St. George...a little too eventful
Well, we headed joyfully down to St. George for what we thought would be another relaxing conference weekend, interspersed with biking, swimming, tennis, and rollerblading. Well, the first day down there I went mountain biking and had a fall. I was actually doing the ride-around of one of the most technical parts of the trail when I hit loose dirt, panicked and grabbed both brakes (the biggest no-no of biking is to hit your front brake). I actually tumbled/somer-saulted down a small ravine--probably a 4 foot drop off. The fortunate thing was that my bike (I was actually riding Joe's bike which is too big for me) caught and didn't fall on me. That would have been bad. Somehow I ended on my feet, coming away with a few scratches and bruises and feeling very lucky. It did shake me up a little and jarred my confidence.
Well, Saturday we were doing the same trail between conference sessions. At one point you have to get around a gate, either by getting off and walking or riding around through some rocks. I opted for walking but my Dad rode around. Well, he didn't quite make it up a lip on one of the rocks. He fell to the right (slightly downhill) but did not get out of his clipless pedals, so took the full weight of the fall in his right hip. He didn't think there was any real damage until he tried to move, at which point he had extreme pain in his right hip. Now, my dad is a tough guy. He walked off this same trail with a broken clavicle once and with a torn hamstring another time (now you're wondering why we keep going back for more--well, there are actually times when we ride with no injuries and have a blast!). So when he couldn't move, we all knew this was serious.
Luckily we were at a part of the trail where the suburban could get to, so Adam rode home to get the suburban, then he and Joe lifted Dad off the trail into the suburban, which was incredibly painful for him and painful for me to watch. Well, he went to the hospital, found out that he had broken the neck of his femur, and got hip surgery where they placed three pins that night.
Everyone else had to leave Sunday but I stayed down with Marian to help and support him and my mom. Monday, Mom and I drove to Vegas to pick up Melba, who flew in from Pennsylvania to help. It was great to hang out with her in St. George. So Dad came home from the hospital Tuesday and is doing great. He's a pro on crutches already, with only six weeks to go! We drove home from St. George yesterday. I have a whole new respect and appreciation for Dad after seeing how he's handled this. I also have a renewed desire to give my patients the best care possible, because it is scary and hard to be in the hospital.
There were some good things about the trip: General Conference (I saw most of it despite all this), seeing Maggie and Gracie, Outback Steakhouse, and hanging out with Melba.
Here are Marian and me with Pops in his cool hospital gown.
Blowing bubbles with Grannie.
Adam decided to go down the slide headfirst.
Can't you just feel the shock coming when you see a picture like this?
I loved Grannie's way of pulling Marian around and Marian thought it was the greatest thing.
Well, Saturday we were doing the same trail between conference sessions. At one point you have to get around a gate, either by getting off and walking or riding around through some rocks. I opted for walking but my Dad rode around. Well, he didn't quite make it up a lip on one of the rocks. He fell to the right (slightly downhill) but did not get out of his clipless pedals, so took the full weight of the fall in his right hip. He didn't think there was any real damage until he tried to move, at which point he had extreme pain in his right hip. Now, my dad is a tough guy. He walked off this same trail with a broken clavicle once and with a torn hamstring another time (now you're wondering why we keep going back for more--well, there are actually times when we ride with no injuries and have a blast!). So when he couldn't move, we all knew this was serious.
Luckily we were at a part of the trail where the suburban could get to, so Adam rode home to get the suburban, then he and Joe lifted Dad off the trail into the suburban, which was incredibly painful for him and painful for me to watch. Well, he went to the hospital, found out that he had broken the neck of his femur, and got hip surgery where they placed three pins that night.
Everyone else had to leave Sunday but I stayed down with Marian to help and support him and my mom. Monday, Mom and I drove to Vegas to pick up Melba, who flew in from Pennsylvania to help. It was great to hang out with her in St. George. So Dad came home from the hospital Tuesday and is doing great. He's a pro on crutches already, with only six weeks to go! We drove home from St. George yesterday. I have a whole new respect and appreciation for Dad after seeing how he's handled this. I also have a renewed desire to give my patients the best care possible, because it is scary and hard to be in the hospital.
There were some good things about the trip: General Conference (I saw most of it despite all this), seeing Maggie and Gracie, Outback Steakhouse, and hanging out with Melba.
Here are Marian and me with Pops in his cool hospital gown.
Blowing bubbles with Grannie.
Adam decided to go down the slide headfirst.
Can't you just feel the shock coming when you see a picture like this?
I loved Grannie's way of pulling Marian around and Marian thought it was the greatest thing.
Comments
Great Pictures!