A Sickening Thud!

In the post titled Setting Up For Rehab at Home, I mentioned "Standing Guard" while Bettie was in the bathroom. Over the nearly three weeks she has been home from Rehab, this has seemed to be less and less of a requirement. She had been taking care of herself quite well, with minimum "supervision"...until this (Monday) morning.

About 6:45 I awoke as she was getting up to go to the bathroom for the third time since retiring the previous evening. Though I had gotten up with her the previous two times, this time I simply said: "You OK, Honey?". She mumbled: "Uh huh" and proceeded into the bath, clutching her walker. The next thing I know I heard this sickening thud that could only be one thing. I was there in an instant and sure enough, she was in a heap on the floor next to the toilet, holding her head and moaning.

As I lifted her up, her hand came away from her forehead, revealing an inch and a half gash, just below her hairline on the left side. (We later concluded that her head had probably struck the aluminum frame at the bottom of our shower door.) The first time I saw a wound like this was when my son Steve fell off our back-yard slide, many years ago. Because the skull is so close to the skin surface, this type of wound can open easily and look much more serious than it actually is. Having seen Steve's cut years ago, I was not as shocked as I would have been otherwise.

Fortunately, she did not bleed a great deal...I say fortunately because she is on a blood thinner and it could have been quite messy. I got her cleaned up and put on a standard size band-aid. Though she was pretty shaken up by the ordeal and complained that her head hurt, I thought it was a relatively minor mishap. Returning to bed, she was able to go back to sleep for awhile.

Later, however, she did not want to get up for breakfast. I brought it to her in bed and called the Home Care office to cancel the therapists that were scheduled to come later in the day. In that same call, I suggested that it would probably be good for the nurse to come and have a look at Bettie's wound. That was the best thing I did all day.

When Tram, the home health care nurse came, she suggested that it would be better to have the cut stitched rather than try to keep it closed with a bandage. So, to make a long story (2 1/2 hours in the Urgent Care facility in Covington) short, Bettie has four stitches in her forehead (courtesy of Dr. Todd Bouchard) and I have a heavy heart for letting this happen.

She seems fine now...I probably feel worse than she does. I deserve it.