Don't expect a barrel of laughs from Val today, people. AS IF you ever do...
This is not a typical "agony aunt" story. It's the tale of my actual aunt, in agony! My favorite gambling aunt, to be exact.
Auntie is a widow, who lives alone with her cats and dog. I forget the number of cats. It might be three. Maybe more. She took in the dog as a favor to someone who couldn't keep him, after her own dog went to the big farm upstate, over the rainbow bridge.
Auntie is in her late 70s/early 80s. She is like a Six Million Dollar Woman. Not judging her by wealth, but on the number of body parts that have been upgraded or replaced. She was in a terrible car accident many years ago, and has an ankle that doesn't bend. Replaced hips and knees. A repaired back. And a shoulder that is currently giving her fits. Not to mention the diabeetus that she medicates for.
Because she is unsteady on her feet (still the ones she was born with), Auntie has had a Life Alert necklace for about 10 years. She has used it on numerous occasions after a fall. Some inside the house, some in the back yard, some in the front yard. Every time, an ambulance arrived to "save" her.
Last Wednesday, Auntie went to the city to see a doctor about her shoulder. I think it might have something to do with the rotator cuff, though Auntie is not a major league pitcher. She had a relative with her, and they stopped for lunch. When Auntie got home, she decided to do something in the garage pertaining to her pets. I lost track of the minor details, because I was gasping in horror at the major focus of her tale.
AUNTIE FELL ON THE RAMP FROM HER KITCHEN DOOR TO THE GARAGE!
She fell backwards, and hit her head. She doesn't remember exactly what caused her to fall. She thinks maybe it was her ankle not adjusting to the unevenness of the ramp on the garage floor.
"I realized that I was lying on the ramp. I pushed my Life Alert button. The kitchen door was open. I thought I could crawl back into the house. I drug myself up the ramp, but I couldn't get over the threshold. My shoulder didn't have the strength. I waited for the Life Alert people to send the ambulance. But it didn't come. I kept pushing the button, but nobody showed up.
The pet door in the garage was open. I thought maybe I could crawl over and yell. I tried, but my body hurt so much! I couldn't. I ended up half on and half off the ramp. All I could do was lay there. And push my Life Alert button.
I WAS THERE FOR FOUR DAYS!
I was just wearing a long dress. I was cold. I had to urinate right there where I was lying. Seven times over those four days. I was freezing. I could hear my phone ringing in the house, but I couldn't get to it.
Finally, on Saturday, [my son] came over. I found out that [my daughter] had been trying to call me, but couldn't get an answer. She looked at my Facebook page, and saw that I hadn't been on it since Wednesday. That's when she called [my son] and told him to come check on me. He said, 'I go see her every Sunday. Can't it wait?' And [my daughter] told him, 'Go right now! I have a terrible feeling!'
When [my son] came in through the house, I hollered, 'I'm out here! In the garage!' And he walked to the door and looked at me, and said, 'What are you doing down there?' And I said, 'Call an ambulance!'"
Auntie's son (my cousin) lives less than a mile from her. He bought my mom's house. Her daughter lives in the city. The ambulance came and took pictures of Auntie, then took her to the hospital. She was SO THIRSTY, and asked for some water, but they told her she would just vomit it, and gave her an IV.
The doctor said a few more hours, and Auntie would have died. She had a concussion, with a bruised face and black eyes. They suspected a brain bleed, but a CAT scan showed none. The doctor asked if she'd been having shoulder pain, and she said that she had just been to a doctor for it. He said that she'd had a heart attack! And that she also had A-Fib. I'm not sure if that's what they suspect of causing her fall.
Anyhoo... as for the mystery of why Life Alert didn't respond, that is, indeed, a mystery. Let's just say a lawyer has been contacted.
Auntie is currently in rehab, getting stronger. She is planning to move into assisted living, where she is only allowed to bring one pet. That's the hardest part for her. She is in the process of finding homes for her fur babies.
How awful. A fall and Life Alert does not work? This is the thing I fear. So far, a huge fire truck comes to pick me up. At least I live with someone who eventually sees me or hears me yelling. I am upset when it takes him ten minutes to find me and cannot imagine lying for four days. Thankfully, her daughter convinced her son to check on her. What did he think she was doing in the floor??? How on earth did the doctor miss a heart attack? Cousin cannot drive less than a mile to check on her? This was a horror story. It is a miracle she is alive. How old is she?
