Dad's scooter accident

So today I get a text message from my SIL Edie telling me that Dad had fallen off his scooter and hit his head and knee and they were currently at the ER.  In my usual "maternal" concern I text back that it was the curb's fault and to tell Mario Andretti to slow down.  She texted later that they were done and headed home.  The initial text was a group conversation so my sisters also were informed at the same time.  Patty texts that he needs a helmet and Shelley texts that she will call later.  I texted Shelley wondering if my brother Mike would put Dad on restriction on his scooter.  She thinks maybe Dad will put himself on restriction - fat chance.  Figuring that both sisters would be calling him, I texted Edie to ask Dad to call me when he felt like it.  I'm easy.

He calls later and turns out this is the 3rd time he has fallen off this tri-wheeled scooter.  He says the stability is just not great and he's had to balance quite a bit.  Also it's not real great on sidewalks cause it uncomfortably hits bumps.  I mention that maybe that particular scooter is not made for outdoor treks and maybe he should look for another 4 wheeled scooter for his outings.  He agrees.

My parents live in Colorado Springs in a northern part of the city.  There is no rural part of the city anymore and the Safeway he goes to is about a mile and a half from their house.  Dad is 89 and legally blind from macular degeneration and uses a hearing aid and has heart problems.  It is also very difficult to tell him that he can't do something.  I made a special trip to try to convince him to give up driving.  Got his attention  but was not successful.  Knew I might have pushed too hard when he came to tell Mom and me that he was going somewhere and did either of us want to lead him to the garage.  Oops!

Now my Mother is 88 and is in sort of good health but does have Alzheimer's that is not too bad just yet.  That diagnosis is rather recent but she's been showing signs of dementia for some years before that diagnosis.  I also made a trip there to get her to go to the doctors to get checked out for he mental state and had to say I wasn't leaving until she made and went to an appointment.  She reluctantly made and appointment and the 3 of use went.  Dr thought maybe it was her medication for urinating and I thought it was the ambien - both wrong as it turns out. 

So back to Dad . . . He figured that Mom could drive and he could be the navigator - the blind navigator!  Mom agreed that could work but she didn't drive much at all so that plan didn't work out well at all.  On another trip there we went to the flea market and I asked Mike what had happened to the plan of him and Edie moving in with them.  He said they had talked about it but nothing had happened.  I also asked Dad about them moving into Mom and Dad's and he too said that they had talked about it but nothing had happened.  Got Mike, Edie, Dad together at the flea market and seriously talked about it - Mom had stayed home.  Had plans to all go out to dinner that night so decided we'd talk about it.  Mom was sort of okay about it at dinner that night until Dad mentioned selling the cars.  That was a whole 'nother story.

Mike and Edie sold their house and moved in with Mom and Dad.  Edie is a SAINT!!!  She takes them to appointments and keeps track of things and much much more.  Dad is a retired Air Force Chief Master Sergeant so still has some use of military health services and also VA.  The VA has great programs for the blind and he has gotten lots of assistance in this area.  Dad noticed that he got way too out of breath so went in to have that checked out.  Seems there is a portion of his heart that is just not working right and there is not much that they can do or that he is willing to have done to help the situation.  About 2 or 3 blocks from the house is a Walgreens and used to be a 7-Eleven right next to it.  Dad used to walk there and get "sale stuff" from Walgreens and his lottery tickets.  He was known and would sit if he needed to rest up before going home.  He also was known to walk way further than any of us were comfortable with but he is hard headed.  The scooter was very helpful after this latest heart "knowledge" and he would take off when he felt it was nice enough outside.

That brings us to today.  According to him, he was backing the scooter up to push the button to cross a street and clipped the curb.  He says he was still sort of seated when his head and knee hit the sidewalk.  Said it almost seemed that a man was there almost before he fell off to help him and lots of cars stopped.  Man asked him if he wanted him to call for help and Dad told him he was only about 2 blocks from home and he would call on his cell phone to have Edie come get him.  Someone told him that a lady in a car had already called 911 and soon an ambulance and a firetruck arrived as well as several police cars.  At that point he was sitting on the sidewalk/curb and there was a cut above an eyebrow that was bleeding and he had a cut on his nose.  Not exactly sure just how he got to the ER or how the scooter got home but do know that he was totally embarrassed by all the attention.  Asked him if he thought he would make the paper and we laughed about a headline.

He was impressed at how quickly he was taken care of at the ER.  He said his last visit they had to wait for quite a while - guess blood helps.  I had planned on calling them today to tell them about my "new" car so we got on that topic for a while.  Then talked about how simple things are no longer simple sometimes when you get older.  Things like falling and getting back up among other things.  I did remind him that there were still many things that he could still do and he said he was thankful for what vision he had left.  Then I asked if Mom was around and after listening to his commentary of getting up and finding her we said good-bye.  Conversation with Mom is a whole 'nother story.