Week 318 “Things change in the blink of an eye”

We have been preparing for the next few goals and Riley’s birthday at the end of the month being the next most important. We have had visits from Riley and he can now say lots of words including Grandma. The smile this brings to Jill’s face is worth seeing. Last Saturday Allison & Chris  came home for an early mother’s day and brought their new Jeep for us to check out. We went out for lunch and they left around 3pm.

However as I said things change in the blink of an eye. On Sunday night as we were preparing for bed I was helping Jill transfer from the bathroom to the bed when she began to have trouble moving. We were in no mans land -sort of 1 metre from the toilet seat and 1 meter from the bed  and I was supporting her when she lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor- her left leg was caught underneath and at a funny angle. She came to and I straightened the leg – she was in considerable pain. We sat on the floor for several minutes – Jill saying she is OK and me wondering how I was going to get her into bed. Finally against Jill’s requests I rang for an Ambulance. By this time it was midnight and within a few minutes they were here and after checking Jill out the decision was made to get her out to the ambulance – not an easy task considering they could not bend her leg and her location between the bed and the wall. They rang for some assistance and with 4 paramedics she was transferred into her wheel chair and eventually into the ambulance – It was probably 1.30am by the time we arrived at emergency department of NorthEast Health. Over the next couple of hours they assessed Jill and after the X-ray they told us that Jill’s left leg was broken just below the knee replacement joint. Around 5am the orthopaedic surgeon manipulated Jill’s leg and the bone into place and then put what is called a back slab plaster on the back of the leg from above the knee to the ankle then this bandaged into place. I understand they use this due to the amount of swelling around the leg. Finally mid afternoon she was moved to a bed in the surgical ward while they decided if they were going to operate. Another X-ray and finally we were told they were going to leave it as is. Allison had driven back after leaving on Sunday to be with her mum.

All Jill wants is to go home. The nurses and other medical staff  have been great. They got Jill out of bed, using a lift with Jill supported in a sling and placed in a large reclining chair for a couple of hours – this took a fair bit of Jill’s energy. Over night they have been worried about the build up of fluid , oxygen levels and her heart. They are doing an ultrasound this afternoon. Even with the medication she is in a fair amount of pain. Obviously to be expected.

I have had to leave her in the capable hands of the nursing staff as I am booked in for a colonoscopy on Friday and need to take the prescribed medication before hand and be close to the toilet for the next 12 hours. Jill’s sister is coming to be with Jill for the next couple of days. Then with mothers day the rest of the family will be here as well.

I will keep you advised on the progress – but assume it will be a long haul.

See you on the net.