ReplyDeleteMy cousin has an odd way of looking at things, just like his dad and my dad. Could have been his way of processing the shock of seeing her there. He went by every Sunday. Auntie was out and about all the time, going to lunch with friends. So they didn't think anybody needed to drop in every day to check on her.
DeleteAuntie is late 70s/early 80s, like I said in the 4th paragraph. I don't remember her exact age. She's a tough old bird, and quite entertaining. She always has the scoop about family and co-workers.
She was seeing an orthopedist about her chronic shoulder issue, so he was probably focused on the mechanics of the joint, and not her general health.
Could be the heart attack is what made her lose balance and fall!
DeleteYes. Or maybe the A-Fib making her dizzy, or contributing to the heart attack.
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear of your aunt's fall. I wonder if the Life Alert had a failed battery. I hope sAunt is on the mend soon!
ReplyDeleteThat's the first thing I asked. I know nothing about Life Alert systems. Auntie said it doesn't take a battery, that it operates off her phone or something. Hick thought it might have a certain range, like a prisoner's ankle bracelet! Heh, heh! Hick thinking first to compare Auntie to a criminal!
DeleteHe said maybe it wouldn't work outside the house. When I said it had worked before, in both the front yard and the back yard, he said maybe it's based on GPS, and something in the garage blocked the signal. I have no idea. Hick could have been making that up.
Auntie sounded really chipper on the phone. She had just finished with her physical therapy, and we had to end the conversation after a half hour, when she got a visitor. She seems to be mending, and in good spirits about moving into assisted living. Already has the place picked out.
I can't imagine laying outside for 4 days. Your Aunt is so lucky that her son came over at the urging of his sister to check on her. Isn't that something about the shoulder being an indication of a heart attack? I'm so glad your Aunt is recovering quickly and is looking forward to moving into assisted living. It sounds like she'll keep the residents and employees hopping:)
ReplyDeleteAt least she was in the garage this time, and not out in the yard. Though in the yard, somebody would have seen her. Thank goodness her daughter thought to check Auntie's Facebook for activity.
DeleteAuntie says she doesn't like people, but she strikes up a conversation with strangers all the time. So I think she'll settle right in at assisted living.
This is so horrible to think about someone you love being in suh a situation! You know you should take a couple of her pets!! That would be what would hurt me the most, losing any of my babies!! How do you choose which one to keep! Our cousin died suddenly and I will be writing about it tomorrow. Just so sad, and somehow, it is so much worse during the holidays. HeWho's grandmother died on Christmas Eve and his dad died on the way to the funeral! This was a long time ago, but they still talk about it every Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI am afraid to take her pets, since we have Scarlett. She would not do well with cats. Besides, Hick won't let us have inside pets, and the cats are used to being in the house.
DeleteAuntie already gave away her rescued dog. She said he was a traitor! How she took him in and loved him, and thought he loved her back, only to see him in a picture from his new adopted family, HAPPY, and sitting on their lap with one of his toys. She got a chuckle out of that.
That's sad about HeWho's grandparents. At least they weren't separated for long, but so devastating for the rest of the family.
Holy Moly!! I'm so glad the daughter had a bad feeling and insisted the son go there. Lying like that for four days!! Is it possible the life alert battery was dead? So very glad she is recovering now and moving into assisted living. I hope I have the good sense to move if I ever need to, but so far I am still steady on my feet with all my original parts.
ReplyDeleteYes! She's his older sister, and bossed him into it from 60 miles away! Auntie said her Life Alert doesn't run on a battery. I'm glad you and your parts are in good working condition!
DeleteOMG, I can not even imagine!
ReplyDeleteIt would be like a real-life nightmare from which you can't wake up!
DeleteResearch shows they do have a battery which should last 10 years when they automatically send a new battery.
ReplyDeleteGood to know. My best old ex-teaching buddy Mabel said her mom's Life Alert wouldn't work if the phone wasn't sitting flush on the cradle.
DeleteSince Auntie heard her phone ringing, I don't think that was it, because the phone charge would probably have been used up over those four days. So maybe her Life Alert had a battery, and she didn't realize it, since she didn't have to change it over the years.