On July 14, as S was being released, John was admitted to a different hospital 40 miles away after another fall, though I wasn't to hear about it for several more days. I'm worried about John.
I got word yesterday that my dear friend, Mark, will be going back into the hospital for more surgeries to correct things that went wrong the last time. I'm worried sick about Mark and Matthew.
I got word last night that John will be entering an assisted living facility shortly. You know how I feel about that, although I can't argue with the reasons. They're quite sound. He probably will continue to run if he's not watched round the clock and he probably will continue to hurt himself. It could be *very* serious the next time. It's all true. Nonetheless, John is unlikely to take this well, and wherever the assisted living facility is, it means a long, long drive to get him and return him for our fortnightly adventures.
My back has been cramping for several days, which is probably part of what's keeping me awake.
And I am concerned about Jack's feet.
Notice that his weight is resting on his instep and his foot is collapsing inward. He does that on both sides and it's getting more pronounced. Rod talked to the nurse and she says that it's several years yet before they will be concerned, so I am taking him to get some "orthopedic" shoes to see if we can correct it on our own before the mechanical stress on his body starts to cause him trouble. I know that part of my back trouble is probably my own unbalanced (uncorrected) gait.All of this probably explains why it's been so hard to blog coherently lately.
...on the bright side, no one has died since mid-June. (That I have heard about so far.)
I recognize those feet. Look at Matthew's, his are the exact same way. They look very broken to me but he doesn't seem to have any problem walking. I have always meant to get him to a doctor to have it checked but my own health problems have prevented it.
ReplyDeleteI had noticed, Mark...but they wouldn't have done anything for Matthew until right about when things got crazy in your life. Once things are settled for you, perhaps there will be something they can suggest.
ReplyDeleteMy concern isn't so much for the short term but for the long term -- the inappropriate muscle pulling is likely to be hard on their backs over time and when they're our age, they may have more trouble than they migh otherwise...
I'm sorry about all the difficulties, but I have to confess that the last sentence did make me laugh!! :P
ReplyDeleteI wish I had been being humourous, my friend. My friend's mother died on June 17 or ao, making the tally 17 for the year. I'm exhausted. ;)
ReplyDeleteI asked our doctor about this very same thing when Hannah was Jack's age. (I was very concerned since she was born with no hip sockets -- she's fine now)
ReplyDeleteHe said it is quite normal, and will resolve itself in a year or two. He was right! Resolved in my son (who was born *with* hips) around the same age as well.
Misti, our friend S was suffering from an accute kidney infection that got into her bloodstream. The doctor at St. Joe's said people react differently to that sort of thing and S's fainting spell could have been her body's way of alerting her to the seriousness of the infection. He also said that only about 25 percent of the time do they find out the exact reason a person faints like that and told S not to be frustrated if that was the case with her.
ReplyDeleteThe doctors at U-M said the same thing once she was transferred there, but kept insisting on making a big deal about it. She (and I) have become frustrated by the way U-M has run this whole thing, because a great deal of these shenanigans seem to be in an effort to drive up the cost of her care.
The latest is that now U-M is saying they have no record of ever getting signals from the heart monitor they made her wear and are trying to say she refused to cooperate and did not wear it. If that is the case, why did she get a call in the middle of the night when the cat pulled a wire loose? Or again when she took it off to take a shower? And why did they say they didn't want to believe the tests done at St. Joe's that showed the infection, yet continued to pump her full of strong antibiotics?
I am entirely underwhelmed by any exhibition of competency at U-M Hospitals. S was ill and that kind of infection is serious. Why could it not be the reason for her fainting? Why do they have to become drama queens and try to find a worse scenario?
Stop worrying about S. She's now convinced she has to take better care of herself. If it took fainting to get her to that realization, so be it.
Thanks for the comments, Lee. It's reassuring to know that it often corrects itself! I will get Jack some really good shoes and bide my time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification, Kate. There has been so much chaos every time I've seen S that I kept losing the thread on exactly what *was* going on. If she knows she needs to take better care of herself, then yes, what ever that took. We were all bullet proof once, but middle age ain't for sissies. ;)