Matt's Mother

In the just when you thought things were getting better... vein, we got a call from the Nursing home Monday night around 9:00. It seems that my mother was found on the floor of her room next to the bed. Apparently she had fallen out of bed around 4:30 that afternoon. This was the second time it had happened in the last week, but the first time her just scraped her leg a bit. This time the knee was swelling also. They patched her up again and put her back in bed.

At 9:00 they came back to give her her night time medicine and noticed that the knee was VERY swollen and the bruising was extensive. That is when they called us and told us they were taking her to the ER. Jari volunteered to head up to the hospital and be with her while I got a bit of rest.

Well, about 9:30 the nursing home called again. My mother was refusing to go with the EMT's to the hospital. I got re-dressed (I had just changed for bed) and headed up to the nursing home to talk to her. For those of you who know my mother she can be a very stubborn woman and I fully see her not wanting to go.

I got there about 9;45 and spent about 15 minutes talking her into going. I rode with her in the ambulance to the hospital. She acutally went fairly peacefully and it was not a bad trip. Once we got through all the preliminary stuff (paperwork) they took an X-ray and determined that her had broken her tibia (the large bone of the lower leg) just below the knee on her right leg. That is the paralyzed leg for those that are wondering.

Jari and I talked with the ER doctor at some length about the break and the best treatment plan. Since the leg will never be load bearing again and any treatment would be somewhat invasive, we decided to just let it be and wait the 4 or so week it takes for new bone to knit in place. They put her on pain medication and sent her back home that evening (well about 12:30 am the next morning). She was to follow up with her family doctor and the orthopedic specialist within 48 hours.

The orthopedist agreed with the ER doctor and we have told the nursing staff to just be very careful when moving her since it will be painful for quite some time.

With any luck that will be our emergency for this week and we're safe until the coming weekend. That is unless you count our children...