Too Much Excitement

We had a little more excitement here than we needed this week.

It started on Thursday afternoon when Mother & Dad came home from the Temple. When Mother got out of the van her coat got caught in the door. She didn't notice and neither did Dad. The van moved just a little way as she turned to take a step. She stumbled and fell - catching herself with her left arm. She was afraid for a moment that she would be dragged down the driveway. She says it wasn't as bad as it might have been because she landed in a snow drift instead of on the concrete. Dad saw her fall and stopped the van to come around to help her up. When he lifted her up he got an immediate pain in his lower back. Mother came into the house with snow in her hair and on her glasses.

So as a result of this incident mother's left shoulder felt like her right one when she tore that rotator cuff, and Dad had a severe pain in his back. Dad wanted to wait and see if he felt better before going to the hospital.

On Friday he went to the store and decided being able to get around over there was evidence that he was better but that really wasn't a very good test. He went to Walmart where they always have a motorized cart waiting for him when they see him coming. Mother said she would wait until Saturday and go to Same-Day Care.

Then Saturday morning Dad was in so much pain he could barely move. I got out his old walker and he painfully made his way to the living room. We called for an ambulance. A firetruck showed up first, fortunately without lights and sirens since I had told the dispatch operator that he wasn't having heart or breathing problems. There is a fire station just up the hill so I think it's standard policy to send their paramedics first.

Mother and I followed soon after. Once we got down there we decided to have them check out her shoulder as well. So she was placed in another room. Her room was right across the hall from his and they sat up in their beds waving to each other and telling each other 'I love you'. They both had X-rays and there wasn't anything broken (that doesn't guarantee there is some sort of soft tissue injury, but neither of them can have MRI's because of their pacemakers). Dad couldn't stand or put any pressure on his right side so they decided to admit him overnight. They treated him with steroids and he felt so much better this morning that he came home around noon today.

When he got home he opened a package that came in the mail yesterday. It turned out to be a lovely photo album from the 'Spanish Branch' of the family. Thanks - we all enjoyed it very much!!