So here is the LONG OVERDUE story of my Mom. In early April, my Mom set off on a 30 day cruise to Peru. I took her down to the ship only to find the longest line in the history of long lines. The ship started boarding at 1 PM and I dropped her off in the mega line at 1:20. They were set to leave port at 5 PM. At 4:20 PM, I got a call from her that she had JUST gotten on ship and to her room. The poor old broad had to wait (alone) in line for 3 hours in the hot sun with no food or water. (and it was uphill both ways in the snow) After we chatted briefly about how miserable that was, I wished her happy sailing and we hung up. The next day I got a call from the ship's doctor saying: "your Mom is fine, but she fell and broke her pelvis." Well now, that's not really fine, now is it? Poor Mommy Dearest made it about 17 hours into her trip, went into the theater to hear a presentation on something, didn't see a step, stumbled, landed on her hip and ended her vacation.The medical staff on the ship took very good care of her. She was x-rayed and it was determined she fractured her pelvis, not her hip. They weren't sure how bad it was, so they made a makeshift brace for her pelvic area, put in a catheter and put her in bed. She was travelling with a friend who kept her company till they could get her off the ship. That happened 2 days later in Puerto Vallarta. (He went on to do the rest of the cruise alone.) Mommy Dearest was smart and bought trip insurance. They took care of chartering a plane to fly her home after they got her off the ship. Once in SD they transferred her to Kaiser Hospital's ER. That afternoon I went down to find her after a few hours of not knowing where she was. (It was all pretty confusing that day with lots of phone calls trying to figure out where she was.) She ended up being in the ER for about 10 hours. They x-rayed her and found she had a good break as far as pelvis fractures go, no surgery needed, as well as no brace. The fracture was (is) weight bearing, so basically, she was told she pretty much just needed to heal, which included getting up and walking on it. From there they were sending her to a convalescent care facility, not their hospital, so we were able to request she be moved a rehab hospital here in Poway. The place is actually connected to the hospital where the kids were born so each day when we went to see Granna, we would talk about which window on the top floor was the room they were born in. Rose, Owen and Madeline had fun making artwork for Granna's walls. David and Joey loved playing with the room divider curtain, wheel chairs and handicap toilet seat. They also loved to check out the parakeets in the lobby. Loads of bunnies live around the place too, so they were fun to find. The first time we walked in to see Granna, David remarked how pretty the place was. What a sweet and sensitive boy he is!
Mom rehabbed at the hospital for about 2 1/2 weeks. They had her up and walking after a day or two with the help of a walker. She is now back at her house. Her sister, Carolyn, drove out from Missouri with her dog Annie to stay with her for a few weeks while she gets her land legs back. She has done a really good job of taking care of Mom, disciplining her with a whip as needed when Mom misbehaves. Mom has been home for a week and a half and is really getting on pretty well. She can get up and walk around with the walker. And although she is still on pain meds, she is doing great compared to where she was. From the start of all of this she has been a real trooper and always in good spirits. That was one of the first comments from the nurse who was caring for her on the ship.
So, now the race is on for Mom to get back in shape for her next trip in July.....another cruise, this time to Alaska, so DRESS WARM..... with a few family members, us included. Maybe I will get her a headlamp to wear so she can spot those menacing steps.
No comments:
Post a Comment