don’t miss any important calls.” Since we don’t have TV, he also would not be sitting around staring at that screen.

Thanks to our friends Mike and Bonnie for sending the DVD of The Rear Window as a get well gift. It was inspiring….

And that was that. He tried to read, but until his post-anesthesia brain fuzziness dissipated, that proved to be a bit of a challenge. But gradually, he was able to focus for longer periods of time and he ended up reading a stack of paperbacks. He also listened to sermons from some of his favorite preachers as well as some audio books.

Then he was able to get back to studying his Bible, and eventually to doing research for future projects around the house and yard, and more importantly in the short term, something productive to do in the meantime.

And that is how he came to order a leather working kit and some scrap leather. He’s planning to call this new business Broken Leg Leather, and as soon as he gets enough inventory, we’ll set up an Etsy account or something. For now, he’s really enjoying learning the craft and using his skilled hands and artistic mind to begin creating some unique items.

You can keep up to date with Kevin’s project by following him on Instagram @great_gonzumaka.

During the “break” we will try to do a few blog posts catching up on some past projects we haven’t yet shared. And Kevin is holding court most days for anyone who would like to visit. Since he’s had plenty of time to research and think, he has a leg up on most any topic.