Kimler Adventure Pages (http://randsco.com)

After Week Six

Get Well Card: The office staff from our local Island Savings Credit Union, took the time to send Alex this get-well card, along with some "Penny the Owl" (mascot) goodies - balloons, stickers, tattoos and a mask. Alex says, "Thanks for thinking of me!"

Hutton House - The bones appear to be mended, but the elbow still looks 'fat' and the ROM is still not 100%.

Reporters gathered on the Randsco campus on Tuesday, to celebrate the summer solstice and to find out how Alex was doing after she suffered a fracture & dislocation of her right arm in a freak bicycle accident, in early May.

"I'm fine," she told the assembled group, holding up her right arm (still bent at a slight angle).

"As always," reported mom, "her spirits are good, despite the fact that she still looks like she has a 'broken wing'.

Alex crashed her bike into a steep ditch on May 7th. Her parents rushed her to the emergency centre at Nanaimo Regional Hospital, where she was prepped for surgery only a few hours later. Dr. Malone performed a closed reduction, while Alex was under a general anesthetic. The fractured bit of bone seemed to "fall back into place", so Alex was placed in a tensor bandaged 'half-cast' for a week. The cast came off after a week and she was encouraged to 'use her arm'. At about week three, it was evident that Alex was not regaining full motion in her arm. The doctor prescribed physio-therapy, where they measured her loss of range of motion at 55%. Working diligently the past 3 weeks, (joylessly) doing prescribed exercises, Alex made rapid gains - 20% on contraction and 15% on extension.

Unfortunately, just after six weeks, Alex has hit a tad of a 'brick wall' on her ROM. It seems that she's lost about 15% of extension and cannot straighten her arm, despite exercising.

Dr. Malone's take?

"That's just the way nature works. It's a functioning arm, so it just might be something that she has to learn to live with."

Say What?

Parents were disappointed to hear this news and thought it was poor bedside manner to give up so soon and also to plant seeds of doubt in such a young, bright mind.

"The doctors might be giving up," Scott told reporters, "but we're not!"

Scott plans on building a pull-up bar on the Randsco campus, from which Alex can hang. Hopefully, using her body weight will help to gain back that last 15% of extension.

"Nooooo!" Alex said, reacting to the perceived pain of stretching her tendons.

Alex doesn't like working her arm and she seems to have adapted to its limited range of motion. For starters, Alex is a 'lefty' and it was her right arm that was broken, so she doesn't use it as much as she would if she were right-handed. The pain of the break and dislocation is also fresh in her mind and she winces each time Rachel or Scott assist with 'exercises'. Stretching tendons reminds her of this pain and she holds back and whines.

"Her arm is still really 'fat' too," said Rachel, "The physio-therapist told us that the size of her elbow will gradually diminish, over the next six months or so. Alex took a very serious blow and there's still lots of swelling and irritation."

"Thanks to everyone that has wished Alex a speedy recovery," added Scott. Members of the North Cedar Fire Hall, where Scott volunteers, bought Alex a book on "How to Draw" and sent a (Shaw Cable) "Care Bear" stuffy. Members of our local Credit Union sent Alex a get well card and "Penny the Owl" goodies. Alex's "Fairy God Mother" in Seattle asks after Alex on a regular basis and sends hugs over the Internet. Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and great-Aunts have all sent cards.

"Alex is doing fine, but we're not quite out of the woods yet," said Scott.

After 20 Days

Hutton House - Twenty days ago, Alex crashed her new bicycle into a ditch near the house. It wasn't a particularly steep ditch, nor was it filled with big boulders (like further up the roadway). She just landed awkwardly and then the bicycle landed on top of her.

When she walked down the driveway, she said, "I think I broke my arm!" as she sobbed.

She hadn't a bruise on her, nor a scratch. Dad thought for sure she was OKAY ... till he felt her arm.

"We better take off your jacket," he said.

