It's More Fun the Second Time
My mother's back in the hospital again.
Apparently she went to a physical therapist who gave her the exercise of walking from the living room to the bedroom three to five times an hour throughout the day. This would not be a difficult task for most - in fact, the hardest part would be keeping track of the walks, since regular mobile people walk all the time.
Did my mother tell the physical therapist that she leads a sedentary lifestyle? No. So the physical therapist thinks he's giving her something beyond basic, and doesn't know he's having her walk more in one day than she normally does in a week.
So what happens? Last night as my mother is doing laps in their apartment, she falls. My father hears a big thud and then screaming. He somehow gets her to bed, gets ice on her knee, and three hours later the swelling hasn't gone down. 911 is called. Word is my mother doesn't think she had a seizure, doesn't know why she fell, just knows she did.
An x-ray claims nothing is broken, and they schedule an MRI to be done on an out-patient basis. The emergency room wants to give her crutches and send her home. CRUTCHES! This woman can't handle keeping her balance with two feet! She almost falls if someone else walks by her quickly when she's standing still!
Emergency room comes to their senses, and it's decided a walker will be the abulatory aid of choice. Now it's the middle of the night, and they have her practice walking with the walker before sending her home. My mother says she feels dizzy, thinks she's going to pass out. And that's how she came to be admitted at 6 a.m. this morning.
Please join me as I say fuck.
Apparently she went to a physical therapist who gave her the exercise of walking from the living room to the bedroom three to five times an hour throughout the day. This would not be a difficult task for most - in fact, the hardest part would be keeping track of the walks, since regular mobile people walk all the time.
Did my mother tell the physical therapist that she leads a sedentary lifestyle? No. So the physical therapist thinks he's giving her something beyond basic, and doesn't know he's having her walk more in one day than she normally does in a week.
So what happens? Last night as my mother is doing laps in their apartment, she falls. My father hears a big thud and then screaming. He somehow gets her to bed, gets ice on her knee, and three hours later the swelling hasn't gone down. 911 is called. Word is my mother doesn't think she had a seizure, doesn't know why she fell, just knows she did.
An x-ray claims nothing is broken, and they schedule an MRI to be done on an out-patient basis. The emergency room wants to give her crutches and send her home. CRUTCHES! This woman can't handle keeping her balance with two feet! She almost falls if someone else walks by her quickly when she's standing still!
Emergency room comes to their senses, and it's decided a walker will be the abulatory aid of choice. Now it's the middle of the night, and they have her practice walking with the walker before sending her home. My mother says she feels dizzy, thinks she's going to pass out. And that's how she came to be admitted at 6 a.m. this morning.
Please join me as I say fuck.
posted by Zoe @ 10:50 AM
3 Comments:
At 4/10/2007 12:45 PM,
Unknown said…
OH Geez!
I was wondering how you were doing as we haven't heard from you in a long time. That's got to be pretty hard on your dad...
At 4/10/2007 12:51 PM,
M.Amanda said…
Groan. Sorry she's having even more trouble.
Ignore me if I'm missing the point completely, but if she needs exercise, could she use a stationary bike? My boyfriend's grandmother is in her 80s and has osteoporosis and arthritis. She needs exercise, but walking isn't a great idea for her, especially since she has dizzy spells, too. She used one of those cheap $15 pedal things out of a Dr. Leonard's book for a long time until her daughter bought her a regular stationary bike. She likes it, but the other one, though cheaply made, meant she didn't have to get out of her recliner, just scoot to the edge so she could reach the pedals.
It's better than nothing - or falling and getting hurt worse.
And I'm sympathetic, but I still am on the Don't-Go-To-Florida bus. She's a grown woman, and you have your own life to lead.
At 6/23/2007 5:56 PM,
Zoe said…
Sparkling, in order to get onto or off of a stationery bike, one must at some point, for half a second, be balanced on one foot. My mother can not do this to save her life.
She would fall and injure herself either getting on or off the bike. No there is no way in hell she could ride a bike.
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