Drippy And Messy Thankfuls

This week's episode of the continuing adventures of Lewis the Tuxedo Cat had him bringing three more winter hats to my bedroom and pulling the scarf onto the floor in the downstairs hallway, emptying the basket. The question now would be is he bringing me gifts of hats or does he just want the basket empty? I returned everything to the basket Friday afternoon before we left town for the weekend, and all pieces are still in the basket now that we're back. And now we wait....

My thankfuls for this week's edition of Ten Things of Thankful:

Last Sunday, I had to take my dad to urgent care when skin on his forearm (which is very thin and delicate) tore from a bandage he put on it to cover a SEPARATE tear on his forearm. I'm thankful I was there for the weekend, because it was a pretty bad wound, and he couldn't get the bleeding to stop himself. His arm was also hot and the skin red. He got into the exam room quickly once we got there, and we left with both places wrapped in bandages and a prescription for an antibiotic.

Monday evening, my dad called me to say his arm wasn't getting any better and that he thought he'd better go back to urgent care the next day. I wanted him to go first thing in the morning, but he said he had to wait for the washing machine repair man to come first. The repairman did come and fix the machine (stuck in a cycle and not draining properly) and replaced the hoses on the back, and my dad then drove himself to urgent care around 3:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday.

I was at a training at work that evening when my dad called with the news they took one look at his arm at urgent care and took him next door to the ER, where he was told they were going to admit him in order to give him IV antibiotics. I'm thankful for having the best boss ever, because even though knew we were going to be short handed at work the next day, she gave me the day off to go be with him.

I drove to the hospital (two hours away) Wednesday morning and made a stop at the house before I went to the hospital because I needed to avail myself of the facilities (and the house is three blocks from the hospital). I REALLY needed to go and raced in the door, only to be met by a pool of water around the washing machine. I dashed to the bathroom, then put towels down to soak up the water, pulled the washer out from the wall, and found water was dribbling out from where the new hoses were connected to the machine. I was able to turn off the water at the wall where the other end of the hoses connected, got most of the water mopped up (found a penny while I was cleaning), then went to the hospital.

My dad's arm had changed considerably since I saw him Sunday afternoon. For starters, it was about twice the size of the other arm and his fingers were so swollen he could barely bend his fingers. He felt fine, thankfully, and the pain in his arm (that he hadn't told me about previously - ahem!) was improving, and he was receiving the IV antibiotics. He showed me pictures he took of his wound without a bandage on it while he was in the ER, and let me just say, "Ewww." 

The hospitalist came in while I was there (I wasn't planning on leaving until I saw him, so I'm thankful he came in not long after I arrived), and he said he felt the antibiotics should do the trick unless the culture came back showing it was antibiotic resistant, and they were going to keep him there until at least Friday to be sure. 

I went back to the house mid-afternoon and tightened the fittings on the washer, tentatively turned the water back on, and no leak! I turned the water back off, just in case, but it appears I may have fixed the problem (should I send the plumber a bill for this?). I picked up some extra clothes and toiletries for my dad and took them back to the hospital (and may or may not have smuggled in a Pepsi for him) before heading back to Joplin. 

The doctor wanted to keep him one extra day, but he did get released on Saturday. I'm thankful the hospital employees were able to wheel him back to the urgent care to pick up his car and didn't make a fuss about him driving himself home. He's now had a very long and very hot shower and gotten a good sleep in his own bed, and he reports his arm is normal sized again and no longer hot and red. Yay!

I'm very, very, VERY thankful for my son, who not only facetimed with us on Sunday when this whole fiasco started but also reassured us about the treatment course. It's sometimes hard to believe he is no longer the college student or the med school student but a physician and it sure can come in handy (so far, we haven't needed the services of the almost-lawyer, but her time will come!).

Here's to a less exciting upcoming week from which to gather thankfuls!

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