My mom who is normally a very self sufficient woman had a really hard time with this. A week later, she had an appt. with the Sports Medicine Dr. He x-rayed her arm again which showed breaks at the head of the humerus, shattering of the bone, and dislocation. Her options were limited to reconstructive surgery or letting it try to heal on its own which would have resulted in likely only minimal function. And since functionality is what she wants, she opted for the surgery. It is at noon today.
After surgery, of course, there will be a lot of physical therapy. She is not looking forward to this, and I told her my estimated time for her recovery was at least 2.5-3 months. She felt a bit grim by this and truly thought that with the surgery, maybe a month later, she would be all fine. My feeling is there is probably ligament damage which always takes awhile to heal. In some sense, by telling her this, it has ignited fire in her to take less than that time, I just hope she does not try to do too much, like try to come to my place in October to take care of the dogs while I'm gone. She's really quite upset about this.
Then, my dad's wife had a surgery last week. She decided to get a tummy tuck. So far, she is healing nicely from it. The question that remains for me is was this for her or for my dad or both? My guess is both. She's always been a bit worried about her size--she's tall at 6'0 feet. And married to someone like my father who is vain (and yes, he would admit to this) is difficult. He certainly loves his wife, but I know he wished she was smaller.
With the surgery, she isn't going to be a size 2 or 0 or something, but she will be smaller. I'm hopeful, it will help with her self image, but I don't know. I should footnote this with that she had tried diets in the past, got medically tested for thyroid and such, but I also believe she was on a long term asthma medication and/or prednisone which she later learned she should have been getting blood tested for regularly. She also exercises and eats pretty healthy as well. We'll see how it all goes.
Hopefully, both recoveries will go smoothly and no complications.
5 comments:
When my mom had her arm surgery, it took so long for her to heal. She was really frustrated with herself and the lack of mobility and forced reliance on others. She is lucky to have you for support. Make sure you call a lot so she can vent! I hope your mom does all she can to keep that arm still and let it heal! And I hope your dad's wife heals well, too!
My mum went through the same thing a few years ago - she was at an agility class with our dalmatians, and the dog was more agile than she was! Breaking your arm falling over a dalmatian is probably one of the more fun ways to do it. But anyway, she reacted in a similar way to your mum. She was so frustrated and even depressed. She stopped eating properly because she was anxious about gaining weight since she couldn't take the dogs for a walk. I was quite worried about her for a while! It was only a few weeks though, she recovered mentally as well as physically when her cast came off. Fingers crossed that both surgeries in your family go well :)
I hope all went well with the surgeries and recovery will be manageable for all. It's tough when what we are used to changes and we find ourselves needing to adapt. Thoughts for all. :)
Hey Ladies,
Thanks so much for your thoughts and concerns. My mom left the hospital yesterday afternoon. She felt a little better today. Hopefully, it will continue. She has a long road ahead of her with lots of PT and OT.
My dads 's wife seems to be be healing well.
yes, may your mom heal well and as quickly and comfortably as possible.
with your dad's wife, i don't know -- i get confused about tummy tucks and botox and all the things we do to look "better". everyone has the right to look the way she wants, of course, yet it makes me sad that what we want is the opposite of what we have.
like i said, confusing. and, of course, i hope she continues to heal easily and well.
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