Some news

[Triarius Fidelis]

You know, now that I think of it, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that I don't pray in there edgewise.

It was a little tactless. I didn't mean to demean anyone's beliefs.

Sorry

[GrannyGeek]

I'm very sorry to hear of your mother's accident. She is fortunate to have a caring family helping her when she really needs it.

Be sure to let her know that your cyberfriends are pulling for a speedy and complete recovery. And do keep us posted.
--GrannyGeek

[tomh38]

dawnsboy:  Thanks very much for your comments.  In my own experience you are correct in saying that what gets people over the difficult part of an illness is the people who care about them.  I do volunteer work at a nursing home, and the people who have family members around a lot seem to do better.

EFG:  It didn't bother me that you mentioned that you don't pray.  Whether people do or don't is, in my opinion, a matter of their own personal beliefs and feelings.  So ... at least as far as I'm concerned you didn't write anything tactless.

GrannyGeek:  Thank you also for your concern and comments.  I will definitely keep people in here posted; I really appreciate all the concern that all of you have shown.

Here's a little humor in all of this:  my mother told me last night that she was feeling a lot better, and that she was going to drive herself to the neurologist today.  I reminded her that her doctor told her not to drive until she's had some time to recover from her head injury.  She said okay, and then called my siblings to try to get them on her side, and they refused.  She only relented when she tried to get into the driver's seat of her car because she has a cast that goes from above her knee to her toes.

Needless to say, my mom is a very strong and independent woman.

Thanks everyone,

Tom

[dawnsboy]

I do volunteer work at a nursing home, and the people who have family members around a lot seem to do better.

Wonderful!  There are so few people willing to volunteer in these types of facilities.  The work you do there is very important.   

Thanks for the update on your mother.  I believe that she will be fine.  The amount of progress demonstrated by the humorous incident you related is very encouraging, especially with a head injury involvement.  It will take time and patience of course (as you must have observed during your work at the nursing home) but she appears to be headed well down the road to recovery at this time. 

You and your family members must also be very careful to get rest and take care of yourselves so that you may continue to be of best benefit to your mother.    

[overthere]

sorry to hear about your Mom..best wish for a speedy recovery..and hope you are ok also..do not let stress get you..
cheers

[tomh38]

Thanks for the support everybody.  I took my mother to her neurologist yesterday; the visit went well.  I asked the neurologist about post-concussion syndrome.  He said he was going to do some tests for that among other things.  After the examination and tests he told me that my mom showed no signs of the syndrome.  I didn't mention this in earlier posts but my mom's skull fracture was relatively minor for this sort of thing.  Initially the paramedics and emergency room personnel were more worried about possible spinal injury.  Anyway it looks like the longer part of my mom's recovery is going to be with her leg, since it's broken in two places.  This makes it difficult for her to get around.  Fortunately I have three siblings and a few cousins who are helping care for her, so all of the work isn't placed on any one of us.

dawnsboy:  Thanks for what you said about the volunteer work I do at the nursing home.  I actually enjoy it a lot.  There are so many people in nursing homes who are interesting to talk to, I always look forward to going.  I find that older people often have interesting and funny stories to tell.  One man whom I visit is physically quite disabled but mentally very healthy.  For many years he taught computer science, which he studied before it was even called that.  I don't like having favorites ... but he's one of my favorites.  I don't visit him as much as I do some others though because he often has family with him when I go there.

overthere:  Thanks for your wishes and your mention of stress.  I think you're quite right.  When my father was dying he was very sick for about a year before he died.  I didn't do enough to take care of myself during that time, and ended up with all sorts of problems, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, and so on.

Thanks again everyone.

Tom

[exeterdad]

That's great news Tom.  Not that having broken bones is great news...  I was mainly referring to the head and spine parts. Broken bones, as bad as they are, are not uncommon in ones lifetime.  I can attest to that Hopefully your mother will regain full mobility when shes mended.

Hang in there big guy. Eventually everything will be back on track.

[Triarius Fidelis]

Per ardua ad astra

And stuff

[budulay]

Hi Tom.
Sorry to hear about your Mom's accident. Hope she will soon recover.
I am glad her skull ingure is not serious.
Best wishes from my side.

[tomh38]

Thanks budulay.  I took the weekend off of caring for my mother; my brother, sisters, and a few cousins took today, Saturday, and Sunday since I was at her place three days this week.  Tonight I went to see The Dark Knight.  Now I understand why it's been so popular - I found it to be a quite compelling story, despite the fact that it's based on a comic book.  I've always liked costumed heroes, but I never thought they or their enemies were very believable.  Heath Ledger, may he rest in peace, gave a great performance as a psychotic serial killer.  I thought he was as believable as Anthony Hopkins when he played Hannibal Lecter.  Of course real serial killers don't wear purple suits and make-up, because they don't want to get caught.

Thanks again everyone.

Tom

[gacl]

That's not good. Hope she recovers.

[tomh38]

Thanks, gacl, for your kind wishes for my mom's recovery.  She's doing very well still, and is expected to make a full recovery.

We got some good news over the weekend.  My mom agreed to have a nurse stay with her for half days (she doesn't really trust doctors or nurses - I've never really known why not, and there could be a lot of reasons).  Anyway, this means that there can be somebody with her five days a week, and my siblings and I will use less of our vacation time, be under less stress, etc., which is good.

Thanks again for all your support, everyone.

Tom

[nightflier]

Glad to hear you may be through the roughest part. Sounds like you have a close family. That is a wonderful thing.