Sunday I received a phone call that everyone dreads. My 89 year old mother called me to tell me my father had fallen and was being rushed to hospital – Peace Arch hospital to be exact. She had found my father on the floor in his room. He had fallen sometime in the night and couldn’t manage to get his 97 year old body back into bed. A good person from their home had come over and called the ambulance immediately. By the time I found out he was already on his way to the ER and that’s where I was told to meet him. Hospitals scare my father. They scare me too. My dad believed that hospitals are where you go to die at his age – and frankly – that’s what I thought was going to happen too. That soon changed when I met with the people who deal with any numbers of traumas per day at Peace Arch ER. From what I noticed, most of them elderly patients who had fallen like my father and suffered any number of injuries. The nurses saw to my father quickly and effectively – a sort of cadence that reminded me of a well rehearsed dance recital. Everyone seemed to know their roll and how to get the job done, all the while assuring my father (and his son) that everything was going to be all right but things needed to be done to assure his utmost safety. After 4 scans and X-Rays it was determined my father had a slight concussion and a fractured hip – never a good thing for anyone at 97 years old. We spent the day in ER Sunday and by the evening our surgeon arrived. A doctor named Dr. Bubbar who pulled me aside and said surgery would be the best thing for my father. I was hesitant. Surgery for a man his age can be a difficult and dangerous thing in my view. Dr. Bubbar assured me that it was for the best, and since I had to make the decision for my father, he could see I wasn’t sure. His relaxed tone and assuring voice made the choice easy for me: he was going to have the surgery. The next evening my father received a few pins to help repair his fractured hip. A reassuring call from Dr. Bubbar after the surgery made me feel better. It was appreciated. The day after being settled into his room and a number of nurses checking on him constantly, I left my father in the very capable hands of the Peace Arch Hospital staff. The next day we met Carl – he’s the physiotherapist who will be taking care of my father for the next week or so. An incredibly kind man who puts your mind at rest almost immediately. Also the way he dealt with my father was nothing short of incredible.
We can never thank all the good people who work at hospitals enough. For the most part they go out of their way to make sure our loved ones are well taken care of and are masters of making sure the stress level stays manageable for the family.
From the ambulance attendants, to the administrators, to the staff, to the porters, to the nurses, to the doctors…I can’t say thank you enough for helping my family get thru this stressful and worrisome time. NM