Her leg looked terrible... a huge bruised place on the left shin that had spread all the way down to her ankle. The LPN was still there, and she said she felt sure it was nothing, but they had to rule out a deep vein thrombosis. So, long story short, I loaded Mam-ma in the car and took her to the ER. As a note to self... if we need the ER, 11:00 a.m. on a Friday morning is a good time to go! We got right in, the nurse took vitals and notes and the doctor came in immediately afterward and declared it was a hematoma and Mam-ma would be fine! I don't think we were there 30 minutes total. The doctor said he could feel a knot in it, and that either a blood vessel ruptured or she hit something and didn't realize it, or a combination of both. He said it could have been caused from a lot of walking, and we know she did a LOT OF WALKING around Wal-Mart yesterday. She said she felt a sharp pain in her leg last night while watching the National Spelling Bee, and when she took her sock off, she saw the bruise. So I'm thinking something ruptured.
Anyway, I stopped at a nearby "quick stop" that sells fried chicken my grandmother likes and got her some chicken livers, a potato wedge and some cole slaw and took her home. I suggested she put her feet up, but she said that first she had to sew the binding on that new quilt piece she bought at Wal-Mart yesterday, so she could sit and hem it. Whatever... before we went to the ER, she had to stop and move her clothes from the washer to the dryer! She says her leg does not hurt. The nurse cautioned me that if it swells over the weekend or gets worse, to come back. So I told Mam-ma to call me if it swells - and that she probably would want to skip the mini-skirt for church on Sunday!
The doctor was very nice... we had never seen him before, and he was intrigued with Mam-ma and wanted to know how she got to be 96 and in such great shape still. Did he ever get an earful! He said he suspects the spreading of this bruise is due to the daily aspirin she takes, and it's nothing to cause alarm. He asked how I was related to her, and I told him, and he said to Mam-ma, "It looks like she enjoys taking care of you," and Mam-ma said, "Hmmph! Well, she never says anything!" Now I don't know if that means I never complain or I never tell her I enjoy caring for her! I certainly didn't ask for clarification!!!
So I left her eating her lunch and talking about what she planned to do next. I went ahead and stopped at a few more sales, thankful that my grandmother was okay - and that I didn't end up stuck at the ER most of the day. All in all, everything went very smoothly... and I'm knocking on wood and counting my blessings!
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