Bad to worse!
On Wednesday evening my mum had a dizzy spell, fell awkwardly and has broken both bones in her calf, near the ankle. It’s complicated by her having lots of other health issues and hopefully they’ll investigate the peculiar dizzy turn she had as well as repairing her leg.
Yesterday morning I pulled myself together a bit and drove down to where she lives, dropped M off at his other grandparents (thankfully they live near my mum) and L and I went to collect my sister. My sister has ME and uses a wheelchair and she and my mum do loads of things together. My mum provides her transport, takes her shopping and things, so to have my mum in hospital and then in a cast for 8 weeks or more, not able to drive, is a huge problem, on top of how awful it is for my mum to have a broken leg.
We went to my mum’s and tried to work out what she might need in hospital and packed it, then tidied up a bit because my mum fell as she was cooking tea. We also collected my sister’s wheelchair and disabled parking disc. Tried to get some sense out of the hospital about how my mum was and when she might be going to surgery, but didn’t get far. My mum’s next door neighbour popped in and offered to help if she could, which was lovely of her.
After lunch we drove up to the hospital, battled for a parking space, then I took my sister in her chair with my mum’s bag on her knees and L in the sling and headed for the ward. Found my mum feeling fed up and in pain in a temporary cast to try and stabilise her leg until they could operate, though they hadn’t got it set with the bones right. Bit worried about how she was doing because they were short staffed and didn’t seem completely clued up about the implications of fasting all day for a diabetic who has had her full morning insulin! We stayed for a couple of hours and tried to cheer her up a bit and take a list of what else she needed brought in or done at home.
After that we went to Sainsburys, which was another interesting experience with shopping and L to carry and my sister to push. It’s hard to get my head round the logistics of things. But we got some things to keep her going til she can do an internet shop.
By this time L was getting quite fed up, but we had to quickly call in my mum’s to pick up other stuff we hadn’t thought of then I dropped my sister, chair, shopping and mum’s things off at my sister’s and tried to console a rapidly-getting-hysterical L. Had a lovely tea at the in laws’ (put paid to the last remnants of my diet cos I didn’t want to try and explain not eating Yorkshire puddings and some Chinese snacks she’d done) and L calmed down with some time to just crawl around and play. Then we drove home and went to bed.
I fell completely drained again this morning, think I must’ve been living on adrenaline yesterday. I couldn’t stop coughing all night but was trying not to disturb L at the same time. Wherever I lie he snuggles over till he’s lying against me again.
Oh, and then I found out my mum never did get to surgery yesterday so hopefully she’s going today. My mum’s neighbour is going to call at my sister’s and pick up things for my mum, then pop in and visit her this afternoon, because neither of us can make it today.
I’m trying to think of something positive to say. M had a happy afternoon with Grandma and Grandad I think. A had a busy evening packing up books in our spare bedroom to make room to dissassemble our wardrobe. L’s neck looks alot better. It looked alot like sunburn to start with. The steroid cream took that down quickly and it just looked very dry and dark. Today it’s peeling and looks OK underneath.
