Yesterday, my mom who is 90 years old, fell in her bedroom while getting her clothing out of the closet for the day. She crashed down on her right knee, resulting in a huge fracture of the femur just above the knee, and the femur smashing into the knee itself. She will have surgery today or tomorrow to pull the offending femur out of the knee area and set the break with pins, screws and a 6″ metal plate. Prognosis… bleak at best. The morphine she has had in the last two days put her into what they called a narcotic induced delirium. She rarely is awake, and when awake cannot tell you any facts about anything. The internal med guy said that she may be this way from now until whenever, and may even get worse, as the pain from the femur fracture is the absolutely most painful kind ever.
She was talking to me yesterday afternoon, with clarity, but today at 9am, she was so out of it, I just sat watching her with disbelief. I suppose the three months of immobility to come, and the projected lengthy stay in a sub-acute care facility are inevitable.
Sam and I left the hospital this afternoon… we entrusted her to my step-dad and brother. I can no longer be the responsible one — a role I have assumed through my entire life. Perhaps it sounds like an ungrateful daughter to you, however, I am ok with my actions.
It is cruel to see a vibrant, lively minded woman who was just two days ago bopping around her home, now just laying in that hospital bed, not knowing what is happening around her, and not even aware that there is an “around her.”
I hate this situation.
later……………..
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