The sequel to Mom had an accident
Dad had an accident while racing his bicycle, a bad one. Like mom he fell over his wheel after someone made contact with his wheel behind him. He has been in the hospital since Sunday afternoon. He broke his right clavicle (collar bone), right scapula (shoulder blade), and right ribs 1-4. Like mom all his injuries are on the right side. He also dislocated one of his ear bones and will need outpatient surgery down the road for it. Sunday night he had surgery to clean out his wounds and the compound collar bone fracture that broke through the skin. Monday he was in the hospital all day wondering when his next surgery would be to install the new hardware he will have for the rest of his life. Apparently Monday is a big day for trauma emergencies and he got bumped from surgery all day because he was just doing too well apparently. All the same, this morning (Tuesday) he went into surgery to fix his broken collar bone. He has a plate and some screws attached to the back side of his collar bone so he won't have problems with wearing a briefcase in the future. They opted to leave his shoulder blade alone rather than install a plate to put the pieces together again. The break is nowhere near his shoulder joint and inducing further trauma wasn't advisable. So dad will have quite the recovery, but fortunately it's all bone damage and no head damage.
It's hard to tell if his recovery will be as difficult and painful as mom's was, he's such a man's man type of guy and doesn't show pain well. Then again he's getting 6 mg of morphine an hour, which may have something to do with that. He will be held at the hospital overnight. We are hoping that he will spend tomorrow here as well. Mom was released rather quickly and she came home with a lot of pain that couldn't be managed effectively. At the hospital they can regulate and monitor the morphine and he can heal a bit before being discharged and hopefully with less pain.
I am having a hard time dealing with guilt right now. He's my dad, he's macho and nothing is impossible for him. And as a result I am not as worried about his recovery as I was when mom had her equally devastating accident. I can't tell if it is because he's a dude and therefore can take it, or if I am sorta jaded to the process after seeing mom go through it. I understand that the feeling of the unknown is completely removed for the situation this time as I know the progression of events. Accident, surgery, stay in bed while you heal, physical therapy, pain and pain again. Also, this time dad has gotten top notch care from the beginning. Mom got dealt a bad hand with a doctor who didn't have enough time for her and was about to leave on vacation and as a result seriously extended her healing time. But that was a learning experience and as a result we know what we want and what we can do to get it. I still feel badly about it though.
It's hard to tell if his recovery will be as difficult and painful as mom's was, he's such a man's man type of guy and doesn't show pain well. Then again he's getting 6 mg of morphine an hour, which may have something to do with that. He will be held at the hospital overnight. We are hoping that he will spend tomorrow here as well. Mom was released rather quickly and she came home with a lot of pain that couldn't be managed effectively. At the hospital they can regulate and monitor the morphine and he can heal a bit before being discharged and hopefully with less pain.
I am having a hard time dealing with guilt right now. He's my dad, he's macho and nothing is impossible for him. And as a result I am not as worried about his recovery as I was when mom had her equally devastating accident. I can't tell if it is because he's a dude and therefore can take it, or if I am sorta jaded to the process after seeing mom go through it. I understand that the feeling of the unknown is completely removed for the situation this time as I know the progression of events. Accident, surgery, stay in bed while you heal, physical therapy, pain and pain again. Also, this time dad has gotten top notch care from the beginning. Mom got dealt a bad hand with a doctor who didn't have enough time for her and was about to leave on vacation and as a result seriously extended her healing time. But that was a learning experience and as a result we know what we want and what we can do to get it. I still feel badly about it though.