A Very Strange Summer

Pin It

This summer, Dad and Mom came up for a long visit, so Dad could do some work while he was here.  They arrived in early May, and were initially expecting to stay in a house, but plans changed and they stayed with us.  Towards the end of June, they had an opportunity to housesit for parents of friends of ours, and then Dad flew Mom home so she could spend the rest of the summer in her own house.  Dad came back in early July.

We had an autumn-y start to summer! 

Dad enjoyed his summer construction job because he was always changing sites and meeting new people and seeing new projects.  In fact, he got to use some new equipment, too.

 

Then, on a Friday in July, July 19th to be exact, I was sewing in the kitchen, finishing the last of my second rag quilt that I was making from the girls' favourite clothes they had outgrown.  That evening, Eli and I were going to pack up to spend our first ever weekend on an island for a family camping trip with the new boat.

 

Then, I got this text at 3:31 pm:

I grabbed water bottles and fishy crackers for the girls, and we hustled to the car.  I called Eli before the girls were even buckled and told him to meet me at the hospital emergency room because Dad had fallen.  And, no, I didn't know how bad it was.

 

I arrived, and Eli was only minutes behind me.  Dad was leaning on a bed in the emergency room, and just looked at me, all crumpled on the left, scraped on the head, shoulder and all down his left side, and he said, "Shannon, I ran.  I ran as fast as I could, but then I fell.  I really did try to run.  I was so scared that no one would find me."  He tried so hard to regain his balance.  But, there was no way to stop the fall.  Luckily, he managed to protect his head, neck and spine.

 

Eli whisked the girls back home, and Dad was brought up to his own room on a floor.  He was definitely in shock.  He was giving me directions on how to complete the job he had been doing, and was very concerned that the stairs be put in properly.  Once the shock wore off, he was in pain for days.

Dad was working at this picturesque site, building new condos.  He was in charge of the interior stairs, and would build them from the basement up.  He had just completed #13 of 16, and was moving his tools from the basement of Unit 13 to Unit 14 from the back of the basements, when a rock he was standing on shifted, and he lost his balance.

Some how, he managed to stay upright and RAN down this steep (about 60 degree) incline of blasted rock.  I would never have managed to keep my balance running, and Dad is not sure how he did.  He must have flown or had an angel carrying him down.  But, he couldn't run forever, and after the trees is an even steeper incline to Back Bay.  Dad lost his balance, landing on a very large bedrock, smashing his hammer clip, but leaving his cell phone (in an Otterbox case) unharmed. 

 

He called for help, but no one heard him because he had lost track of time and lunch had just started.  (I later told him that waiting three and a half hours to text me was not proper emergency etiquette, but I don't think that he was even remotely away of the time lapse.)  He managed to get his phone out of the holder, and called his co-worker, who was there within minutes.  Dad WALKED back up the cliff, and climbed in Dad's work car, and his buddy took him to the hospital, thinking that it was a bad fall but that Dad would be alright, since Dad was coherent and walking. 

Initially, they thought Dad had five broken ribs, but in fact he had NINE broken ribs, all on the left side, and some appeared to be broken in the front and back from the CT scan that one of his doctors took the time to show me.  His left lung collapsed, and he had a chest tube in for a few days.   

 

Luckily, NO other internal organs were injured, and he miraculously managed to completely protect his head, so he had no head or brain injuries. 

In all, Dad was in the hospital for 8 nights, until the pain was controlled and he could move, slowly, on his own enough that his lungs would stay strong.  With this kind of injury, the doctors were focused on pain management so that his lungs could function properly.  Having pneumonia or any other respiratory problem would make the recovery that much harder.  He learned to love this little black pillow I got him, because it made coughing, sneezing and laughing liveable. 

He had lots and lots of people praying for him. 

After the initial days where the doctors truly couldn't predict how he would recover, nor a reliable timeline, Dad started getting up on his own, and getting dressed with button up shirts.  The girls picked out some fancy ones for Papa! 

When we finally got to take Dad home from the hospital, he enjoyed the fresh (albeit a bit smoky from the local forest fires) air and ice cream!  No funny movies yet; it hurt way too much to laugh.

We flew Mom back up to Yellowknife from New Brunswick, and she was here for all of his recovery and waiting time at the house.  Dad had to wait an extra 6 weeks (until mid-September) before he could fly home because he had had the chest tube, and the doctors were very focused on ensuring that his lung was healthy and strong.  He and Mom walked every day, sometimes twice a day, because walking forced Dad to take deep breaths and fill his lungs completely, which really helped him recover so well.

By Dad's birthday in August, he was able to go for short drives and outings, although nothing too excessive or straining.  Just walking, sitting and visiting. 

He even got to take in the Rubber Ducky Race, like last year! 

So, as much as we wish that this didn't have to happen this summer, and as crazy as it made the summer, we could not be happier that Dad was strong enough to survive the fall, and determined enough to heal from the fall.  He's back home now, and is able to visit and spend time with friends and family.  I think he's a little bit frustrated not to be able to do EVERYTHING that he usually does (because the man never sits still, unless he's watching the Newton Boys!), but he's so so so much better than he was July 19th and the days following.  He still has a very long road ahead of him to be able to return to the busy working lifestyle he had before the fall.  Even small things like sanding wood, light lifting or anything requiring more stamina than walking continues to be a challenge.  We have a lot to be grateful for!

 

Love, Shannon, Eli and the girls