Accidental Exercise

What started as a carefully planned, relatively peaceful week on the road in California fell apart when I received a call from my dad’s facility on Monday night that he had a bad fall. When seniors fall down, it’s never good. He slipped off his chair and got caught between the kitchen table and the wall. Unfortunately he wasn’t wearing his safety necklace and he couldn’t reach the alert button, phone or bathroom. He spent 10 hours on the floor, rescued by 98-year old Ida who wandered in to ask why he hadn’t shown up for pickled herring at breakfast. She called for help – from the Wellness Center. I now understand that whenever there’s a problem Ida calls in the Wellness troops. They sent a crew to extract him, after he spent the whole day contorting his legs without success, going into shock, and passing out. When he was finally pulled out and cleaned up, he wanted to go to breakfast (at 6 pm). He was also convinced that it was March 29, which is his wedding anniversary and probably meant he was thinking about joining my mother.

I left my work commitments and drove 90 miles to assess him; I was worried about stroke. His doctor’s staff trained me by phone how to evaluate (facial drooping, impaired swallowing, slurred speech, weak hand grip). He was traumatized but mostly recovered. I bought flowers for all the rescuers. I drove back to my meeting, and had a brief enjoyable break with friends Cindy and John drinking wine at their local Yacht Club. I then drove back south to take Dad to yet another doctor’s appointment, this time for a cortisone shot in his back. However, the procedure had to be postponed due to too much blood thinner in his system. Sid was so disappointed; I had to cheer him up – off we went off to the movies at the luxury theatre with the fancy recliner chairs. I forget to tell his neighbors we wouldn’t be at dinner. So of course everyone went into red alert and thought he was in the hospital. My bad.

Dad’s pain specialist gave me his cell number, we texted back and forth, and he squeezed him in for his shot late Friday afternoon. Yes, I realize this may be the most amazing part of the story. There are doctors who care.

In the meantime, I decided that Dad deserved to get a new recliner with an electric footstool, just like the one at the luxury theatre. I needed to make it happen – quickly. I made 3 trips to Costco to arrange logistics. I wound up befriending a Mexican laborer with a truck in the Home Depot parking lot, paid him $20, and we got the chair delivered to the loading dock while discussing Oaxacan art. While Dad was getting his pain shot, the maintenance guys set it up in his apartment, removed the old one he detested, and returned it to the store with my receipt for a full refund.

The week ended with an 8 mile walk on the beach with Leigh, who took the train down from Bakersfield to support me and have a mini-vacation. He has been a constant source of friendship for the past 40 years, and he understands. We left my dad taking a well-deserved nap in his new chair. If anything goes wrong, Ida will notify the Wellness Center. Dad is a very fortunate man to live in a caring community. I am humbled and blown away by all the people who have helped me. Thank you.