Within the space of a few minutes, I received phone calls from both my brothers telling me that our elderly mother had fallen in her house and broken her hip.
She was taken to the hospital and admitted. Subsequently, x-rays were taken showing a broken hip. The chief orthopedic surgeon read the x-rays and believed the condition to be one that could be repaired surgically. It wasn't until he was performing surgery that he determined the hip could not be repaired and that a full hip replacement procedure was indicated. The difference between being able to repair a hip surgically and installing a hip replacement is that the rehab process after hip replacement surgery is much longer.
My brothers are now on the East Coast with our mom. Over the last few days they have been researching the best place for our mom to be placed for her initial rehab treatment. Current thinking is that she will be able to be discharged from the hospital by Thursday or Friday of this week. At that time she would be placed in a rehab center for what we believe will be a two to three week period. It is hoped that at the end of that period she would be strong enough to go to her home. If that is the case, arrangements can then be made for in-home rehab to take place.
If at the end of the initial 2 to 3 week rehab period our mom has not made sufficient progress, such that she could go to her home, my brothers and I would need to seek placement for her in a "low-level"nursing home which could further facilitate her rehab to the point where she would be strong enough to go home and continue her rehab with in-home physiotherapy.
I will be flying to the East Coast this weekend and staying there for an undetermined length of time. It's been a difficult last few days and I'm confident that there are far more difficult days ahead. For those of you who keep a prayer list, my family and I would appreciate being placed on it. Thank you.