It has been two years...

[wiseheart]

... since Mum's accident. She fell in the living room and broke her leg on February 5 2021, around midnight. It was at the height of the pandemic, I couldn't even visit her in hospital. Hell, I didn't even know what truly happened to her for a whole day afterwards. It cost me hours to hunt down the right phone number and get at least some info. And 5 days later they sent her home, while she still couldn't even get out of bed on her own.

The first couple of months were really hard. Without the support of a few gracious people I wouldn't have managed. So, here is the list of acknowledgements to the people who were of invaluable help.

My heartfelt thanks go to:
- Dr. Levente Dér, a young surgeon, who operated on her and did excellent work;
- Rita, our physiotherapist lady, who has been with her from day one; first in the hospital, then visiting twice a week for the first year and once a week since then (okay, we pay her for it, but still...)
- my friend and ex-colleague, Ilike, who helped me ordering the room toilet and was even generous enough to pay for it, just out of compassion;
- my other friend and ex-collegaue, Evie, who came over each day for the first month, to provide moral support while I had to inject Mum with anti-coagulant;
- my cousin, who helped order a think and firm mattress for Mum's bed, so that she could get up easier; and he also delivered the thing using his own car, so that we didn't have to wait for official delivery;
- his ex-wife, H., (Little Emma's grandmother), who sent me the unused isolation sheets that were left from her late mother-in law, just in case, and who called us each day for quite some time to see how we are coping;
- several of my ex-colleagues who also called frequently, offering help and good advice and generally caring.

My life might have been constricted in these two years (also due to Covid, of course), but when I read through the above list, I realize how blessed I have been.

Comments

[meathiel]

Two years already? Time flies ...
I'm glad she's still going strong.

[bk_forever]

It's good that you've had so much help from kind and caring people, but both you and your mum are remarkable people, otherwise you wouldn't have coped as well as you did, so you both deserve praise too.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So am I, and I hope she'll keep going for some years yet.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thank you, although the credit ought to go to Mum who never gave up, not for a second. She really is a tough cookie, and she still enjoys her life very much, despite the restrictions.

[bk_forever]

A very brave and determined lady!

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

You are very lucky that you had support from your circle of friends.

my other friend and ex-collegaue, Evie, who came over each day for the first month, to provide moral support while I had to inject Mum with anti-coagulant

???? I'm surprised/horrified that they expected you to give your mother injections :(((( They didn't have some sort of system in place where a nurse would call in each day and do it?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Nope. They just told me to watch the official YouTube video how to ram the needle into Mum's belly and that was it. And it wasn't just because of Covid. My friend Elise had hip surgery many years ago and she was supposed to do it for herself, too.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That she certainly is — and with such a (mostly) pleasant disposition! I know other elderly people who are so bitter and full of complaints although they are in a much better shape...

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

Over here we have Silver Chain nursing which is fully funded by the Government. A few years back Ray had a blood clot in his leg and a nurse came around here to the house to give him his anticoagulant shots. We didn't have to pay anything for the service.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

That was quick. I remember that, though. Glad she's doing better.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

You really were blessed, and I'm so happy that both you and your mum came through it all safely.

[bk_forever]

Some people just like complaining. It's sad. Your mum's attitude is much more positive.

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

It is not easy to get so many helping hands for support, but you did it! So glad that your mum keeps going!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've been very fortunate — both with the helpers and with Mum who's a real trooper.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

To be perfectly honest I never thought we'd get so far in such a relatively short time.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So am I. But she is a fighter. And she still manages to enjoy her life while she is fighting.

[amedia.livejournal.com]

This was very heartwarming to read. I'm so glad you still have your Mum, and that so many folks pitched in to help!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Something worth celebrating, along with her birthday.

remember it happening, and how the pandemic made everything even more scary and difficult than it would have been.

You are blessed with good people around you who did what they could to help, but the central strength was that of your mother and yourself.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Our community nurses would have gone it to show the family member how to do it, and if no-one could, they would have continued to go it — but it really doesn't need a trained nurse if the person, or a family member, can do it.

And at that point in the pandemic, honestly, the fewer people moving from household to household, no matter how careful their precautions were, the safer it was.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

I am so glad your Mum is doing well. You are both blessed to have such wonderful friends.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That is certainly true. And if I weren't hysterically afraid of hypodermic needles I wouldn't have minded it so much.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

As I said: I was truly blessed.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Mum is amazing. I just try to catch up with her, despite the bone-deep exhaustion I sometimes feel. It isn't so much the physical things, although they now take up most of my day; it is the never having time for myself without the worry in the back of my mind.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That we are indeed.