Broken Nose!

It's been a year and 4 months since the traumatic day that Dad ran away from Whittier, was found at a Fire Station an hour later, and was brought via Ambulance to the Hospital. That was a long day with a lot of drama. I gotta say yesterday's stint in the ER was much more pleasant and filled with much less drama... not to mention that we actually got to choose the Veteran's Association ER, so we won't be pummeled with $9000 in hospital and ambulance fees again!

Turns out that Dad has a broken nose... here's the story I got over the phone from Valley View Gardens:

A male caregiver was helping Dad get dressed yesterday morning and Dad was refusing to let the t-shirt go over his head. I don't know whether it was claustrophobia, or stubborness, or just a weird phobia at the moment, but he did not want to put his shirt on. Hence, he became very agitated and hit the caregiver in the mouth. The caregiver had some blood in his mouth and ended up with a swollen lip. As soon as Dad hit the guy, he turned around to bolt out of the room and ran nose first into the door.


I was shocked to hear about his violent behavior and the nurse let me know that Dad's nose was swollen, red, and bruising. By the end of the conversation, she was convinced it was broken and that I needed to come over soon. I was hoping not to spend my Sunday sitting in the ER, but we went over there and the minute I saw his nose, I was stunned. Yes, we would be going to the ER right away. It was so huge, the tissue around his eyes were swollen, and one eye was already black... he looked like those vampires on the 90s TV show "Buffy and the Vampire Slayer".... it sounds weird, but I am going to find a picture and you'll agree.

Dad was in a great mood and was so excited to see us... "Wow, what a lovely day!" Yes, it's so lovely hanging out in the ER. He wasn't in much pain, so he didn't really realize what he had done to his nose. Luckily, there weren't a lot of people in the waiting room, and we got seen pretty quickly. The X-ray took a little longer, but we finally got the diagnosis that his nose was broken. Megan showed up at the point to take over the duties and get him his pain prescriptions. We all pretty much agreed that there would be no reason to re-set Dad's nose in 10 days once the swelling went down unless it was hampering his breathing. I would love to explain to Dad, "Okay, now, they're gonna stick their fingers up your nose and break it again so that it will get better." Hahaa, yeah right.

Could this incident have been avoided? Maybe, maybe not. The caregivers are aware that Dad responds better to women, so I'm not sure why they paired him with a man yesterday. I'm sure he wouldn't have hit a woman in the mouth. There were also no witnesses and we have no idea if the man stayed calm or if he was pressuring Dad to get dressed. He only responds to calm and sweet personalities who ask him or prompt him to do something instead of telling him to do it. We have no idea. Mom, Megan and I are planning to visit Valley View Gardens tomorrow morning so we can all get on the same page about Dad's care plan.

Oh, and the bruising and swelling will get worse before it gets better, so I'm sure I'll have some photos to be sharing over the next few days. He really does look like a vampire... proof is below....