This is going to be a sort of historical post, starting about 3 months back when my dad fell and broke his left hip. It was a simple enough fall in the bathroom when he was brushing his teeth and he lost his balance and toppled over backwards. The day sitter cleaned him up and got my mom's extra wheelchair for him to use for a few days. It was really no big deal. Well 3 days later the bruise was still spreading and he kept complaning abot it hurting more and more, so we took him into the hospital and they found the crack in his pelvis. Three pins and 5 days later he was virtually good as new and went back home.
For several weeks he stayed mostly in his wheelchair and then started using a walker. He would occasinally fall with just the walker, but he was stubborn and wanted to use it anyway. Of course, eventually he would fall and cause more damage. This time 3 cracked ribs. We were somewhat more prepared for this since we had installed one of these lifeline help call buttons, so when he fell, he pressed the button and we could respond quickly. With cracked ribs there is not a whole lot to do, so that did not even merit a night in the hospital.
Following this he was a bit more contrite and took things slowly but he did slowly gain his strength back and his balance imporved. It looked like he was seriously on the mend. He started walking as well as he had for a few years and the walker got left behind most of the time.
This brings us to the night of the 30th of July. That night, about 8:00 he was serving himself and my mom ice cream and while he was sliding my mom's bowl across the counter to her he lost his balance and fell splat in teh middle of the kitchen floor. The day sitter called me and I went over. We helped him into the wheelchair and tried to see if he wanted to eat his ice cream before we called the ambulance. He did not it hurt so bad. This was a good sign that this one was a big deal, since last time he waited 3 days before calling.
And it was a big break. He basically shattered the joint and the surgeon had to put a post down his femur and a socket attached into his pelvis. They then stitched him up and he stayed in the hospital for a week. Before the surgery he spent nearly 24 hours in the hospital during which time he talked with Jari or me abotu what happened and the things going on with him and my mom. When he came out of surgery he was in the fog that all people are who are on anesthesia. THe bad news is that after 24 hours it did nto wear off. He forgot things (virtually everything) about the here and now. He kept drifting amoung times in his life as if they were the present. He had a full fledged case of dementia. This did not clear up after another day, not even after another week.
This left Jari and I with a difficult decision. Actually it was not a difficult one, since the only real choice was a nursing home until his mind came back and his physical mobility improved. it was the secondary decision that was hard, to move my mom in with him in the nursing home. He moved in the nursing home on August 7th and she joined him on August 10th. At this time he still did not know what was happening. in other posts I'll give a few examples of his thinking, but he wanted to take the elevator to the second floor of a one story building.
That Friday, August 10th we got a call at 6:00 in the morning that my dad was having trouble breathing and that his pulse was a bit weak and his blood oxygen level was low. They were transporting him to the ER. Jari and I took turns staying with him over the weekend, since it was a bit touch and go for a while. He had been bleeding in his colon and had pneumonia. They gave him 3 units of blood and checked him out with a CT scan of his lungs. They found a blood clot in his right lung and the culture from his bowel showed a bacterial infection. They put him on a bunch of drugs and he slept a whole lot but after a few days he began to pull out of it.
By the 20th he was beginning do actually come around and him dementia was much better. I got a phone call on the 21st and it was actually my dad. He said "THEY'RE TRYING TO PUT ME IN A NURSING HOME!!!!!!". I took sick leave immediately and went up to the hospital. I had a long discussion with him during which time Jari joined me. I explained all that had been happening and he took the information in. He did nto remember much of it, but he accepted that he had been in the nursing home before and that he needed to go back unti lhe cold get his leg strength back. Finally I went out to What-a-Burger and got the three of us lunch and we all ate together. In some ways that may be one of the more special meals I have ever had, since dad really was beginning to understand what was happening around him.
It was the next day before he was actually able to return to the nursing home. Once he got back it was very touching to see he and my mom reunited after being apart for over a week.
Anyway, that is the latest information about my dad.
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