Roger Stouff
06-29-2003, 12:00 PM
Well, just thought I'd stick my head down the hatch and see what's going on just above the bilge but not quite up on deck. smile.gif
Thanks to the kind folks who've inquired about me. I'm fine though rather exhausted, emotionally and physically.
My mom, Mrs. Lydia Marie Gaudet Stouff, age 76, fell down and went boom nearly two months ago. She landed on her tailbone, but nothing broken, bruised or pinched. In fact, for nearly three weeks she went about her normal routine: Tending her potted plants, a few in-the-ground plants, housework, going shopping, etc.
But Saturday a month ago, she was suddenly unable to walk. A trip to the ER resulted in her being sent home with pain killers. By Sunday, she could not even stand up, so I raised a little war dance, threatened to send smoke signals and summon reinforcements, and they admitted her to the hospital.
MRI/Cat revealed the worst case of tailbone area arthritis any of the staff had ever seen. Though she has complaimed of slight discomfort there in the past, the fall apparently irritated it badly. So we spent two weeks in the hospital getting the pain and swelling down, and the last two weeks in the physical rehabilitation center getting her back on her feet. She is on pain patches and a TIMS unit, those little boxes you wear on your hip that send electric shocks to the area in question.
Luckily, the three therapists on staff just happen to be two Chitimachas, and of of their wives, so mom is very comfortable with them. She has slowly regained some mobility, making a sudden leap in achievement last week, and we are expecting her to go home this week sometime. I'll be hiring her referenced home sitting for the first week or so, buying one of those nifty electric wheelchairs for days she doesn't feel up to par, and phys therapy will continue from the center but at her home every other day. We have high hope that while she may not be up to gardening again, she'll be able to take care of her self with just a little help.
So 2-4 trips to visit her a day, running errands, dealing with Medicaire and insurance, and occasionally having to go in a raise hell with the staff for this or that (they do listen to me quite well, once they realized I was that Roger Stouff, the one who writes for the newspaper) I'm pretty beat.
But I'm her only child, and well, ya know, I was a lot worse off than her when I was born, and heck, she took care of me for dang near 20 years, right?
So I'll continue to be scarce, but I thank you all for your kindnesses.
Oh, MrLeft, what's this I hear about bamboo? smile.gif :D ;) :cool:
And Donn and Jack, I was also alerted by email to that brief exhange between you two on the Israel thread. You both have my humble thanks.
Off to visit Mom. Hope you all are doing well. We'll get through this.
Best regards from the Rez,
R
Thanks to the kind folks who've inquired about me. I'm fine though rather exhausted, emotionally and physically.
My mom, Mrs. Lydia Marie Gaudet Stouff, age 76, fell down and went boom nearly two months ago. She landed on her tailbone, but nothing broken, bruised or pinched. In fact, for nearly three weeks she went about her normal routine: Tending her potted plants, a few in-the-ground plants, housework, going shopping, etc.
But Saturday a month ago, she was suddenly unable to walk. A trip to the ER resulted in her being sent home with pain killers. By Sunday, she could not even stand up, so I raised a little war dance, threatened to send smoke signals and summon reinforcements, and they admitted her to the hospital.
MRI/Cat revealed the worst case of tailbone area arthritis any of the staff had ever seen. Though she has complaimed of slight discomfort there in the past, the fall apparently irritated it badly. So we spent two weeks in the hospital getting the pain and swelling down, and the last two weeks in the physical rehabilitation center getting her back on her feet. She is on pain patches and a TIMS unit, those little boxes you wear on your hip that send electric shocks to the area in question.
Luckily, the three therapists on staff just happen to be two Chitimachas, and of of their wives, so mom is very comfortable with them. She has slowly regained some mobility, making a sudden leap in achievement last week, and we are expecting her to go home this week sometime. I'll be hiring her referenced home sitting for the first week or so, buying one of those nifty electric wheelchairs for days she doesn't feel up to par, and phys therapy will continue from the center but at her home every other day. We have high hope that while she may not be up to gardening again, she'll be able to take care of her self with just a little help.
So 2-4 trips to visit her a day, running errands, dealing with Medicaire and insurance, and occasionally having to go in a raise hell with the staff for this or that (they do listen to me quite well, once they realized I was that Roger Stouff, the one who writes for the newspaper) I'm pretty beat.
But I'm her only child, and well, ya know, I was a lot worse off than her when I was born, and heck, she took care of me for dang near 20 years, right?
So I'll continue to be scarce, but I thank you all for your kindnesses.
Oh, MrLeft, what's this I hear about bamboo? smile.gif :D ;) :cool:
And Donn and Jack, I was also alerted by email to that brief exhange between you two on the Israel thread. You both have my humble thanks.
Off to visit Mom. Hope you all are doing well. We'll get through this.
Best regards from the Rez,
R