baby back ribs...

Two newsworthy things happened over the weekend.  My husband broke one of his ribs and my son allowed us to announce that he will be a father (and we will be grandparents!).

Thursday night, I fell asleep watching TV on the couch in the living room.  Friday is one of my days off and I like to watch late night TV whenever I can and I don't want to disturb the only full-time working member of this household.  Also, even if Jerome had been downstairs with me watching TV that late, when I fall asleep on the couch he has been duly informed never (and I mean NEVER) wake me up - otherwise I will not be able to fall asleep again for hours.

Early in the morning I heard this series of thuds, but being in the dreamy sleep that I was, I thought maybe the cats had knocked something down.

A few moments later, Jerome woke me up and told me he fell in the bathroom.  He looked a little in pain, but I didn't think right away that it was serious.  The mark on his side and arm were not that bad looking.

Then he started trying to walk back up the stairs and bring me into the master bath to show me where it happened.  He could barely walk and when he did walk, he was walking on his tippy toes.  Then he started shaking uncontrollably.  Then I knew it was serious.

What had happened was he had turned on the shower and let it warm up.  Our shower stall is really, really big and doesn't require a shower curtain.  The over spray or  mist from the shower started to accumulate on the tiles.  He walked into the bathroom, slipped backwards and then righted himself as he landed on the corner of the shower stall, where three tiles meet to make a triangle.  Crack, right into his ribcage.

We called his work to let them know he wasn't coming in.  We took showers (carefully) and then headed to the local Urgent Care.  The building was closed.  Not just closed but For Sale.

So, we headed to the next place.  We're in the country so we don't have a local hospital.  When we got to the next Urgent Care, it also was not open.  The hours began at 8am so we had some time to wait.

We were the only ones there and so he was seen immediately.  They took x-rays and yep, they say he broke his 7th rib (my mother asked later, was it the 7th from the top or from the bottom?...I don't know).  He broke it in half and the bone does not match up anymore.  It will heal a bit offset.

They don't wrap your chest any longer when you break a rib because it constricts your breathing and they've found it can cause pneumonia in some cases because people are shallow breathing.

So, he has to rest.  He can't lay flat.  At times he says he feels it moving around and it hurts.  He's been sleeping on the chair in the living room.  I'm sleeping on the couch.  He's worried his Kart2Kart Champion days could be over.

Other than that - I'm going to be a grandma in the late summer.  This was a surprise, but I guess not totally unexpected.  Not sure what all will happen from here - his girlfriend is in her third year at Grand Valley and he's still got a long time in the Army - there is talk that they won't marry right away,...but it's early still and things can change.

Anyway, I'm excited - it will be nice to have a little baby in the house again and I understand being a grandparent is so much fun.

Comments

Jan Marie said…
Ouch!!!

Too bad his racing season has been interrupted. Has Jerome watched the TV show Madhouse on the History channel? It's a behind the scenes show about racing. They race the kinds of cars my husband and son used to race. They now race sprint cars.

If he likes racing he might like this show. But first let me say that racing in Michigan is NOTHING like that. Those people have better tires on their race car then their house!!! It's a hoot but Roger get frustrated that people will think that's how Gavin and him are at the race track. LOL

Jerome...hope you're feeling better soon. Sounds like you're snow shoveling days are over for the winter of 2010 ;)
baby sister said…
Yeah, his snow shoveling, his cooking, his picking up heavy objects, his home improvement project days...we were planning on tearing apart that bathroom and redoing it. It's a hideous pink and the contractor that made it originally did a very poor job.

There are two walls of glass block that aren't supported by anything, so if you happen to lose your footing in the shower and try to steady yourself on the glass block wall - you will crash the thing down.

Anyway, we now know that we will be trying to find some anti-skid tile (if they make any) for the floors.

I'll let him know about the racing show. He does like racing - he's a Formula 1 guy.
Jan Marie said…
European....of course. He'l ate Madhouse..LOL

Please tell me he's not a Michael Schmaucher fan.

That's a bummer about the bathroom and heavy lifting....but I hear that snow is on the way. I hate shoveling.
Jabbles said…
http://www.stopslipping.com/index.htm
Not a great website but looks like what you need, just check to make sure it's good on tile, I found another product but it's only for porcelain tubs.
Hope Jerome gets better soon.Guéris vite mon ami.
Congrats on the grandchild.
baby sister said…
Jan, I asked him if he is a Michael Schmaucher fan and he said he's not a "fan", but he's impressed with his driving skills.

Jay, That website is not the best - can't find a photo anywhere, but yeah, that's something we'll have to check into. However, he was not in the shower when it happened - he was walking in the bathroom and Whoop! slipped.
Your Son. said…
The human body has 12 ribs on either side of his/her body. they count the ribs from top to bottom

=)

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