This may be the first news you are hearing of Tashie's latest adventure, or it may be an update.
In a nutshell, Tashie fell in her bedroom at Camp Sherman yesterday morning at about 8:30.
She remembers taking a wide step, pivoting around, and falling.
She hit her right hip on the wooden bed post, and landed too far from the phone to call for help.
So to keep her mind occupied, she recited poems and psalms from her memory.
Mostly Yeats.
Then she said the alphabet backwards several times.To deal with the pain, she played exercises with her mind/body interface, and coped fairly well.Aside from reciting her poetry, she imagined where Rebecca and Fred were on their journey. (They were driving up from Portland)
At 2:30 in the afternoon, Rebecca arrived with Fred, who had flown to
Portland from Oakland the night before.
Rebecca was wandering
around the locked house, calling for Tashie.They played a back and forth game between the front door and back door, and finally Rebecca saw two feet emerging from under the blue bedspread on the floor.
Tashie called from inside that she had fallen, that she thought she might have broken her hip.She directed Rebecca to unlock the door, and asked her not to tell Fred, so as not to upset him.
When Rebecca entered the room, she found the bidet running (not overflowing).
Tashie explained that she had turned it on to speed up the hot water.
Tashie was lying on the floor, bleeding from a kumquat-sized wound on her elbow.Rebecca said, Oh you're bleeding, to which Tashie replied, "Yes, I am a mess."
She asked Rebecca to grab some Percoset, but she was unable to take any because of the pain involved in lifting her head to drink.
She asked where Fred was, and he was waiting ever so patiently for an escort up the stairs, as there was no bannister.
So Rebecca took Fred around to the front door, telling him that Tashie was not quite ready for him yet.
She suggested he take off his shoes and settle down in a comfortable chair in the living room.
Meantime, she went back to the bedroom, grabbed a phone and dialed 911 and handed the phone to Tashie's outstretched hand.
She calmly instructed Jeff, the 911 responder, on her direction of care, on how she wanted to be taken care of.
Namely, come down Tract C, the back way - - - so that no one will know what's going on.
Also, no lights, no siren, no drama.
Jeff reassured her, "I understand, I'm from a small town myself."
Within 5 minutes, the Camp Sherman first responders arrived, among them Tashie's pal Gail :)
Gail heard the plan, and called to countermand Tashie's orders.
Then Tashie directed Rebecca to tell Fred, You're not allowed to panic, but Tashie's fallen - the paramedics are here, she's being taken care of.
He made a face and and a fist of frustration, and thanked Rebecca for being so direct with him.
He had just taken his shoes off.
He said, What should I do? What can I do?
Rebecca told him that the best thing would be to put his shoes back on.
Fred also said, I'll just sit in this chair and await instructions.
He was his usual gentlemanly courteous self.
Just then, the phone rang. It was Bethany asking if everything was OK.
No, Rebecca replied, everything is not OK.
Kirk had heard that a 95 year old woman on Spring Creek Lane had fallen.
He called Bethany, who called Rebecca, and the story continues.
While the paramedics were checking her out, Rebecca was trying to find her meds book, her wallet, her necessaries. She was not successful.
Then the Sisters ambulance team showed up, making 6 or 7 paramedics in the room. . . . lots of hubbub and hullabaloo
Rebecca was speaking w
ith Bethany and Eliza figuring out the details of the story.
They put Tashie on a scoop stretcher, saying there was no way to avoid the pain.
Meanwhile, as they were about to put her on the stretcher, Bruce called and asked to speak with his mother.
Gail spoke to him, assured him that she would ride in the ambulance with Tashie, and handed the phone to her.
Tashe's first words to him were, "This is what I get for boasting!"
They spoke ever so briefly, before the paramedics set her in the ambulance en route to St. Charles in Bend.
The crew encouraged Rebecca not to rush to Bend, so while she cleaned up blood from the carpet and the bedding, Fred read and relaxed.
Fred did not see Tashie at all until they reached the ER.
Eventually, Rebecca and Fred moseyed in to Bend, and joined Tashie in the ER.
Fred leaned over to her and asked, Are you in a lot of pain?
No, she said, they gave me a lot of morphine.
Rebecca reports that there was never a sense of panic, that Tashie was totally cognizant, calm, and directive.
While Rebecca and Fred were lending support to Tashie in the ER, Bruce and Bethany and Eliza were en route to Bend from Portland.