Sure enough, it looked like Alex had dislocated her elbow. Rachel rushed her off to the Urgent Care facility in Ladysmith where, as a precaution, they took an X-Ray, before any attempts to put it back in place.

An initial look at the X-Ray seemed to indicate that Alex had only dislocated her elbow, but upon closer scrutiny, they decided it might be broken, as well. They recommended that Alex head up to Nanaimo Regional Hospital, in case surgery was needed.

After visiting the Emergency Room, doctors in Nanaimo decided that it was indeed a break and because there were operating theatres available, that the operation would take place that very day. She was admitted, prepped for surgery and underwent a general anesthetic which put her out cold. It was only afterward, that we learned that a closed reduction (relocation of the elbow, without cutting any skin) was successful and seemingly snapped the bone back in place too.

This was good news, as it meant that Alex wouldn't have to "go under the knife".

Broken Arm: Smiling through the pain and haze of drugs, Alex colors a picture in her room the day after her surgery. She's resting her broken arm (which is in a fibreglass half-cast and then wrapped with an Ace bandage) on a pillow on a chair, for support.

Her arm was wrapped in a fibreglqass "half-cast", which held her arm in a bent position. The cast was wrapped and held in place by a long Ace bandage. Alex was groggy, after the surgery, but her spirits were good. She was sent home after several hours of observation.

The cast was on for a week (and then left on during the weekend, as we embarked upon our annual 'Fire Hall Fishing Derby' camping weekend, up at Nanaimo Lakes). Better to have the cast on, protecting Alex's arm whilst playing and then off at night, whilst sleeping.

Alex didn't seem to be in much pain, but as one might expect, she didn't have a great range of motion with her elbow, either.

It's now been nearly three weeks since her accident and she's been out of the cast for some time. She's been instructed to try to straighten her arm as much as possible, but it pains her to do so and she still has limited motion. (She can barely touch her shoulder with her right hand and still can't straighten her right arm ... missing about 20-degrees of movement).

She had a follow-up visit to the doctor just after one week. The bone fragment that broke is roughly in the same position as it was after the closed reduction ... sitting just a tad further away than it was originally. The surgeon says this shouldn't cause much problem and will probably result in a slight thickening of her elbow - nothing more.

Alex has another follow-up visit this coming Tuesday and we'll be eager to hear what he says about the (continued) limited range of motion. Alex doesn't like trying to straighten her arm - "because it hurts," she says and hasn't been working at it as diligently as she could, as a result. Because she'd predominantly left-handed, having her right arm out of commission doesn't seem to bother her too much, as she carries it around like a broken wing.

Anxious parents want the assurance that she won't have a "broken wing" for life and are eager to see her healed with a full and complete range of motion.

Meanwhile, in other news ... both Rachel and Scott reported spotting loads more grey hairs on their heads this past week. Neither know why this might be. Any ideas?

Bad Day for the Oop

Alex in Pain: Alex's face says it all, as she cries in pain after crashing her bicycle into a steep ditch. We're hoping she's only dislocated her elbow (yellow highlighted area), and we rushed her down to the Urgent Care facility in nearby Ladysmith. _{Randsco Newswire}

The Hutton House - Alex took a tumble on her new bicycle (which has gears and front/rear hand-brakes). She went into a steep ditch not too far from our driveway.

Mom and Dad weren't there to witness the event, but heard a crying Alex walking down the long driveway.

"I think I broke my arm," she says.

Alex looked fine. No cuts, scrapes or blood anywhere. But when Dad felt her arm through her long-sleeved jacket, he was immediately concerned.

"That doesn't feel right," he said to himself.

He quickly exposed the arm, by taking off the jacket. Sure enough, it looked like Alex had dislocated her elbow.

Mom took Alex down to Urgent Care facility in Ladysmith. She's down there right now getting X-Rays - to make sure there's nothing broken - before they consider putting her elbow back in place.

Poor Oop.

