A Trip to the ER

As our LAN line and cell phones rang one after the other last night, we figured something big must be up. And it was. KS called Tracy at 7 p.m. to let her know that Blanche had tripped and fallen after dinner. She hit her head and her knee and as a precaution, KS called the ambulance and had them take her to Waterbury Hospital. The emergency room. On a Sunday night. In the pouring rain. Did I mention on a Sunday night? In the pouring rain?

So we sat with Blanche for about five hours. She was in great spirits. She kept saying how happy she was to see us and how nice it was that we could all be together. She had x-rays taken on her knee and a CAT Scan on her head. It was all good. There was nothing wrong with her. But yikes, it was a long wait. Toward the end, Blanche really wanted to leave, so she started to methodically fold the blankets and sheets that were covering her. It was quite interesting to see the level of concentration she exhibited as she folded first the top blanket, which she then placed at the end of the bed and then the second blanket was folded, and also placed on top of the first blanket.

By then she was down to just a sheet covering her. Tracy kept telling her to leave the sheet alone because all she had on under it was a johnny coat. So she would stop for literally one minute, then pick up the sheet, defiantly stare at Tracy and start to fold it again! It was fascinating to watch. Tracy finally just got up, and unfolded both blankets and placed them back over Blanche so she had to start all over again. At least that bought us time so she wouldn't be just lying there practically naked waiting for the doctor. And it was freezing in the room she was in.

We watched several sets of people come and go. As each one would leave, Blanche would make a comment loud enough for all to hear. She was very nosy. It was also interesting to see her out of her normal surroundings. While she was in good spirits, she literally could not complete a sentence, which was really frustrating to her. She kept telling Tracy she had something to tell her, but she couldn't remember what it was. Tracy told her where she was and why she was there, but she did not respond to that at all.

Interestingly, when we first got there, a nurse came up to Tracy and said that Blanche seemed very confused. Tracy explained that Blanche has Alzheimer's and the nurse said he knew that!? Okay, then, why was he surprised she seemed confused? We couldn't quite figure that one out.

When the doctor finally came, he asked Tracy if in her opinion, her mom was acting normal. Tracy said, "absolutely" and the doctor was satisfied between that answer and the CAT Scan results that she had not suffered a head injury.

So, we were curious as to what would have happened if KS had not been able to reach Tracy. Apparently, the ambulance would have taken Blanche back to KS, so that's good to know.

Hopefully, it won't happen again anytime soon.