On Tuesday July 17th, Brian's dad went in for elective back surgery. We arrived at his house around 6:15 that morning. We were greeted by his sister Gayle, who told us that it wasn't such a good morning. Just as she said that, I started to hear some moaning coming from the bathroom. His mom was in there, standing in front of the mirror trying to put some makeup on. I could tell she was in a lot of pain. Gayle said that she had gone to the basement to look for her cell phone and winded up tripping. When Gayle got there and knocked on the door and nobody answered, she pulled out her key and went in. As she got through the door, she saw her mom at the top stair leading from the basement...crawling. She was telling Gayle to be quiet, "I don't want Bill to find out!" LOL Gayle says, "Mom, unless you make a miraculous recovery, dad's gonna find out!" She tripped over the cord for the iron, and said that she tried to just shake it off, but she couldn't put weight on it...she crawled halfway across the basement and then all the way up the stairs. Ugh.
So, we get his mom in a rolling chair, take her to the front door. From there Brian and his other sister Cindy take over and practically carry her to the vehicle. We pile in and head to the hospital. Bill walks in (mind you, he's the one actually having surgery), and we get a wheelchair for Wanda. Up to the surgical floor, Bill gets prepped and surgery is due to start at 9. Around 10, we say our goodbyes and his surgery is started. We are told it will be at least 3 hours, so we head to get some breakfast. After eating, we convince her that it would be a good idea to just get an x-ray, "just to have some peace of mind". After trying to maneuver in the restroom and being in lots of pain, she finally relents. But not after coming up with several excuses and wanting to brush it off...excuses like...I just jammed it, I will sit and soak in a hot bath tonight, I probably just pulled some ligaments, I will go tomorrow. It was truly like dealing with a child or a man!! LOL
Anyhow, after a small stint in ER and much speculation about what we really thought was going on...her doctor came in and delivered the blow. Wanda had fractured the head of her patella and would require surgery and pins to correct it. She was devastated. Here she thought that she could be there and help Bill recover from his surgery and now is told, that she'll be recovering from surgery as well. She feels like she has let him down and is just beside herself. Meanwhile, Bill is in surgery and has no idea what is happening. His surgery winds up taking almost 8 hours and it's almost 9 that evening, before we can even go in recovery and see him. Even at that point, he probably didn't even realize that we were there, due to him being overly sedated. At the same time, Wanda was being admitted and scheduled for surgery. At least they put them in the same room, which was nice. When Bill woke up the next morning, they pulled the curtain and she told him the news. His mental status hasn't been that great since the surgery, so who knows how much he really understood, but I think by now, he's gotten the gist of it.
It took them almost 2 days to get Wanda's surgery done, but she had it done around Midnight on the 19th and was transferred to rehab on the 21st. She is doing great, better and better everyday. Things with his dad have really been touch and go though. He developed a blood clot, they worried about seizures or a possible stroke. For days, he wasn't coherent, would mumble stuff all day long. He didn't eat anything for the first 5 days. It's been an uphill battle, that's for sure. But he is doing somewhat better. He can sit in a chair for a few hours, he can make some conversation, and is eating a lot better. They were talking about transferring him to the rehab clinic where his wife is today, but I don't think he's ready for that. He really can't do much of anything on his own yet. Hopefully soon...Wanda gave him the window view and is literally almost counting the seconds until she can see him again. That will be a sight to behold...
Will try and keep you updated....
