May.... July? Part One

Where did June go?

Wow. What a summer so far. In a quick attempt to catch everyone up........ here is what we have been up to for the past few weeks.

PART ONE
My father attempted to scale his kitchen counter to change a lightbulb back in May. The stepstool pushed out from under him and down he went, breaking his shoulder in several places. He needed major surgery, and the day after his surgery, against the doctor's advice, he checked out to go home because "the hospital bed wasn't comfortable". Mom gets him home, he starts blacking out, she can't move him anywhere and makes him lean up against a bookcase while she goes to get a folding chair so that he can sit down right where he was standing and then she calls Linda and I in tears saying "get here now". Now, my parents live over 2 hours away but Linda and I packed up as soon as we could and drove to Buena Vista. In the meantime, she called the hospital (30 minutes away), a home health nurse came and checked his vitals and based on her assessments, he was sent back to the hospital in an ambulance. Linda in her car (with Cullyn) and Greg and Landon and I each spent a harrowing trip driving to BV. At one point, after my sister arrived at the hospital and I was still about 30 minutes away, she told me to "hurry" meaning that she didn't think Dad looked good at all and was afraid of the worst. When we arrived at the hospital, he seemed to be in good spirits and the situation didn't seem as dire. We stayed for the next 2 days, shuttling my mom back and forth to the hospital and eventually checking him out and settling him at home. For the next few weeks, my mom took care of him accompanied by Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, home health nurses, RNs, etc. He is now very much on the mend but for a couple of days there, my mind definitely wandered to the worst case scenarios. The possibility of blood clots, pneumonia, etc. all of which could be life threatening.

I guess all of us at this age begin to think about the horrible thoughts..... how life will be without our parents, etc. I am not ready for that for a long time. I am just glad that everything turned out OK.

There was one good thing that came out of all this. I was able to be there for my mom like she has been there for me all my life, especially since Landon was born. We drove home from the hospital in her car the day that Greg and I had to leave and I was able to give her advice..... she was completely overwhelmed with Dad, with Tuffy (he needs surgery and is on pills to get his liver values where they need to be to operate), with her 97 year old mother's failing health and the very real possibility that she would need to make a last minute trip out there in the near future, etc. I talked to her about tackling things. Every day, do what you need to do or what you want to do but don't worry about the stuff you feel you should do. I tried to get her to take at least 15 minutes a couple times a day for herself - reading a book, etc. And focus only on the immediate next step of any of her concerns - Tuffy, Dad and her mom. We had a really good talk in that 30 minute car ride. I feel like I am taking care of her a bit. I think I was able to help her feel a little less overwhelmed.

Greg and I came back two more times in one week - one to help her to get Dad back home and one the following weekend to bring her food and help her with the day to day duties.

It felt good to be there for my Mom. And it feels good to have dodged the worst case scenario by a long shot - so many other things could have gone wrong, including the fact that my Dad's head could have been the first thing to hit the tile floor rather than his tailbone and then his elbow. Yes, I think about the what ifs constantly. I just have to thank my lucky stars above that things are better now.

Part Two of the crazy last 6 weeks coming soon. Tomorrow. Promise!