The ER Visit

 Yesterday's post is still lingering, waiting for an opportunity to get to the icon for publishing that says 'post'. You can see that this is very frustrating.

Back to the story. After thanking all the cats for their concern as we walked into the yard, he made it up the steps and into the house. Toni must have sensed something was amiss, as she decided to stand in front of The Man with adoring cloudy eyes and block his path to the bathroom. I had to pick her up and move her. Time to assess the damage. It took some doing, but he finally got his shirt off. I had the scissors ready to cut it off, but he was adamant about saving the stupid shirt. It has a hole in the back where a branch or something poked through. I was hoping to limit the mess that removing his shirt would make to the bathtub. I didn't. 

He was still holding his left arm close and said his shoulder hurt. I managed to rinse the blood and dirt off. Lots of scratches. nothing major. He is on blood thinners, so any little thing bleeds a lot and looks worse than it is. He was walking and talking, despite the bump and scratches on the top of his head. When I turned him around, I saw the problem. "Which ER would you like to visit, your shoulder is dislocated." He was more worried about his phone, his glasses and one hearing aid missing.

It was still light out and the truck had been backed into the drive, so the trip to Blairsville was easy enough for me to drive. It has been months since I have driven anything. The truck is big with a long bed, and I really don't like driving it. The Man has all manner of gadgets hanging off the windshield, creating obstacles that corrupted my view of the road ahead. He has a phone holder on the left and a back-up camera on the right. I would prefer a wide-open view of the road. No traffic to speak of and darkness did not fall until after we arrived.

I checked him in and told the nurse he had a dislocated shoulder. She said she wanted to take a look, then acted surprised when she agreed with me. They did all the stuff, like vitals and asking for a list of his meds. I drew a blank and then realized that I had put the list in his phone ........ but the phone is in the underbrush. Upon checking the discharge paperwork when we left, I saw that all they needed to do was to pull him up in the system and it was there. Why would you want to make a grouchy old lady with the Three Stooges haircut hurt her brain trying to remember all his drugs when it was right there in his profile?

I had cut the neck of a t-shirt open to facilitate the donning of the shirt. The Man wanted me to fetch his socks and underwear, jeans and a belt and a Polo shirt. "We aren't doing that." I put a pair of shorts and the T-shirt I ravaged with the scissors on him, much to him dismay. "That is one of my good 'work shirts', why are you cutting it?" This is when I started to worry about the bump on his head. He said he did not lose consciousness and that his head didn't hurt, but who knows? I simply reminded him that he is retired and does no work to speak of. Besides that, he never remembers to take off a good shirt when he decides to tinker with the mowers or power wash something, so big deal!

It was hard to know what happened, other than the mower hit a tree in a deep ditch and he was thrown free. Apparently, his shoulder took the impact of landing, and his head hit a tree at some point. The ditch is full of big and small trees and underbrush.

They x-rayed his shoulder and his head and neck. The doctor came in and I was ready to leave the room, rather than watch them pop his shoulder back in place. Had it been a stranger or mere acquaintance it wouldn't have bothered me at all, but family does. 

"His shoulder is not dislocated!" said the ER doc. Then, while we were celebrating, he announced that it was broken. His head and neck were okay, but sore. No surgical intervention is needed. It will need to stay immobilized until it heals. He was discharged in a hospital gown and a sling. I am waiting for a call from the orthopedic surgeon we were referred to for an appointment this week.

The Man is asleep, thanks to a narcotic haze from the Percocet he was prescribed. They gave him the first dose before we left the hospital for the drive home, in the dark ...... this deserves a post all its own.