Last we spoke I told you about the fall of my steadfast computer; I don’t know how many days have passed since I have been acclimating myself to an iPad and keyboard. My new one is ready for pick-up but I am too tired to care. My health has been a blur from a rhinovirus that is making its way across Long Island, hence my fall into semi-oblivion, two naps a day for over two weeks.

There have been more falls: last Thursday my mother fell when leaving her bathroom (while the aide was there.) Her need to feel independent precludes her from allowing the aide in the bathroom with her: She tumbled from the bathroom and fell hard on her behind. She was taken to the ER. (It was during this time I began to be ill with my non-stop cough).

Imagine a ninety-nine year old going to the hospital alone? She was X-rayed, told that “nothing was broken,” and sent home, alone at midnight. In the meantime, I was unable to get in touch with her doctor until today, four days later. When I got home form MY medical appointment, (my symptoms are lingering and I am exhausted), HER doctor called to tell me he had just gotten the X-Ray report and my mother has a fractured pelvis. This is not the first time she fell and this happened. About ten years ago when still living in Florida she had a fall, but surviving at eighty-nine and ninety-nine is a huge difference.

She is not allowed to stand on her foot—she actually is unable to as the pain is excruciating and it can do more damage to the pelvis; she needs pain meds but being home alone at night on meds is dangerous…and, she needs a blood thinner to prevent a clot, as she can’t move. All of this, the fall and downfall pointed her back to the hospital. Her doctor didn’t feel it was safe for her to be alone at night at home and he is correct, she agreed and she needs the help around the clock. I was told to stay home with my germs. Frankly, I am part numb, part frozen and I can’t move from exhaustion.

I am totally cognizant of the ramifications of broken hips and such in the elderly; these breaks usually point to the “end.” There are complications, and the spirit breaks with the bone. My mother is a tough lady. Almost one hundred years is a long time to be tough, spunky, feisty and with-it. I wonder how long she can go on.

It is what it is.

It is out of my hands.

A D D E N D U M
Guess what? Bear in mind that mercury is in Retrograde:
They took my mother to Jamaica Hospital, miles away instead of the one three blocks from her house. It took me two hours to straighten this out. My mother hasn’t eaten, it is after 8:00 pm. She is waiting for the ambulance to pick her up and take her where she belongs. What a journey.

What a TRAVESTY!!

This series starts here:
Part 1: And The Band Played On … a mother’s life, a daughter’s journey

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