WHAT THE FLIP?

What the flip?

How is that mattress like that? That bed was against the wall. How is this possible?

Where's my momma? We bought my momma a hospital bed that came with a very thin 4" mattress with little to no support. It kept her from getting a good nights sleep, which kept me from getting a good nights sleep. So, I ordered her a new mattress. A delightful 10 inch mattress that was medium to firm structure. I knew the medium to firm would be great for her back. I made sure it was twin XL because that’s what the bed was…..Twin XL. The mattress arrived in 2 days. Once it inflated to full size, it was heavy. I ordered twin XL but it was about 3 inches wider than the bed. I can make this work, no biggie…

so I thought. In inspecting the mattress, the bed and the wall, I didn't want to damage the mattress since it was wider, so, I took the security rail off the side of the bed next to the wall. I mean…. You can’t fall out of the bed with the side butted up against the wall, right? WRONG! Who knew the stupid bed would move on hardwood floors as she moved, even with the wheels in locked position.???!!!!! Because of the overlap, when she rolled over, it was apparently just enough to give a force that the bed shifted on the floor and out she flipped. I was making chili and heard an indescribable sound. There was no noise. Just a massive thump. I yelled, “What was that?” No response. I booked down the hall thinking she was asleep and Sammi Kay had knocked something over in my office. I was stunned to find her bed in the middle of her room and the mattress in an upside down position. Beneath the mattress was a crying moan and my heart sank. I climbed over the bed to be able to get to my momma. All I could do was hold the mattress and its weight off of her. With the position of the mattress, I couldn’t lift it. I called my son for help. He just happened to be off work. As we waited, she cried because she had to urinate but didn’t want to urinate on the floor. So I grabbed her house coat and shoved it between her legs and under her the best I could. And then I heard myself say, “ok. Pee!” …. And so she did.

I knew there was no holding that need to potty. So, I improvised! My son arrived. He was able to lift the mattress and get it back on the bed. As she lay in the floor we managed to move things enough that he could get to her and lift her up. We got her to the bathroom, cleaned her up and got her back in bed. I gave her some meds to help her relax. My son left. My momma has titanium rods and screws in her back. That was a hard fall and she landed on the rail I had removed and slid under her bed. All I could think of were the, “what ifs.” What if…. she fractured something landing on that metal rail. What if…. A screw broke. What if…. There was damage inside.

You see, she had fallen twice in the assisted living facility and they didn't event do an incident report. Nor did they put it in her chart. But they did record calling me about those falls.

Since those falls, she complained of her back and knees hurting. My thoughts wouldn’t stop.

I called the non emergency line of my city and requested EMS. I wanted to be safer than sorry and have her checked out. They loaded her up and off we went.

They dropped her off. Helped her off the stretcher and into a wheelchair.

She sat in that wheelchair for 10 hours. It was an extremely long day.

The sites you see in the ER!!!!

While we waited, this was the beginning of an X-rated scene beside us.

I took the pic so I could show the nurse and before they could get to him, it was full blown rated-X.

He was moved out of the ER to a room (Imagine that!)

(I can’t make this shit up).

We waited, waited and waited some more. They gave her morphine for her pain and ordered CTscans to check things out.

Her CTscans were done and we waited another 2 hours for results. Scans showed everything was in great condition. Praise God. No injuries. No damage.

Now, we have a baseline. Now, we know should things change.

~bo

(this incident occurred 8/29/24)