Eighth Boat Added to Randsco Fleet

Powell River: The "new" Current Designs kayak loaded onto the Subaru wagon at the Powell River Sea Kayak at Okeover Inlet (Sunshine Coast). _{Randsco Newswire}

Powell River, BC - Reporters learned yesterday that the Randsco executive staff took an unscheduled trip to Powell River Kayaking, on the Sunshine Coast, to pick up a twenty-one foot tandem kayak. This addition ups the total of boats owned or held by Randsco to - a whopping - eight!

"For a desert rat," said Scott, "this is far more boats than I thought I'd ever have!"

Performance: As one might expect, maneuvering rating is low for this "bus" of a sea kayak! _{Randsco Newswire}

The new boat is a Current Designs Libra XT kayak, a high-volume, double (or triple) passenger touring kayak. It's overall length comes in at a garage-stuffing 21 feet 8 inches and the fiberglass model - which is the one the Kimler's purchased - weighs a back-breaking 92 pounds. The upper deck gel coat is a pleasing light blue color ("Caribbean Blue" according the the Current Designs color chart).

"Ewe," said Scott, "Doesn't that sound fancy?"

"It's not a fast boat," said Rachel, "but it will hold a ton of gear, is really stable and - best of all - it can seat three people, so we can take Alex out for some kayaking fun!"

Cockpit: Close up of the forward cockpit. Behind is the center hatch, which can hold either gear or a 3rd person, then the rear cockpit and hatch. _{Randsco Newswire}

The center hatch serves a dual purpose, as it can be used to stow gear (with two paddlers), or can be used to seat a third paddler. It even has a molded fiberglass "seat" built right in, for this purpose ... which was one of the selling features for Scott and Rachel.

The Bus: View from the rear: rudder, rear hatch, cockpit, center hatch and forward cockpit. Nearly 22 feet of boat! _{Randsco Newswire}

"As Alex becomes more proficient with paddling," explained Rachel, "we can move her from the center hatch to the forward seat. Then we can take two kayaks with us on our family trips: a single touring kayak and this Libra XT double."

Rounding out the stats on the Libra XT, the boat has a 32-inch beam, forward and rear hatches. The forward hatch has a 22 gallon volume and the rear hatch has a 27 gallon volume. The maximum load rating for the Libra XT is an astounding, scale-straining 850 pounds! (You really CAN take the kitchen sink!)

The Libra XT has proven itself with many tour operators because of its safety, seaworthiness, comfort, carrying capacity and quality construction. Indeed, Scott & Rachel bought this boat from such an operator - Adam Vallance, the owner of Powell River Sea Kayak. They picked up this used kayak at their location in Okeover Inlet, a beautiful location and great launching spot for the Desolation Sound Marine Park - a kayaking destination paradise.

"We'll have to do some kayaking here," said Rachel, as they loaded their "new" kayak onto the Subaru station wagon.

Fleet Number: Guess we'll have to change the number 22 to 5 and replace the "Powell River Kayak" with "Randsco Boats" or something! _{Randsco Newswire}

This brings the number of kayaks owned by Randsco to five. Two recreational kayaks at the floating cabin, two single touring kayaks and - now - this triple touring Libra XT "bus"!

"We have too many boats," said Scott, "We must be out of our minds!"

The reviews by paddlers about the Current Designs Libra XT are much what one would expect. "The stability is amazing," wrote one reviewer, "we never tipped [and] it holds a TON OF GEAR ... almost 220 pounds worth".

"Comfortable ... very roomy ... tons of storage capacity."

As one might expect, some people complained about the speed of the boat. One couple said they averaged only 4 to 4.5 mph in the boat. Some don't like that there isn't drainage around either cockpit or hatches.

We are looking forward to family kayaking trips in our "new" Libra XT. Keep an eye out on Randsco for our shakedown cruise in this boat that some call a "touring Cadillac" (and others call an "aircraft carrier")! LOL