Catastrophe

My 101 year old Mother fell in my house at 5 am this morning and broke her wrist. I was still in bed upstairs when I heard this small thump, and the dog got up and looked at me like, ‘well, aren’t you going to do anything?’ So I got up to see what went thump and there she was sitting on the floor in the hall by the bathroom. It was not an auspicious beginning to the day. I could not lift her up, nor could she get herself up. ‘I think I’ve broken my arm’ she said. Following Hermana’s advice before she left for vacation on what to do if Mother fell, I called 911. I did not realize that they would keep me on the phone talking for what seemed like an eternity. When it sunk in they might show up while I was still running around in my nightgown, I raced upstairs to change, then 911 transferred me over to the paramedics as I was still getting dressed. I raced back downstairs, got my Mother’s hearing aids and dentures into her so she would look presentable, threw the dog outside, then did as the emergency crew asked and unlocked the front door and turned the front porch light on.

In no time five burly young firemen in full gear were walking into the house, grilling my Mother about her condition and seeking medical information such as current medications and drug allergies which was all esconced in her wallet— which had magically disappeared from her purse or any other obvious location. Then the paramedics showed up, she was put on a gurney and hauled away while I was still looking for the missing wallet. I asked one of the firemen if they would admit her to the hospital without her Medicare card and he said no problem, don’t worry, take your time, she isn’t going anywhere. That was a whole new thought to me, so I emailed Hermana as to what had just happened, and she responded promptly that they were heading home and she would call at noon. I ate a piece of bread and a peach, took a quick shower, finally found her wallet buried in an empty drawer under some tissue paper, grabbed up all of her drugs, and shot off to the hospital. By the time I got there, I estimate 30 minutes later, she had been x-Rayed and was propped up in a bed waiting for the doctor and wondering where I was. My cell phone rang, it was my neighbor—my other neighbor called her to report the paramedics at our house and they were all concerned about us. (Apparently they let you talk on your cell phone in the hospital now, that is a change from the last time I was there.)

They gave my Mother some pain medication, after about an hour splinted her arm and soon we were on our way back home. The dog followed her into the bedroom and went over to tenderly touch her with his nose. I called my College Friend who had left a message for me about getting together this weekend. She came over to bring me some books and sat with my Mother so I could run off and get her pain medication prescription filled. Tomorrow my neighbor is coming to stay while I do the re-imaging thing on my boobs. My other neighbor called this evening and said she and her entire family had prayed for me at mass this morning since they didn’t know who in the household had been carted away in the ambulance. Actually as I look at it Someone HAS been holding His hand over my head all day long. It could have been so much worse and we have had help all day long as we needed it.