Chickadee of Sleet
Feb. 5th, 2019 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoI'm distracted from feeling sorry for myself. Last night, just as we were going to bed, I got a call from the Duchess to let me know that Mother had fallen and was in the hospital. The Duchess was on her way over to see what was going on. Thus began the last 24 hours of controlled consternation. The Duchess got to the small-town hospital where Mother had been taken, and immediately started the process of getting her transferred to the big university hospital where she had her heart procedure done. It was a good thing she did, too. The docs at the small-town hospital agreed Mother would be better off getting transferred, too.
The story, as we learned it bit by bit, was that she'd decided to go hang up some clothes in the closet. She lost her balance and fell, breaking her hip, her femur, her shoulder, her pelvic bone, and her glasses. It was not a violent fall, but she is so fragile now that any impact is traumatic. We had a couple of things scheduled this morning, including a visit from the furnace repairman, and didn't want to leave town before that was completed. So it took what seemed like an ungodly long time to pack ourselves up and head over here. We arrived about four. Meanwhile, Mother had surgery to repair internal bleeding from an artery damaged in the fall, and then went back into the OR to have a titanium pin installed to hold her hip joint together. The femur and pelvic breaks will heal on their own, and they're not even going to think about her shoulder until they get her up and walking again.
When we got here, we talked to the Duchess and got filled in on all that had been happening so far. Heavens bless the Duchess. She's been up all night with Mother and has done an amazing job of accompanying and caring for her. Then she and the Duke went home for a much-needed break. Mr. Science's daughter was there too. She was in town for a conference and had planned to visit Grandmother today. She ended up visiting her in the hospital. Mother was in recovery for a long time because it was taking her forever to shake off the anesthetic, and she had some episodes of apnea, so they were keeping an eye on her. Finally she came back to the room and we spent several hours watching over her and occasionally trying to talk to her and orient her when she opened her eyes and said something. I tried to swab her mouth to make it easier for her to talk, but she scared me by trying to bite the swab and I had quite a time getting her to let me have it back! I was afraid she was going to choke on it, so I didn't try that again.
When Mr. Science came in, she perked up quite a bit and starting talking a blue streak, but a lot of it didn't make too much sense. She said she was tired of driving, with big dogs and strawberries! Maybe that did make sense but I'm just not getting it. Her leg has good circulation. She can feel her foot, and move it. They said everything went just the way it was supposed to.
The Duchess told us that she'd been told--AFTER the surgery for internal bleeding--that Mother had experienced a "fatal hip fracture." The fracture had damaged her artery, and she would have died from blood loss if the Duchess hadn't moved her to the big hospital, where they did another scan and found the bleeding. The counselor who told her that wanted to know how much further we planned to go in patching Mother back together. I guess she thought this would have been a time when we could have decided to let her go. However, that was never presented as an option, so we could not have considered it even if we had wanted to. Step by step, Mother keeps dodging those bullets--albeit in slow motion. I know that rehab will be a long, tough road, if indeed she ever makes it there. And I don't know how long she can keep going. I know there comes a time to stop. But I guess as long as she keeps going, we will be there to walk by her side.
Not walking anywhere at the moment, however. Nor driving either! We're in our motel room and ready to crash.
The story, as we learned it bit by bit, was that she'd decided to go hang up some clothes in the closet. She lost her balance and fell, breaking her hip, her femur, her shoulder, her pelvic bone, and her glasses. It was not a violent fall, but she is so fragile now that any impact is traumatic. We had a couple of things scheduled this morning, including a visit from the furnace repairman, and didn't want to leave town before that was completed. So it took what seemed like an ungodly long time to pack ourselves up and head over here. We arrived about four. Meanwhile, Mother had surgery to repair internal bleeding from an artery damaged in the fall, and then went back into the OR to have a titanium pin installed to hold her hip joint together. The femur and pelvic breaks will heal on their own, and they're not even going to think about her shoulder until they get her up and walking again.
When we got here, we talked to the Duchess and got filled in on all that had been happening so far. Heavens bless the Duchess. She's been up all night with Mother and has done an amazing job of accompanying and caring for her. Then she and the Duke went home for a much-needed break. Mr. Science's daughter was there too. She was in town for a conference and had planned to visit Grandmother today. She ended up visiting her in the hospital. Mother was in recovery for a long time because it was taking her forever to shake off the anesthetic, and she had some episodes of apnea, so they were keeping an eye on her. Finally she came back to the room and we spent several hours watching over her and occasionally trying to talk to her and orient her when she opened her eyes and said something. I tried to swab her mouth to make it easier for her to talk, but she scared me by trying to bite the swab and I had quite a time getting her to let me have it back! I was afraid she was going to choke on it, so I didn't try that again.
When Mr. Science came in, she perked up quite a bit and starting talking a blue streak, but a lot of it didn't make too much sense. She said she was tired of driving, with big dogs and strawberries! Maybe that did make sense but I'm just not getting it. Her leg has good circulation. She can feel her foot, and move it. They said everything went just the way it was supposed to.
The Duchess told us that she'd been told--AFTER the surgery for internal bleeding--that Mother had experienced a "fatal hip fracture." The fracture had damaged her artery, and she would have died from blood loss if the Duchess hadn't moved her to the big hospital, where they did another scan and found the bleeding. The counselor who told her that wanted to know how much further we planned to go in patching Mother back together. I guess she thought this would have been a time when we could have decided to let her go. However, that was never presented as an option, so we could not have considered it even if we had wanted to. Step by step, Mother keeps dodging those bullets--albeit in slow motion. I know that rehab will be a long, tough road, if indeed she ever makes it there. And I don't know how long she can keep going. I know there comes a time to stop. But I guess as long as she keeps going, we will be there to walk by her side.
Not walking anywhere at the moment, however. Nor driving either! We're in our motel room and ready to crash.
