Friday

Friday I fed Mr. M's cats, went to the hospital and visited him for about an hour and a half, went to Walmart to get refreshments for Sabbath evening, got home just in time for the pizza that M and T had made, then went to the church for PBA (Pathfinder Bible Achievement) practice. We got home about 9:00 and I made brownies for potluck.

Our PBA team

Excitement is Bad

Yesterday morning about 10:00, I had just called Mr. M to see about refilling his pill box and gotten a busy signal. The phone rang--it was his home health physical therapist. She said she had been trying to reach him for an hour--kept ringing busy. She was near his house and stopped by--got no answer when she knocked on the door and it was locked.

I grabbed my purse and drove over there--unlocked the door--and found Mr. M on the floor by his bed. The therapist began to take care of him--asking if he was hurt, etc. --while I called the ambulance. The EMT's were both female--they couldn't decide how to get him up--the therapist finally told them that she would get one arm and one of them could get the other and the other could hold his feet and try to get him seated on the bed. They finally got him off the floor and wanted to put him on a back board. The therapist said she was no EMT, but if he had a back injury, they would have already messed things up by the way they got him off the floor and it seemed inane to her to put him on a backboard after all that. They must have finally agreed because they took him without it.

I threw the clothes he had thrown up on into the wash, gathered some clean clothes for him, made a couple phone calls, and went to the ER.

He slept most of the afternoon--with brief periods of wakefullness, but not really alert. The doctor came by and said that he had pneumonia and that they were going to admit him. It was about 5:30 in the evening when they got him settled into a room. His grandson came and I left.

I stopped by his house to feed the cats and drip the faucets (as it was supposed to get very cold--we got down to 1 degree last night). Both cats were inside, so I shut the cat door to keep the cold out and the cats in. I got home around 7:00.

Life Since the Camporee

Sunday evening, after we got home from the camporee, I called to check on Mr. M and found out that he had fallen into the ditch while getting his mail the afternoon before. He was hurrying because he could hear a car coming, dropped a piece of mail, went to pick it up, lost his balance and landed in the ditch. Fortunately, a neighbor was passing by, saw him fall, and got him out of the ditch and into the house. I went to Mr. M's to check on him--his right arm (dominant one, of course) was black and blue and swollen from the middle of his upper arm down to his wrist. I told him that we needed to get it checked out.

Monday, I took Mr. M to his primary care doctor who took one look at the arm and sent us to an orthopedist. They took an x-ray of his elbow--said there was no visible break. Instructions were to keep it elevated. By the time we went to two doctors, lunch, and Walmart--the day was gone.

Tuesday afternoon, I went and fixed Mr. M some supper, filled his pill box, fed Pepper, etc.

Wednesday I did some urgently needed grocery shopping and studied (somewhat) for an algebra test. Home Health came out and did an assessment of Mr. M.

Thursday was the algebra test. Home health began coming out to check on Mr. M--help with dressing, shaving, bathing, etc.

Friday and Sabbath were fairly uneventful--just the usual stuff going on.

Sunday I went to Sonic and got Mr. M some lunch and went to do some laundry for him. He only ate a couple bites of food. I went back later and made up his beds with clean sheets. That evening, he called wanting to go to the ER--his grandson and I both told him to call 911--he did. I went to his house and pulled in right behind the ambulance. The EMTs checked his vitals and said they were normal, but they would take him to the ER if he still wanted to go. He decided to stay home.

Monday, T wasn't feeling well so we skipped the monthly homeschool meeting. By evening, he was feeling better, so we went to piano and Pathfinders.

Tuesday, I got my algebra test back--actual score was 84 but the teacher had given everyone 11 points raising my score to a 95%. I picked up a house mounted mailbox for Mr. M on the way home (his doctor had written a letter to the post office saying that his mail should be delivered to the door--the mailman had started doing so the day before). I also went and voted before going to Mr. M's and mounting the mailbox.

Wednesday, we (Mr. M and I) went back to the orthopedist for another x-ray. Still no sign of a break, though his arm was still very bruised, tender, and swollen. We ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria then went to his primary care doctor to discuss his episode on Sunday night and his medications. That was followed by a trip to Walmart--Mr. M got a haircut while I shopped for him and got his prescriptions filled. Then we came home.