Sunday, February 20, 2011

Rough Road Ahead

This has been a rough week. My husband had a full hip replacement on Valentine's Day and a day and a half later had a heart attack. It's been a week of ups and downs, of tests and treatments, of hope and despair, a whole range of emotions. He is still in intensive care and had a good day today.

Ironically, the surgery was postponed two weeks because the cardiologist wouldn't pass him until he had a stress test. And he had to stop for another EKG before he could check in for the surgery. Some things are not predictable despite precautions.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Oops !

It sometimes feels that the older one gets, the more one loses. Things like hearing, eyesight, mobility, etc. The one thing I hope I never lose is my sense of humor.

Consider the following scenario: Very early one morning, the phone wakes me up. I wait for about six rings so my husband can answer it. He never does so I reluctantly pick it up. A voice says, "This is Lifeline. You husband has fallen. Would you unlock the door for the ambulance men?"

I race out of bed, unlock the door, check each room as I fly through, get all the way to the back bedroom without any sign of my husband. Finally, I holler "Where are you?" He replies that he is by the bed. I look down and there he is, on the floor between the bed and a tall chest. Experience has taught me that I can no longer pull him up alone---that's why the ambulance is called. The two firemen and one sheriff's deputy get him off the floor, check for injuries (there were none this time) and leave.

I can finally satisfy my curiosity and ask how he ended up in that spot. It seems that he had been sitting on the edge of the bed and slipped off. I tried not to laugh, knowing that with four very weak limbs, once he started to slide, he was unable to stop himself.

He's having a total hip replacement next Monday. Maybe that will help. In the meantime, my sister suggested that we have seat belts installed on the bed. I found that funny; he didn't.

Yep, thank God for a sense of humor and built-in giggle control.