Broken nose

Hello, dear friends,

Last Tuesday evening, about a half hour after I got home from work, I received a call from C at The Harbor informing me that Mike had fallen, broken his nose, and the emergency squad was there to take him to the hospital. She said that she heard a loud wham next door and was afraid to go see what had happened. When she did, she found Mike on the floor with blood on his face. Upon inspection it was obvious that his nose was broken and there was a 3/4" laceration across the bridge of his nose. They believe that he fell into the door frame head first.

I quickly finished my sandwich, packed a bag, and headed to Charlottesville. Since Mike does not have a one-on-one person, they have no one to send with him. I arrived at the Martha Washington Hospital about 9:30 PM only to find out that Mike was at the Martha Washington Freestanding Hospital about 25 miles away - closer to The Harbor. Mike was sound asleep when I arrived and looked very rough. He had a very swollen nose & upper lip, dried blood  on his face & in his nose, and just generally pitiful. The doctor came in and told me that he had scanned Mike's face, head, & neck and there was no internal damage. He put super-glue like stuff on his nose laceration. Mike also had a laceration on the inside of his mouth between his nose and upper lip. The doctor said mouth wounds usually heal quickly and it was not gaping, so he believed it would heal well on its own. Plus, he did not want to have to sedate Mike. Mike was sleeping so soundly that I thought he had been sedated or been given pain meds, but the doctor had not given him anything. Of course Mike was agitated when the doctor was examining him and irrigating his nose, but otherwise he had done well according to the doctor and RN.

One week prior, I received a call saying that Mike had fallen during the night. He was probably getting up to go to the bathroom when he fell, but he was OK. Due to the increase in medication, he had become even more unstable than he already was, so the next day the medication was reduced back to the prior dosage. I was thankful for that, but as I well know, when Mike gets anxious (which is often) he walks extremely fast and his body gets ahead of his feet and down he goes. You may remember that he rarely puts out his hands to break his fall. This is not good.

Anyway, the doctor discharged Mike after the glue was dried. The RN came in and asked if I was comfortable transporting Mike back to The Harbor or if I would like him to call Medical Transport. I was so relieved to know that Medical Transport was an option. Within the hour, Mike was cocooned in the sheets, moved from the hospital bed to the stretcher, transported to The Harbor and then moved from the stretcher to his bed. He never woke up. I had thought I would stay with him in case he was agitated, but after about an hour it was clear that he was going to sleep just fine, so I might as well try to as well. I found a hotel and gratefully crawled into bed about 2:00 AM.

Wednesday and Thursday I spent most of the day with Mike. The swelling was greatly reduced Wednesday morning. I read the Bible to him and then he wanted to rest. He was given pain medication and slept a good bit in the mornings. He never complained of hurting and if I asked he seemed annoyed with the question, so I let it be.  Wednesday afternoon he napped in the sunshine for a little while until it became too hot. When we came inside, several other residents were doing memory games so we joined them. It seems everyone, who has a bit higher cognitive function, wants to be gathered around the same table. It was crowded, but fun. I was able to learn the names of a few other residents and interact with them too. Each one has their own quirks, challenges, and personality. You never know what someone will say! The interesting thing is that even though they all want to be clustered together, they really do not interact with each other. Each one is trapped in their own mind. It takes one of the staff, volunteers, or family members to engage each one in the activity, otherwise they may just sit there and look at the game on the table, unaware of how to proceed. Maybe this was just for that particular activity, but was what I observed that day.

I checked on Mike a couple of times this weekend and it sounded like he was progressing nicely. The purple/blue/green was turning to yellow and he was more stable on his feet. We had kept him in a wheelchair on Wednesday and Thursday and he seemed to prefer it then also. Tonight I called and spoke with him. Here's how the conversation went with Mike speaking in a loud, hurried, annoyed voice:

Me:  Hi Mike, how's your nose?
Mike:  Hi Jennifer, My legs are fine!
Me: Not your legs, your nose?  Mike?  Hello? Are you there?
Mike:  I'm feeding two men!
Me: Oh, you're helping two men eat?
Mike: Yes!
Me: OK, I won't keep you then. Bye. I love you.
Mike: I love you!
click....

He sounded busy and doing well, so I was pleased. Not an hour later, I received a call from C (right after I started typing this blog) telling me that Mike left the dining room, started down the hall and fell. He was going to require a couple of stitches above his left eye, but she said Mike said he was fine and Medical Transport would get him to the clinic for the stitches and return him to The Harbor so I am not trying to go up there. Heavy sigh.....it was the same situation, he was walking too fast. Like a toddler just learning to walk; unfortunately, he has a lot farther to fall.

Thank you for continuing to pray for Mike. I hope all will settle down and he'll slow down soon. I am really praying for God to give wisdom to the doctors who are caring for Mike. I definitely don't have the answers and pray that God will lead them to the right balance and solutions to stabilize Mike, as much as possible, physically and behaviorally.

I Corinthians 1:9

God, who has called you into fellowship

 with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.