Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Bumps In The Road

A couple of weeks ago, Becky had an accident in her home. She fell out of the Hoyer lift onto her feet then her knees.  A Hoyer lift is a type of sling on a pneumatic jack system. A handle is pumped up and down to lift Becky as she sits in the sling. This is how she gets from her bed to her wheelchair; from her wheelchair to the shower chair; and back into her bed.  It's always been an extremely safe method of getting Becky from one place to another.  But accidents happen to everyone, even to people who have very careful, well-trained staff taking care of them.  Becky fell forward out of the sling and onto the floor. She landed on her toes, bruising them badly. Falling this way also jammed the bones of her left leg together, breaking the femur about 1" above the knee.  It broke in the pattern of a "T", causing lots of pain....but no bruising or swelling. Becky also fell onto her knees, breaking the knee cap of her right leg. This leg swelled up a lot and was very black and blue very quickly!  

Her poor caregiver was in shock just as much as Becky was. They were BOTH crying on the floor when another caregiver came in to see what was happening. Becky said she wasn't hurt and she had stopped crying. They picked her up and placed her on the bed, phoned the on-call nurse and then made a second call to 911.  

Becky went by ambulance to the hospital. She normally flirts and falls a little bit in love with men in uniforms, but not this time.  She didn't start crying again until they got to the emergency room and she was transferred onto another bed.  X-rays were taken of her right leg and the doctor suspected a fracture but was not certain. They decided to admit her into the hospital as a precaution.  

Thank goodness for very good friends and caregivers. Our friend, Sylvia, stayed with Becky through the day and night. I rented a car as soon as the rental place opened and drove like a maniac 5 hours to Las Cruces.  Becky called me several times to check on where I was on the journey, crying through each conversation. By the time I reached the outskirts of Las Cruces, she insisted on staying on the phone with me and listening to me describing which street I was on, which building I had just passed, etc.  When I told her I could see the hospital, she said a pathetic little "yay".  We hung up so I could run up to the hospital. Poor girl had been crying for more than 24 hours straight with no break or rest.  
I stayed with her for the 10 days she was hospitalized. It was quite the adventure.