Today wasn’t the first time that Mom has fallen, but it was by far the worst. The day actually started out pretty well. I had a counseling appointment with Nancy, and we talked through how I was feeling after the weekend (different post) and other things. I was feeling particularly proud of myself and “enlightened” (haha) after we talked, which is rare for me. It was going to be a busy day, Dad was getting his hearing aids (hooray!), Robert was coming, Don was coming, and our transfer chair was coming. All good things!! Then the rest of the day happened.
Transfer chair delivered; check! Dad left for his appointment; check! Robert is here; check! Mom was a little squirmy before Robert arrived, and typically that means I may have a “code brown” situation soon. While Robert and I were talking, Mom got up to walk around (not unusual); however, this time, she got her legs tangled up, and down she went. I watched it happen almost as if in slow motion. Our home has a lot of corners, and I thought she was falling right towards one. She hit the floor hard. I do not know if she hit the table or not, it was not obvious at the time. I’ll see what bruises pop out tomorrow.
At first, I was horrified, “Oh no! Mom fell while Robert was here!” I quickly changed my tune to “Thank goodness Robert was here!” because there would be no way I could pick her up off the floor. He got her up and back in her chair, and she was understandably pretty upset. It was also clear that she needed fresh underwear. Robert suggested he excuse himself to the dining room for a bit. Maybe she was embarrassed because she fell, or needed fresh briefs, or both, but he went to the other room so I could calm her down. It was at that time that Don arrived. Robert let him know that Mom had fallen and to sit tight for a bit; eventually they both went outside to chat and Don finally left telling Robert to tell me he’d be in touch later.
It became clear that I wasn’t going to be able to change Mom on my own, so I asked Robert to help me, and we decided that it would be best to try it on the bed. We got to use the brand-new transfer chair (Thank goodness!) to get Mom into the bedroom, and Robert got her onto the bed. Based on how uncomfortable she was, Robert decided that medication was the answer and I could deal with the underwear later. I agreed 100%. We gave her a trifecta of Haldol, morphine, and Lorazepam. It took a bit to set in but once it did she seemed to rest a little easier.
After Mom got settled, I started my rapid approach to the edge of a cliff. Another “Thank goodness Robert was here!” moment because he helped me sort out what had just happened. Her fall was serious, and we had an honest, respectful, welcomed conversation about where we are with Mom. I tend to bounce between disaster and silver lining. It’s something I am aware of and try to work on but this threw me. Did I mention, she fell hard? She fell hard! The next few days might be rough in the Miller household. Robert kept me from going over the edge and even suggested trying something called “earthing“. I am open to just about anything.
Thank God for Robert. Thank God for Don (Don called later). Thank God it wasn’t worse.
When Robert left, I called Missy and sobbed.
PS – The photo attached to this post is not from today. This was from earlier this week. She was taking a nap and just looked so stinkin’ cute that I had to take a picture.