A fall and a fracture

Following Wednesday’s chemotherapy treatment at UCLA, Susan took a hard fall in the bathroom at the oncology clinic. I had lifted her from her wheelchair and had her standing steadily while holding the grab bar when I turned a few steps away to throw something in the trash. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see her falling backwards, landing hard on her bottom and knocking the back of her head on the wall just behind her. It was a moment of surreal, slow-motion helplessness for me and one of intense pain for her. She slumped to her right side and cried. The staff heard the impact from outside and came to help right away. While the nurses examined her, we thought it best to call paramedics out of concern for back or brain injury. The medics arrived within several minutes and did their best to move her onto a backboard and fit a neck brace without hurting her, but it was excruciating. Everything hurt.

She was transported around the block to the ER at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and admitted about 3pm for a CT scan and spinal x-rays. They gave her something really strong for pain that took away the “everything hurts” sensation and allowed Susan to rest a bit. Doctors said the CT scan showed no head trauma or bleeding and said the spinal x-rays were negative also, a great relief. When it became clear she couldn’t tolerate transferring or sitting for a car ride and that I might run into trouble attending her at home, she was admitted to the hospital around 2:30am for observation and pain management.

We learned over the next two days that Susan does have a compression fracture on L-1, her first lumbar vertebra. The orthopedic surgeon said it’s not severe (could have been worse); and ordered a spinal CT scan to check for bone fragments (there are none). She’ll need to wear a brace to restrict her movements when she’s not lying down. She also had a second spinal tap on Friday to drain fluid for hydrocephalus since she was going to need another one soon anyway, and began antibiotic treatment for a raging bladder infection we discovered prior to Wednesday’s chemotherapy. Too much fun for one girl.

After evaluating her condition with the medical team and physical therapists, we decided Susan needs to have rehabilitation in a skilled nursing facility before coming home. That’s a new area for me in decision-making, so our nurse-friend Brenda Carruth came through with some excellent referrals from the discharge planner at Long Beach Memorial. I checked them out on Saturday chose Alamitos Belmont Rehabilitation Hospital in Long Beach. Susan will be transferred there Monday for what may be a stay of several weeks to a month or more depending on her progress. They seem very focused on rehab, so I think it will be a good environment for her to heal and get stronger. Susan may lower average patient age by about 20 years when she arrives. They play bingo there.

When the medics were attending Susan in the bathroom on Wednesday, our oncology nurse Nikki told me pointedly her fall was not my fault. Her words lifted a burden from me. I thanked her. I had not caused her to fall, but I had not prevented it either. It happened so fast – and she fell hard, almost like someone pushed her. It was one of those “if only” moments you wish you could take back and do differently. Since Nikki is both observant and caring, she saw whatever expression I had on my face and took the burden from me. I decided to agree with her since beating myself up with guilt isn’t going to help anything. Susan has had a complicated illness, so we just have to deal with it. Once again, we have felt the vast support of our family, friends and church over these past days. We know God hears every prayer and will continue to meet every need. We always thank Him for his goodness and mercy.