A woman went down in our female clan, but she is getting back up!

I joked with my mom while she laid in her hospital bed and said, “at least you have one good leg left.” Then we had a good laugh, but only because she was beginning to feel better.

Two days ago, my mom took a bad fall. She was at church and was walking down some steps and tripped on the last step.  She fell to the ground and could not get up.  Someone called 911 and had her taken to the hospital.  She was in a lot of pain and could not move her leg.  I got a call from the hospital (never a pleasant call), letting me know that my mom had been taken to the emergency room and she wanted me to come be with her.  Again, not a phone call that makes you feel good.  Upon arrival, she cried when she saw me and I realized my mom was in a lot of pain.  My mom never cries. Of course my heart sank at the sight of my mom laying in a hospital bed with a lot of pain.   I could tell she was scared and shaken.

She ended up with a broken hip and two broken wrists. Seriously, if my mom is going to do something, she is going to do it well, whether that be making cookies, gardening, decorating, cooking and apparently falling. Uggg!  She went into surgery and they fixed her hip, casted one of her wrists, and put her other wrist in a brace. We are down to one fully functioning limb.

My mom has been very healthy, walks daily, eats well, and is not on any medication.  Pretty good for a 79 year old.  Seeing her in this hospital bed is not something any of us are use to.  My mom hates going to the doctor, and is that person who only goes if it gets really bad.

I called my brother and sisters and my aunt and put them all on yellow alert.  My mom is so funny.  She did not want me to call them at first.  She thought they might get worried. Duhhh…. I told her that if they were the ones at the hospital with her, I would fully expect a call.  My mom does not like being the center of attention.

The accident scared me.  I saw her in such pain and she is not necessarily a spring chicken.  My mom means the world to me and I just hate seeing her like this.  My kids were equally concerned.  My daughter, Isabel, has a very tender heart and took a day off from school to be with her in the hospital.  She wrote:

I get scared and worried when my mom is at the hospital with my Grandma. I feel like something  went wrong at the hospital with my Grandma and that is why my mom is there. That’s why I did not go to school today. I would be too worried about my Grandma, I would be distracted and only think about my Grandma.

My mom had her first physical therapy session on Wednesday.  It was pretty painful for her and she realized she wasn’t going home as soon as she had hoped.  I think she believed in a couple of days she would be walking out the hospital.  In fact, she was pretty discouraged at the news of having to go into a nursing facility for rehabilitation for a couple of weeks.  Of course she was thinking nursing home, dementia, diapers, you know, all the rough stuff of a nursing home. We were assured that she would be staying in a rehabilitation wing.  It’s short term and about recovery, getting better, going home.  I told her they would be working her butt off, making her strong, buffing her up, going bionic so she could be stronger, more balanced and better than before.  I think she is up for the challenge now.  Her spirit got knocked down, her body got beat up, but she is getting back up and before you know it Grandma Jayne, my mom, will be back in full Grandma action in a flash.

Pray for my mom.  Pray for a quick recovery.  I want her to be home for Christmas!