Well, the plan was for Akemi, Sharky and I to fly in to Montreal on Friday and spend the next two weeks with mom while my sister headed off for a well-earned two weeks in Cuba. Unfortunately, fate – and varied ailments – have conspired against us.
Last time I was in town, a little less than two weeks, my mother was seeing some improvement – accomplishing some sustained walking, exercising, even doing stairs instead of relying on the chairlift. But near the end of my stay, she slipped and almost fell, catching herself on the bathroom sink. For days afterwards, she complained about pain near her ribs. It made exercising uncomfortable and, quite quickly, she became immobile. Unable to physically move my mother to take her to the hospital, sis had to call for an ambulance.
At the hospital, x-rays revealed my mother had a fractured rib – and pneumonia (apparently not uncommon in older people who suffer rib injuries). She received treatment and made a surprising bounce back. The following day, she was actually back on her feet and walking. The hospital suggested keeping her overnight and, if all went well, she would be released – and things could proceed as planned.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. My sister received a call early yesterday morning informing her that my mother had fallen out of her bed in the middle of the night. X-rays revealed a fractured hip.
To make a long blog entry short, mom is going in for surgery on Thursday, her second hip surgery after that time she fell while walking the dog. My sister has elected to cancel her much-needed vacation and it looks like we’ll all be focused on ensuring mom gets back on her feet and is well enough to leave the hospital as quickly as possible. According to Grok, a patient her age with her pre-existing conditions would take a week to regain initial mobility, but a full recovery may take up to two months.
It’s hard to believe that, this time last year, my mother was actually going in to work 3 days a week!
Leave a Reply