Friday

Weekend on the way! I'm ready. This was a full week around here.
We ended up spending last evening in the hospital emergency room. My mother fell down Monday before I left for work. She had her knees replaced a few years ago, and has no strength in her legs, and just can't get up. (flash back to that old TV commercial 'I've fallen and I can't get up!) She can't. So I helped her up, and she continued on her way. When I got home I found the front gates open, and my wife said the paramedics had just left. She got home and found my mother on the floor in the kitchen, where she had lain all day. Scraped her elbow going down and there was blood all over the floor where she tried to pull herself up. Wife called 911. She refused to go to the hospital, and the paramedics could do nothing to force her.

She has been slowing down all week, fell again yesterday (while we were home) and just wasn't eating or moving around much. I've been trying to call her doctor for three days. Just get voicemail. The assistant calls me back (the next day sometimes) and offers nothing. We hit urgent care on Wednesday, they just bandaged her elbow (still bleeding, she takes cumadin, which prevents clotting). Finally called a different office where she was treated for something else specific, and after two hours a doctor from there called. He just suggested a hospital for evaluation on why she keeps falling. So when I got home yesterday we took her to the hospital.

Vegas is having a 'medical crisis'. Not enough nurses, or emergency beds. They closed the 'mental hospitals' several years ago and cut funding for that, so now half of the emergency beds are filled with people with mental problems, either brought in by relatives or by police. No facilities, I think the county only has 23 beds in a small mental health facility. Finally got funding, and are in the process of building one finally, after lawsuits from the 'Not In My Backyard' neighbors. But that's a ways away from opening. Still need funding to staff the place.

So she was in bed 'back hall B', as opposed to 'east hall B' or 'west hall B'. More beds in the halls than in rooms. Several hours, finally see a doctor, and it looks like it's time. She probably will not be coming home. They will do evaluations, then call Social Services for evaluation and entry into an 'assisted living' facility. When we finally got home our one little dog that always sits with her kept running from door to door looking for her to come in. He spent most of the night just wimpering because she isn't there. Hard to tell him she will not be coming back. Poor Max (yes, very unique dog names in our household). Hard to tell myself.

Oh, but in the morning before I left I got the department's Employee of the Month award. Looks more like 'of the year' as it's the first 'of the month' given since last September. Guess they were paying attention when I stared closing all of those old work orders.

OK, back to work. Off at noon to go to the hospital and see if they did any tests yet.