Mom plus the weather

[mamadeb]

Yesterday afternoon, jonbaker got an email from my brother in which he seemed to assume my mother and her fiancé were coming to see us. Which, while we were planning an afternoon of pure vegging, would have been fine. A bit of a surprise but fine. So Jonathan calls my mother and it turns out that she wasn't coming. Because she'd tripped and fallen the day before and hurt her wrist. Her left wrist which she'd broken once before. And she's a lefty.

And she refused to go to the emergency room. Apparently, despite Lenny's urging, she'd refused all the night before, too, even though it was a long and painful night. So I yelled at her. I bullied her until she agreed to go right away. She'd convinced herself that they don't do bone setting in emergency departments so she'd wait to see her own orthopedist - she was worried she'd broken it again. I told her why that was bad - "What if it is broken and it starts to heal? They'll have to break it again! Do you want them to break it again?" And on and on - "Mom, if that had happened to me on even a Saturday, I'd go right to the emergency room." Finally, I got her to agree to go as soon as we hung up. Then we had a brief wedding discussion. And Jonathan told my brother so he knew, too. He hadn't known.

Apparently, not only was I pushing, but so was one of Lenny's kids. But I was the only one who could bully her with impunity.

As it turns out, she only sprained it. They gave her Tylenol and a brace and she's already more comfortable. It's not easy for her to use her right hand, but she has Lenny to take care of her. And it's a tremendous relief for all of us - much better to find out it wasn't broken.

Besides, while she hates the ER, she goes to the hospital where she volunteers, and they treat her like a queen when she's there. As they should. Doesn't make it pleasant, of course.



It's cold outside. It's 9F (which is -12C). I don't even want to think about the windchill (-3F). And I had to wait fifteen minutes for my bus. (I also waited 15 minutes for my train, but that was in an underground station.) I did layer up, of course. To whit:

Tights and leggings and socks
TWO skirts (lighter print skirt over heavy doubleknit skirt)
Turtleneck under wool cardigan
Harry Potter scarf (knit in a tube, so it's effectively two layers)
Long down coat
Headscarf under wool felt beret
Frankenmittens

Once I pulled the scarf up so it covered my ears, I wasn't freezing cold, but it wasn't fun.