Did I jinx my mother-in-law?
On Wednesday, October 1st, I went for my annual physical with my primary physician. They call it a wellness check, covered by Medicare for old people like me. Can I remember these three words? Apple, table, penny. Draw the clock face for ten minutes past 11.
Then I talked to my primary care physician, who asked whether I’d had any falls. I said no, though my wife had three weeks to the day earlier. “I haven’t fallen since…” “DON’T SAY THAT!” The implication was that I would jinx myself if I had stated it. In fact, I do remember that it was before I retired in June 2019, but I shan’t say when.
I had taken buses to see my doctor in the past, to three locations in suburban Delmar and one just outside Albany. The location in Rensselaer would take two buses and 90 minutes, but it would also require a walk along a busy highway. So my wife had dropped me off before she went to work.
I called an Uber to get to the train station because I didn’t want to pay the full price for a ride home. The bus costs 65 cents from the train station to a block from my house. I saw a couple of people I know, and they thought my plan sounded complicated; I didn’t think so—it’s just logistics.
Making plans!
After a stop at the grocery store, I said, “OK, I’m going to work on all these projects”—a call for church, library stuff, and finishing a blog post I started the day before. I can do that because my wife has a meeting tonight. Sometimes, getting your stuff done when you’re alone is easier.
But less than an hour later, my wife calls me and tells me that my mother-in-law, who’s at an elder care facility, had fallen and was taken by ambulance to the hospital, specifically St. Peter’s Hospital, where my wife had gone when she fell. She picked me up, and we went to the ER.
Only one person is allowed in the space with the patient, so I stayed in the waiting room and read the newspaper. Eventually, my wife wanted something to eat. Nothing was available at the hospital, so I got a couple of slices of pizza at a nearby restaurant and chargers for our phones from CVS because they were running out.
A couple of hours later, my mother-in-law was discharged with no significant damage done. I waited with her while my wife got the car, and we chatted. Then we took her back to her facility because it was locked up after 11 p.m. We got home around 11:30, which was not my wife’s best time of day.
So talking to my primary physician that day about falling led to my MIL falling. Sorry, Joyce.
Moving is tough, I can attest from having moved 30-odd times. My mother-in-law’s move was definitely challenging.