Monday, August 9, 2010

Double Ugh

One of the things we look forward to the most are visits from my parents. My parents look forward to their visits with equal (if not greater) enthusiasm. This time they were able to come down together which, because of work schedules and cost of flights, is generally not the case. They drove down over a couple of days and arrived on Tuesday. We had various plans, such as the zoo, visits with friends and family, and I was going to get a refresher course on canning peaches from my mom. Mostly we were just going to hang out and enjoy each others' company.
'Twas not to be.

Within a day of arriving, my mom came down with some horrible sickness (likely dehydration due to our higher temperatures and altitudes). She was bed-bound for a day, but began recovering once we realized what was wrong and she started drinking Gatorade. By Saturday things began looking up, and we spent the late afternoon at Jon's parents house.
Then, disaster. Dad mistakenly stepped through a space on the side of the trampoline and fell through. It would have been fine, except that his foot or leg hit a cement block on the way down (the trampoline is dug into the ground, with a retaining wall around the hole). Long story short, an ambulance was called and he ended up in the ER with a dislocated knee, the tendons completely detached from the... quadricep, I think. The silver lining is that there's no pain in the knee. (Dad had me straighten his leg after the incident. I did so with great reservation, which is what detached the tendons. However, I'm told it also restored circulation, prevented nerve damage, and got rid of the pain. Or maybe they just said that to make me feel better.)
Unable to do surgery for at least a week on account of swelling, the ER sent my dad home. So, after determining that he could get in and out of the car fairly well, my folks headed back home this morning. Hopefully it won't take too long before Dad gets surgery up there, but with the Canadian health system, one never knows. He'll be put on a waiting list, and it remains to be seen if it will be days before he gets surgery, or months. He's quite incapacitated - unable to move his leg, with the only comfortable positions being flat on his back or standing with crutches. It's just not a tenable situation.

As an aside, it had been months since Grandma & Grandpa last saw the kids, and everyone was so looking forward to this trip. Now, we won't see them until Christmas (assuming Dad can travel by then). I just can't believe how one misstep can have such tragic consequences. It seems all out of proportion.