Another Trip to the ER and a Deal

One of my friends that I visited in California joked that my family needs a frequent user punch-card for our local hospital.  Unfortunately, it’s not an exaggeration.

My weekend began like any other.  I got up early and mowed the lawn.  Luckily, the bugs weren’t nearly as bad as last week, but the humidity was horrendous.  But I got it done.  We then ran errands and I was so thankful that I had gotten up early to mow because it just got steamier and steamier all day.  That evening, my parents and I sat down and watched the Nicole Kidman/Hugh Jackman movie “Australia.”  It is definitely on the long side, but all three of us loved it!  I really want to adopt the kid that is in it.  And Hugh Jackman.  Whew.  Enough said.  It did have quite a few serious parts, but it was actually a lot more humorous than I imagined it would be.

We got started rather late on the movie, so didn’t finish it until almost midnight.  My mom headed up to their room to get ready for bed and I went to the bathroom.  While we were there, we heard a huge bang/thud.  I don’t know about my mom, but my heart lept into my throat….again.  I yelled for my mom in case she hadn’t heard it (which, of course, she had) and got downstairs as quickly as I could.

My dad had been filling ice trays when he had a bad seizure (he has epilepsy).  Our kitchen is on the narrow side, and he had to have hit the counter and refrigerator when he fell.  When my mom finally got him standing, she lifted the back of his shirt to check out his back and words can’t express how scary it was.  It looked as though someone had clawed his back.  Just started at the top with their nails and dragged them down.  It looked like there were about three sets of scratches.  Don’t ask me how that happened.  There was also a large lump protruding from one area.  My mom was worried that he’d broken something this time.  So, trip to the ER number…well, I forget how many times this year.

We totally were not impressed with the treatment he got there.  Luckily, the swelling went down and the doctor just thinks it was a swollen muscle/tissue that was causing the protruding.  He had the nurse clean it, though.  But that’s it.  She cleaned it with soap and water and told my parents to put Neosporin on it and a bandage when he got home “since his shirt will stick to it” and sent them on their way.  Huh?  For them not to even put a bandage on it?  Nice.  I mean, if they were just going to have him put the same dirty shirt (from the blood and he had worn it all day) back on over it, why did they even bother to clean it?  Why didn’t they just have my mom do it when they got home?  Craziness.  I mean, it’s great that they won’t have to pay for the bandages and all, but it doesn’t seem all that hygienic.

So luckily he is okay.  He is a bit sore, of course, but doing okay.  I just feel so bad for him.  I know that all of this is really wearing him down.  We had also started him on his new medication on Saturday, and he somehow goofed and ended up taking an extra pill that day.  So we don’t know if the fall can be attributed to that, or just to the fact that he’s been falling a lot lately.  I’m really worried about him.

***

Now, part two is about a deal I made with myself last week. 

The deal was that if I could try and cut back during the week on the sweets/junk/portion sizes, etc, then I would allow myself to have some Haagen-Dasz on the weekends.  It’s my drug of choice lately.  It nearly killed me – especially since I actually needed a few things from the store – but I made it all week.  No ice cream, no candy bars, nothing.  I refused to even allow myself to go to the store after work, because I knew I would cave.  I did allow myself a couple of the 100 calorie packs of chocolate cookies and Blue Bunny sugar free/fat free fudge bars, but I kept it to that.  None of the Haagen-Dasz, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Kit-Kats I’ve been downing lately.

Unfortunately, my eating got a bit wild after the scare on Saturday night.  So, more likely than not, I will show a gain tomorrow on the scale.  But I think this is a reasonable deal that I’ve made with myself and will hopefully get me to start taking a bit more control.  In fact, I was down a bit before the fiasco of Saturday night and Sunday.  Since I made the deal with myself last Wednesday, this week will be my first true test.  Wish me luck!