Report on Mom

(I have copied this to Mom's blog http://postingsfrompatsy.blogspot.com/ because it was too much to tell twice! )

Well, it all began on Thursday morning when our busy little Mom began her day by going to the gym. It was around 8:00am and she was on the treadmill like she does every time she goes to the gym. She was alone in the room and went to push a button on the machine and pushed the wrong one. The machine began to accelerate and she could not get it to stop. She was thrown off the back and fell to the floor. She called for help but no one heard her and she managed to pull herself up in a chair. She decided that if she got up and kept moving it would not hurt so bad. She went to her car to go to her next stop which was to cook Meals on Wheels at the church. When she realized that she could not move her right arm, she used her left to change the gears and drive herself to the church. Once she made it to the church, the pain was alarming enough to call me to come and take her to get it checked. I called the main nurse in our family (Corinne) and we decided it would be best to take her to Hendersonville ER where her doctors are in case they would need to admit her.

They did an X-ray of her shoulder, arm and leg to see what damage was done and the ER doctor showed me the X-ray and said she had broken the humerus (bone that connects the shoulder to the elbow). They gave her morphine and zofran by IV and then the fun began! We all know that she does not do well when she gets anything through an IV!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well her blood pressure dropped to 57/32 and she was really scaring me! Thank goodness Nita (our other family appointed nurse) works upstairs and she was able to come down and stay with us. They gave her fluids and tried to set her up but she was so sick it was pitiful. They put her in an immobilizer that had her arm strapped to her body. So between her good left side and my almost good right side, we made a great pair!!! It was similar to a MeMaw and Aunt Ree episode! Anyway, when the blood pressure came up, they wheeled her to the car and told her to be back at 8:00 on Friday with nothing to eat or drink and be prepared to have surgery. We made it home and she was most concerned about the plans she had for Thursday night to get things ready for the East High Picnic on Saturday. Tracey came and brought her a milkshake but the medicine they gave her for pain made her very sick again! Her friends came over to get the picnic stuff and I helped them make this sign that Mom wanted them to have.

Nita and Corinne came after work and Nita brought our dinner from Panera bread. I went home to get my things for the night and Patrick and I went back. Mom was so happy to see Patrick and perked up for a few minutes. Nita and Corinne helped her get a bath and get her clothes packed and finally she settled down to go to sleep.

We went to the Dr. Koch at 8:00 and were met by Tracey and Corinne. Dr. Koch said that he would do the surgery on Wednesday at Sumner Regional Hospital. She also has damage to the rotator cuff. He changed the immobilizer to the correct one and changed her pain medicine. We were off to McDonalds for breakfast and coffee. I had a list of 6 people waiting to be called as cell phones were ringing constantly wanting the latest info. She is has so many dear friends wanting to help and it is very touching to hear people say over and over tell her I love her and I want to help!

We got home and she did rest some. She ate her lunch and then I got her to lay back down. But, between wanting to check her emails, and the phone ringing and think about the picnic, she did not get much sleep from that point on. I was given this look (as in the picture above) numerous times today as she plots how soon she can drive!!! She is staying the weekend at Nita and Ray's house and she will get lots of TLC there. Thank you for your prayers and your love for her!