First of all, we had a very nice weekend. I took her down the street for breakfast on Saturday, where we shared a french toast breakfast. She enjoyed it, but was tired, so we went back to Magnolia. I took her out to smoke, we went in and painted her nails, and then we went out and smoked again. I left after several hours. I was back on Sunday for a Mother's Day visit. The volunteers from the local high school were selling hot dogs and cupcakes to raise money for the "Senior Prom" they are holding for the residents this week. Mom had been smelling the BBQ all morning, so she wanted a hot dog. So, I got us each a hot dog, and a cupcake to split. She polished off her hot dog, but was still hungry, so she and I split another hot dog. We ate, she smoked, she smoked some more...All in all, it was a very nice day.
Monday brought roughly 8 phone calls to my voicemail begging for cigarettes. A little higher than average...:)
Tuesday brought about 6 voicemails and a call to my Aunt because she couldn't get a hold of me begging me to come down and bring cigs. The last voicemail was that she was on her way to the hospital because she fell and hit her head hard...Well, the fact that she was the one that called to let me know was a little reassuring, but, I quickly called down to see where they were taking her. The nurse said she was probably ok, but because she is on the blood thinner Coumadin, there is a higher chance of a brain bleed if you hit your head. The best part of the message was her complaining that she had not had a cigarette all day and was wondering if maybe I could meet her in the parking lot of the hospital so she could smoke before going into the ER.
So I met her down at the Sharp Memorial ER. She was lucid, and had a bump on the back of her head with a small cut in the middle of it. A Cat scan followed, which showed no internal bleeding. Protocol for a head injury on Coumadin mandates a follow up Cat scan 12 hours after the incident, so the doctor admitted her to the hospital over night.
Don't ever tell her I put this on the blog, because she would be humiliated, but it is too funny not to tell. Well, Mom has been having some intestinal issues that we think may have been caused by the anti-biotic she has been on, and she thought that while she had the doctor there, she would mention it to him. He is an ER trauma doctor, so since that is not necessarily his expertise, he sort of changed the subject, and there was a short lull in the conversation as he washed his hands. And then he said "there is just one more thing...If it needs a staple..." Mom's eyes got wide, like saucers, and she looked at me, then back at him, and in a little, curious, scared voice asked "my butt?" The Doctor and I burst out laughing, and Mom started laughing too...The Doctor said "well, that might be a way to stop your problem, but I was talking about your head."
She didn't need a staple after all, in her head or otherwise, and she was discharged back to Magnolia this afternoon. All in all, she is fine. I am still trying to figure out exactly what happened that she hit her head. She claims that her wheelchair wheel got stuck in the door frame, and her paralyzed leg with the boot/brace (which she claims weighs at least 4 lbs) slipped off the footrest and the whole chair went over. Well, Mom has never been very good at science, and she can't even spell physics, but somehow, I can't convince her that it is literally impossible for a 90 lb woman to pull over a 45 lb wheelchair from a seated position with a "at least 4 lb" boot. I asked her if she tried to stand up without help, and you would have thought I would have asked her if she wore white after Labor Day...She was appalled that I would even have considered that possibility and of course she would never do that...Mmmmmm-hmmmmm.
Well, the nurses told me that when she got back to Magnolia, she came through the door hollering for pain meds, a change of clothes, food, and a smoke. I got there this evening, and she was all snug in bed. The moment she saw me, she wanted out of bed, into her chair and out for a smoke pronto. So, out for a smoke we go...Bitching the whole time about how cold it was outside. So, we came back in so she could have her dinner, which she LOVED until, while I was talking to the nurse in her room, she fell asleep in her wheelchair. So was so sweet, and as I rolled her up next to the bed to move her into bed, she stirred...And demanded to go out for another smoke. (I curse you Benson and Hedges!). So, I wheel her out and she takes one drag and dozes off holding her cig...
She fell asleep on the way back into her room, and then again within about 20 seconds after I swung her legs up in bed. The trip to the hospital took a lot out of her...:)
Anyway, she is back at Magnolia, hoping they will shave her head tomorrow...Apparently a half-inch is WAY too long. It was just starting to look nice...It was just long enough to just about cover her scalp, in the right light. I tried to convince her that it might hurt a little trying to run the clippers over the bump she just sustained yesterday, and to wait at least a few more days...We will see.
I hope you all had a nice Mother's day and weekend, and that the one coming up is amazing as well!
Much love!
No comments:
Post a Comment