7 missed calls and 3 voicemails.
After celebrating my 33rd birthday with a wonderful finger-licking good buffalo wings, baby back ribs and ice cold beer, I woke up the next morning with the above message on my mobile phone.
Caller? Home.
Before even bothering to check my voicemails, I called Home.
As soon as Jane recognises my voice on the phone, she goes “Ahh…..Miss!…..please go here. I’m sorry. Ma’am …….I’m sorry……..” Before I could find out what had happened, my Philippino maid apologises profusely with a shaking voice.
I was anxious and getting frustrated.
”Tell me….what happened?”
She goes on with her limited command of English language and just as she almost touches on what happened to my mother, her voice diminished to an almost inaudible.
After a hassle of “What?”, “Louder!”, “Swollen”, “Where?”………I finally found out that my mum had either a swollen hand, elbow, arm or shoulder. And it is somewhat scalded.
Arriving at my mother’s house, my husband and I saw my mother with a swollen elbow as big as her thighs! I had another Q&A session with my maid and decided to send my mum to the hospital.
At Raffles Hospital’s A&E, an x-ray was immediately taken and true enough, the bone had fractured. Bruises were found at the wrist. A little scalded patch was found at the elbow area. My thoughts couldn’t stop gearing towards the direction of abuse.
The A&E doctor, Dr Mah shared with us his concerns of getting a surgery done to reconstruct the elbow since General Anaesthesia is required. My mum has since lost her voice, her ability to swallow, her ability to respond though conscious and has been bedridden for 3 years. Having a GA runs the risks of her not regaining consciousness as she could no longer respond now.
Since it was a Sunday, an orthopaedic doctor was recalled to the hospital to decide if the reconstruction surgery is a GO or NO GO. The orthopaedic doctor arrived and without any hesitation, determines that a surgery is imminent as the bone broken is a Ulna, a long main bone that articulates with the rest for the forearm and wrist. However, I secretly thought “Since my mum is already bedridden and immobile, what use is there for a reconstructed elbow? Can we put her in a cast instead?”
With this, the orthopaedic doctor requires a geriatric doctor’s opinions on my mum’s suitability in proceeding with the surgery or otherwise, a cast. Geriatric doctor arrives and another whole bunch of questions were asked and answered. Blood tests were taken, ECG was taken. BP was taken.
“OK….everything looks good. Surgery at 6.30pm” the nurse said.
This is her right elbow.
5 years ago, the left elbow was also fractured and a similar reconstruction was also carried out.
Both elbows were injured due to the negligence of the caregivers.
1 Comment
March 4, 2008 at 2:32 am
[...] About Another broken elbow [...]