Day 344
Well, little did I think that the rain I was so enjoying as I fell asleep last night would … due to the upper air disturbance which caused a change in the jet stream pattern allowing the Arctic air/cold front to push out the regional warmth … turn into ICE.
As it did.
The Iceman cometh. Well, I don’t know if he did … but Old Man Winter sure showed up for a bit. I went out my front door this morning to get my Sunday paper and slid down the railing and hopped over the last 2 steps making a safe 7.9 landing (points taken off for swearing and my toes went over the edge of the sidewalk into the grass). I owe that score all to my past gymnastic moves.
My dad, however, was never a gymnast and wasn’t so lucky.
He is okay (now) … and after a day in the ER, a CT scan, much scraping and poking, a Tetanus shot and 9 (count ’em, nine!) staples in the back of his head … he’s okay and at home. Hopefully resting well. That’ll teach him to be nice and take his neighbor’s paper from the driveway to his neighbor’s porch!
What’s the saying? No good deed goes unpunished.
All I can say is … OW!
I was to go to the show with my mom today and at the end of our conversation about when I was going to pick her up she said I could look at my dad’s head … as he “took a spill”.
Not a good thing at any age. A really not good thing to do when you’re 84. But it didn’t sound so bad so when I got there I asked to see his head, curious but not wanting to interfere his football viewing and not thinking I’d see much more than a bump.
OMG. As in … Oh. My. God. Um, Dad … we’re going to the ER … and NOW. My father (yes, you DAD) is as stubborn as they get. Donkeys and goats have nothing on him. I gave him 2 options … me or an ambulance. He opted for me. Good thinking, Dad. At least I knew his cognition was not impaired because I knew he was thinking about the cost and insurance nightmare of a 911 call.
Anyway … I hate hospitals. I don’t know many non-medical people who really like them – but I really hate them. Too many bad memories of all the days/nights we were in the hospital with Tim, I suppose. They were never good times. Not much “happiness” in hospitals. However, this group was really good today.
I was actually surprised how quickly he was seen … CT scan taken, results back (all clear), head scrubbed (more ow!!!), numbing injections (ew, even more ow!!!), and 9 staples.
And that’s when I fainted.
No, ha, only kidding. I didn’t go into the medical field (veterinary was my field of choice) because though I find the scientific/biological sides intriguing … I just do not like the, for lack of a better word … goo … that is in bodies. And head wounds have a lot of goo … and this one was no exception. (The NP said she loved the goo. Better her than me!)
He said he didn’t feel anything and that the scrubbing was the worst of all of it. I took pictures for him – before and after the stapling. Bloody head photos are always a nice addition to the family album. In any case … he did a good job and managed to cut open his head leaving a nice 2″ A-shaped fissure on the back of his head.
Yeah … OW!
In any case … he’s got a nice turban-wrap going on until he gets a recheck and the staples get pulled in 10 days. I’m hoping when they call him in to the office, they’ll just say, “Here’s Jack … the Iceman cometh!”