Clarke's phone had dropped out of his pocket, so he knew nothing about what was happening until later in the afternoon
Tashie was very pleased to have good pain relief with morphine, but a bit shocked to learn that surgery would not happen until the morrow.
The Portland trio arrived just as Tashie was being wheeled from the ER into her room.
She looked stunning . . . . how does she manage that?!
Rebecca was wandering
around the locked house, calling for Tashie.They played a back and forth game between the front door and back door, and finally Rebecca saw two feet emerging from under the blue bedspread on the floor.
Tashie called from inside that she had fallen, that she thought she might have broken her hip.She directed Rebecca to unlock the door, and asked her not to tell Fred, so as not to upset him.
When Rebecca entered the room, she found the bidet running (not overflowing).
Tashie explained that she had turned it on to speed up the hot water.
Tashie was lying on the floor, bleeding from a kumquat-sized wound on her elbow.Rebecca said, Oh you're bleeding, to which Tashie replied, "Yes, I am a mess."
She asked Rebecca to grab some Percoset, but she was unable to take any because of the pain involved in lifting her head to drink.
She asked where Fred was, and he was waiting ever so patiently for an escort up the stairs, as there was no bannister.
So Rebecca took Fred around to the front door, telling him that Tashie was not quite ready for him yet.
She suggested he take off his shoes and settle down in a comfortable chair in the living room.
Meantime, she went back to the bedroom, grabbed a phone and dialed 911 and handed the phone to Tashie's outstretched hand.
She calmly instructed Jeff, the 911 responder, on her direction of care, on how she wanted to be taken care of.
Namely, come down Tract C, the back way - - - so that no one will know what's going on.
Also, no lights, no siren, no drama.
Jeff reassured her, "I understand, I'm from a small town myself."
Within 5 minutes, the Camp Sherman first responders arrived, among them Tashie's pal Gail :)
Gail heard the plan, and called to countermand Tashie's orders.
Then Tashie directed Rebecca to tell Fred, You're not allowed to panic, but Tashie's fallen - the paramedics are here, she's being taken care of.
He made a face and and a fist of frustration, and thanked Rebecca for being so direct with him.
He had just taken his shoes off.
He said, What should I do? What can I do?
Rebecca told him that the best thing would be to put his shoes back on.
Fred also said, I'll just sit in this chair and await instructions.
He was his usual gentlemanly courteous self.
Just then, the phone rang. It was Bethany asking if everything was OK.
No, Rebecca replied, everything is not OK.
Kirk had heard that a 95 year old woman on Spring Creek Lane had fallen.
He called Bethany, who called Rebecca, and the story continues.
While the paramedics were checking her out, Rebecca was trying to find her meds book, her wallet, her necessaries. She was not successful.
Then the Sisters ambulance team showed up, making 6 or 7 paramedics in the room. . . . lots of hubbub and hullabaloo
Rebecca was speaking w
ith Bethany and Eliza figuring out the details of the story.They put Tashie on a scoop stretcher, saying there was no way to avoid the pain.
Meanwhile, as they were about to put her on the stretcher, Bruce called and asked to speak with his mother.
Gail spoke to him, assured him that she would ride in the ambulance with Tashie, and handed the phone to her.
Tashe's first words to him were, "This is what I get for boasting!"
They spoke ever so briefly, before the paramedics set her in the ambulance en route to St. Charles in Bend.
The crew encouraged Rebecca not to rush to Bend, so while she cleaned up blood from the carpet and the bedding, Fred read and relaxed.
Fred did not see Tashie at all until they reached the ER.
Eventually, Rebecca and Fred moseyed in to Bend, and joined Tashie in the ER.
Fred leaned over to her and asked, Are you in a lot of pain?
No, she said, they gave me a lot of morphine.
Rebecca reports that there was never a sense of panic, that Tashie was totally cognizant, calm, and directive.
While Rebecca and Fred were lending support to Tashie in the ER, Bruce and Bethany and Eliza were en route to Bend from Portland.
Clarke's phone had dropped out of his pocket, so he knew nothing about what was happening until later in the afternoon
Tashie was very pleased to have good pain relief with morphine, but a bit shocked to learn that surgery would not happen until the morrow.
The Portland trio arrived just as Tashie was being wheeled from the ER into her room.
She looked stunning . . . . how does she manage that?!
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