Just a Quick Update

This has been an unusual summer, for sure.  Sometimes you don't see the curveball coming your way, but when it hits, you have to deal with it.

After we returned from our cruise, I had looked forward to giving some love to the Journey and even going away for a weekend or two.  I have a maintenance project list to keep it in good shape.

All that changed in an instant.

My 96 year old Dad came down from NJ for a week long visit mid July.  Normally he has been living with my brother and SIL in NJ.  They had a planned vacation in Europe, so we welcomed my Dad to stay with us.

After the first two days with us, Dad got up and bent over to make his bed.  He lost his balance, fell and broke his hip.  On the way to the floor, somehow, he also sliced his ear open on a bedside table.  I ran into his room and found him on the floor in agony, with blood all over.  Amazing how an ear can bleed.

The usual then took place.  An ambulance ride to the ER, then a stitching up of his ear.  X-rays, CT scan and then surgery the next day for a partial hip replacement.

So I've been pretty much by his side 24/7 ever since.  Sleeping in the hospital next to him for a week, then in the rehab hospital for two more weeks.  After release from the rehab hospital, it was outpatient rehab three times a week.  We've completed that and he is getting around pretty well with his walker and occasional wheelchair use.

Since he has limits on how he can and can't bend, I have to help him dress, undress and shower.  If he should move in the wrong way, he could dislocate the hip and we'd have to start hospital and rehab all over again.  Nope, don't want to do that!

We've kept him active, taking him out at least somewhere every day, sometimes just to the store, but we've been to a couple of high school football games, band concerts, church, dinners and so on.  I've even taken him with me to the USO where I volunteer and also to the gun range to shoot a few holes in a paper target (he did amazingly well, the last time he fired a gun was in WWII).  He's been enjoying watching the Hallmark Channel on TV most nights, too.

Looks like next weekend, we'll be able to take him home to NJ, just in time to see the leaves turning.  He's looking forward to going back to my brother's.  We've decided since he can no longer live on his own, we'll rotate hin back and forth from NJ to here in SC every couple of months, giving him a change of pace and a break for us caretakers.  It's a lot of work, but you have to take care of your family.

One thing, though, we don't let him make the bed anymore!  :cD

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.