Epic Long Post – Warning.
On Sunday, my 92-year old mom missed her step near the bottom of a stairway and fell. Her right hand pinky finger caught in the rail and was obviously broken and she said she had a bump on her head and her back was sore. She was coherent and was still mobile, but…well, everyone knows how things can go. My sister and I took her to an urgent care office and they took one look at the finger and sent us off to the ER at the hospital.
The good news was that the only thing broken was her finger. The bad news was that while we were waiting for the results of the x-rays and CT scan, my mom suddenly turned catatonic and white. I grabbed a nurse, and when she couldn’t get a response from my mom, went back to the desk and called a Stroke Alert. The ER physician came out and didn’t get more than a mumble from my MOM, so a team whisked Mom back into the imaging area for more tests.
The good news was that they were able to rule out a stroke or TIA. The bad news was that while we were waiting for the results of the stroke assessment tests, one of the techs who came in to turn off a warning light noticed some weird “lengthening” of the ECG interval and then a drop in heart rate. And it repeated every so often.
So, she was admitted to the hospital so that they could conduct another MRI, and an Echo EKG. The good news is that both MRI and Echo EKG came back negative, but the bad news is they want her on a heart monitor for 30 days.
In the meantime, yesterday (Monday), I’d smelled something a bit funny while I was outside the garage, but it dissipated and I forgot about it while I was contending with status calls with my sister and the hospital. But then our Handyman/Landscaper Guy called me outside and said he thought he smelled a gas leak from the propane tank – which when we checked had a reading of only 5% filled. Uh-Oh. I immediately called the propane company and told him that we seem to have a leaking LP tank. Wow- do they respond promptly!
Propane Phone Reception Guy (with concern in his voice): “Ah – I understand. Ma’am, how many people are at the house?”
Me: “ Oh, right now it’s just me.”
Propane Phone Reception Guy (with some fear in his voice): “Ma’am, are you in the house?”
Me: “Yes, sure. I’m in the house.”
Propane Phone Reception Guy (with forced calmness in his voice): “Ma’am – Please step out of the house right now.”
Me: “[Gasp]!”( as the potentially serious problem sinks in). Then, very calmly: “Ah, yes, that does sound like a really good idea.” Grabbed some emergency items and went outside. And then it promptly started to rain.
Propane Phone Reception Guy then instructed me to close the valve under the cap of the tank, and said he’d already notified the Propane Maintenance Guy.
Propane Maintenance Guy then phoned me and said he was on his way, but he was (of course) on the other side of the County. He arrived and trundled up the driveway in a huge truck. We both reminded each other that the LP Tank serves only the emergency generator that is outside the house and the LP tank does not directly serve anything inside the house, so that took away that potential danger. (Whew!)
Both the primary regulator and the secondary regulator had blown. He said it was due to a combination of the extreme heat that we’ve been having and the fact that the things are over 30 years old. Parts will cost about $300 and he thought they would arrive within about 24 hours and he do the repair right after that. And then, of course, the LP tank needs to be refilled. From pretty much empty….so looking at an unexpected cost for that, too. Grrr.
Then, I recalled that the emergency generator runs self-tests once a week, and wondered if there would be problems if the generator tried to start a self-test and there was not any propane. Don’t need air bubbles or anything. So, I got on the phone with Generator Guy. He had me shut the generator off.
Then, our Handyman/ Landscaper Guy (who has a permanent tracheostomy tube in his throat and presses a button on it so that he can talk) came up to the house, not able to talk. Which is an indication that the seal around his tube is leaking and that he needs to get to his physician pronto for an adjustment. He already had his physician’s office on alert that he was coming in. This happens to him periodically, so he says it’s not a reason to panic, but that it does need prompt attention. I asked him if he needed any assistance, but he waved me off.
Now, it’s Tuesday. Handyman/Landscaper is back, he’s ok again (Whew – that’s good!). Mom should be discharged at about 3:30 today with heart monitor. The Propane Tank Fixer just arrived and thinks it will take about an hour to do the valve replacements on the LP tank and will then call to get the delivery tanker to fill the tank. Generator people are lined up to come on Friday to make sure that all the connections are OK.
I managed to get two time-critical pieces of work completed in between all this.
Tuesday evening. Mom was discharged with a 30-day heart monitor, and bad news was that they made a recommendation that she have 24-hour supervision during her time on the heart monitor. Eeeeekkk! Gotta figure that one out pretty darn quick. And bad news is that it is still a mystery as to why she had that catatonic episode.
She’s a bit black-and-blue from the fall, and is feeling sore. But otherwise she is in pretty good spirits and is a real trouper. Grateful for that.
(So….it’s ok if I eat the WHOLE PINT of ice cream, isn’t it?)
