Daddy Gave Us a Scare

and we ended up taking him to the ER after speaking with his doctor. He was dizzy and got into his shower and fell. He's a medical miracle and has been cut on and fused together in so many places due to a near fatal disease when he was very young that he's not as bendable as most people. He was all soaped up, and my mom, who had rheumatoid arthritis, couldn't budge him. She got him rinsed off and got the next door neighbor, who, thankfully, is a very big stong man, and knew exactly how to get my dad up on his feet. He got him out and dressed and into the car, after which they came to my house. It so happened they were getting carpet laid throughout the house that day, and he had no place to lie. My sis and brother-in-law showed up at the same time my mom & dad did, and my husband and BIL got him into my house and onto the bed. After talking to his doctor, he told us to get him to the ER ASAP.

That was a horrible experience for him and us. They were very disorganized, and I didn't see a familiar face anywhere, and my sister, who used to work there said there was definitely something going on, and it wasn't good. We waited for 6 hours for them to tell us that they couldn't determine anything wrong and for him to get in touch with his doctor for a follow up. No duh! We had to get blankets to keep him warm, get him a urinal to pee, take his EKG patches off when they decided to send him home, and there was no one there who knew what they were doing. His nurse was nothing but a cutie pie with a smart mouth, and all she could talk about was getting her Master's Degree. I told her she needed to bone up on her grammar skills before even thinking of getting a Master's. My sister, who is my younger clone, couldn't keep her mouth shut either, and even my dad got pissed and started putting her in her place and letting her know how poor the care was compared to what we'd experienced in the past. He was very sore today, with bruises starting to rear their ugly heads and is still dizzy and very tired and weak. He'll be seeing his internist Monday, who will have a seething fit when he hears about the treatment in the ER.

It was a harrowing, tiring day, and I was trying so hard trying to keep up with everyone in the family keeping my dad comfortable and taking care of him cuz the ER wouldn't or couldn't, and waiting, waiting, waiting for hours. Thank goodness DH & BIL took care of feeding, getting drinks for the carpet layers from Chicago, 3 hours away, then telling them where to replace the furniture after the carpet was down. I ended up with a red, swollen lower leg and ankle that literally hung over the top of my tennis shoe on the sides toward the back, and I was in pain. I took a lukewarm shower, got ice on my leg, got it elevated, and passed out. I slept till 11:00 A.M.

I'm going to have to take things a bit slower, but the old adrenalin pumps when a loved one is in trouble, and one can do anything till the crisis is over.