ismo

Well . . . that was a day that didn't turn out quite as planned. It didn't turn out as feared, either, so there's that. The Sparrowhawk was going to an all-day retreat. A friend asked me what I planned to do meanwhile, and I said I would try to get something done for a change, ha ha. I cleaned up the kitchen and put my laundry in the wash, and then I was just putting my shoes on to go out and work in the yard. And then, the phone rang. It was one of the guys from the retreat calling to let me know that the Sparrowhawk had passed out for a couple of minutes. He'd been checked out by a PA who was present, who, out of an abundance of caution, decided to call the EMTs to have a look at him. And they, out of their own abundance of caution, took him to the ER at the local heart hospital to be looked at. Meanwhile I didn't have a car, because he had it. Another one of our friends who was present drove the car back to our house, picked me up, took me to the hospital, and came in and sat with us until it was clear that things were under control and he could leave. These are some good and kind men.

The Sparrowhawk was looking all right when I got there, but a bit forlorn in his hospital gown, all stickered up with EKG tags as if he were on display at a yard sale. One of his blood markers, the one that can indicate a blood clot, was high, so they X-rayed and then CAT scanned him. All this took up most of the day. Finally, a very nice doctor came in and announced that the tests didn't show any clots or heart malfunctions, so they were going to conclude he was just dehydrated. On the discharge summary, it says "Elderly dehydration" . . . Oh the indignity. This is a real rookie mistake. We certainly know from long experience with the aged parents that old people can easily become dehydrated, and need to drink a lot of water, but I guess we thought we were smarter than to fall for that problem. He had just gone out early in the morning, not eaten properly or had enough water, and presto, a fainting spell. Let this be a lesson to us. There will be an annoying amount of hydration going on around here from now on.

Anyway, they let him go, and I took him home and fed him. So much for getting things done. At least something gave me a premonition, prior to the phone ringing, that I should take a shower and put on my public pants, so lucky me. Also lucky me because no further treatment is needed, other than gallons of water!