Emergency room, take 2.

Apparently my family's new hobby is to visit the emergency rooms on or around the nearest holiday. Thanksgiving night my sister phoned me from work to take her to the hospital for a suspected broken wrist. You can read about that in this blog
.

My sister's visit to the emergency room took place in room 3B as you can see by the following picture.



My mother, not wishing to be left out, decided she had to have a turn, too, so on the morning of Christmas Eve I got a phone call at 7am. Jeren answered the phone and then came to my room to tell me I had to take my mom out to the emergency room because she had fallen and gashed her head. I didn't look forward to having to drive her car and was a little cranky about it so Jeren offered to come along. Her hospital is on the military base, so it was easier to drive her car than have to wait while I got a visitor pass on mine. The back of Mom's shirt was covered in blood and she was a little shaky but otherwise seemed ok so we got in her car and headed out to the hospital.

On the way she told me what happened. She had decided to replace a light bulb in the kitchen while her dough was mixing in the bread maker. Rather than get a stool or step ladder she had decided to use an office style chair with a cloth seat. (More of a waiting room chair than an actual desk chair.) The seat was unstable since it was unsupported fabric so she was trying to balance on the edges where the wood frame is.

Hey Mom...here's a reality check for you. You are 80 years old. LOL.

Well, it's not really funny but we were laughing about it. She, herself, admits she was being an idiot, which is what she told the doctors and nurses when they asked her what happened. ("I was being an idiot!")

So apparently she lost her balance and fell backwards off the chair. She isn't really very clear about that. She doesn't remember the actual fall, but she does remember laying on the floor thinking about that commercial in which the lady says, "Help!!! I've fallen and I can't get up." She said all kinds of crazy thoughts kept running through her mind (I'm thinking the life passing before your eyes scenario, but she doesn't say that) and she kept thinking, "I need to get Sheila."

My step-dad appeared at some point and she asked him to come across the street and get me, but he couldn't figure things out. He said, "I'm in my pajamas. I'm wearing my slippers. I'd have to change clothes." in that rambling way he does when he has no idea what to do. (He has mild altzheimers.) So somehow he helped her up or brought her the phone. I'm not sure which. Maybe both. That part is a little fuzzy.

At any rate, we made it to the hospital. I was surprised the way they question you if you are "elderly". The questions they asked mom were so different than the questions they asked Krys. I think she had to tell the story of what happened approximately ten times. I lost count. They asked about her heart, did she lose consciousness, was she light-headed before she fell and more. Finally they were satisfied that she actually just fell and sent us to wait. Bleeding from head wounds is priority over flu and such, so we were quickly called back to a room and she was instructed to remove her top and put on one of those lovely hospital gowns. She climbed on the bed and we waited. I had forgotten my camera, but I did have my phone, so I proceeded to look around.
Can you guess what room we were in?


Yup! You got it! Room 3B. What are the chances?

So here is mom's lovely Christmas outfit after her visit.


It turns out she didn't need stitches but they wanted the gash protected while it healed. I told her she had her holidays mixed up...the mummy costume only works for halloween. Laughing was quite painful for her, however. Seems that her main injury seemed to be her ribs. They x-rayed, but it was inconclusive whether or not she had cracked, fractured or just bruised her ribs. They sent her home with pain medication and we were out of there at 9:4U. Yes, you read that right. Here it is on the clock.


In all fairness I felt I had to snap some photos and write a blog since Mom went to such great lengths to be included in this new family pastime. So enjoy the somewhat cheesy photos from Emergency Room 3B, Version 2.

Getting her holiday cap on.


Yellow plate covers in the wire maze behind her bed.


Her shoes.


Red, white and blue.


Jeren.


Mom always asks for a blanket FIRST thing.


If anyone is anywhere near a hospital over New Year's Eve it had better be Nikki having her baby. I already told them I don't intend on partaking in this particular family hobby.