Dan had fallen in the living room and wasn't able to get himself up. He'd been there throughout the night. He was cold, wet and definately confused. She called her husband, Mike and he got DeLoy Roberts so the two of them went in and got Dan off the floor. DeLoy said he was so "spent" that when he was finally in his seat he just threw up all over everything.
They got him cleaned up and started the wash going.
In the mean time I called Seth to see if he could get home and stay with Dad till I could get back. He was so sweet and said right off, "I'll take care of him. I'll go up right now." He contacted his boss, explained what happened and drove to IF. I was trying to figure out how I could get home RIGHT NOW but there just wasn't a way to do it. We were about 1 hour short of the Utah/Colorado border and no where close to an airport. We were about 12 hours south of IF and about 5 hours north of Denver.
With Seth's encouragement we decided to finish out the drive, run the race and head straight for the Denver airport. At least that was the plan then.
In the mean time Seth and Ali took great care of Dan here at home. That night, looking at Denver flights I realized there wasn't any open flights to SL or IF so I would have to drive home on Saturday. And that's just what we did. After the race we turned the car around and drove all the way back. I was so tired somewhere around midnight Saturday night I had to keep pulling off to sleep but then we'd go a little further and I'd find myself crossing lanes and would pull over again for a few minutes. We finally got home at 5:00 Sunday morning.
By Sunday afternoon I realized I wasn't going to be able to take care of Dan myself. He couldn't stand up or walk and I'm not strong enough to keep him upright. With Alisha's help I got him in his wheelchair and into the car before heading straight to the ER.
:ole all experiences, it took forever but around 1:00 Monday morning they finally admitted him to the hospital as a "fall risk". He had no strength and was very confused!!
When I went back to see him later on Monday we had a very strange conversation. It went something like this:
"Hi Dan. How are you feeling?"
I'm fine but I need to get the hay to the Fruit Loop plant."
"What hay?"
"The hay I just baled. It's out on the truck and I need to get it to the Fruit Loop plant."
I stepped outside and asked the nurse if he'd been rather "off this morning." She said no and in fact he was "right on" when she asked him about the date and where he was at.
I told her about his last comments and she came inside the room with me. She asked Dan if he knew where he was and he said he was "in the hospital but needed to get the hay he'd baled to the Fruit Loop plant." She looked at me and then asked him who the president of the United States is and he fumbled through a few names (including one of the prophets of the Church) before he settled on "Grant". Noting that he'd mentioned a Prophet she asked if we were LDS and I nodded "yes" so she asked him who the Prophet of the Church is. Again he fumbled through several names and ended with "Boyd K. Packer." That's when she looked at me and said, "That's pretty close. I think he's ok."
Whooooouuuu. What could I say to that???
On June 26, I wrote on FB - "he was moved to the 6th floor for rehab. purposes. He's almost roommates with Lynn Kirby. Dan doesn't need nursing care but just PT and OT (Speech too) so he's up there where all the therapists are. He stood for a few minutes as we moved him from one bed to another. He's making progress, just not fast enough for him. Twice today he tried to get out of bed and said, "I just want to go home now." Hopefully, it won't be too much longer and he'll be strong enough to come home.
And on June 28 I wrote - "Ok, he says he's ready to "go home where nobody can tell him what to do." Sounds like he's doing better, right? If he could only stand on his own he might be able do what he wants.
On July 1 I wrote - "I got to observe Dan getting some "language therapy" at the hospital, too. He did pretty good and seemed more connected ...today. I think he's getting better. YEAH! He's had a rough go of it. He caught a cold and it's gone to his chest and sapped all his strength. Still in the hospital and they're talking another week if they can get insurance coverage.
On July 3 ~ " Dan update ~ He is doing very well. He's more and more coherent everyday. Today, with the help of his PT, he was able to get out of bed, walk up and down a flight of stairs and wheelchair/walk to the hospital lobby to see Alisha. He's like the Ever-ready battery. He may dim down but he never goes out. They haven't said when he can come home yet but he's coming home and that's wonderful.
July 6~ "I'm pleased to present to you (drum roll, please), my husband Dan who was able to get up and out of his hospital bed today and go for a short stroll with his PT. He's had a terrible hacking cough that shakes the room and drains all his energy, but he did it!! Three cheers for Dan~
And finally on July 11 (Elizabeth's birthday) around 2:00 Dan came home.
He cruzed the garden
and almost as quickly packed his bags for a trip to Island Park with Paunie and Larry. Paunie picked him up the next day about noon and they headed north for some R &R.
He had a wonderful time and even went back for another visit the next week.
He's home and he's doing very well.
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