We get on our way!

22-8-08
We left Columbus according to schedule on Wednesday morning 20 August, and flew first to Phoenix, AZ, and then on to Ontario, CA. Kathy came to the airport in her new 4-door Toyota pickup truck and took us to Sun City to visit with Pat’s mother, Barbara Merrill. Enroute, Kathy explained to us that the night before, Barbara had fallen when she was alone, and along with some injuries to her head, had sustained injuries to her neck, shoulder, and knees. She had paged her caretaker, Anna, who came to her assistance quickly, but on the way called for medical transport to get her to an ER. Unfortunately, the ER they took her to wasn’t able to diagnose her condition or give her any real care, so they released her to go home. Anna and Sharon had to call an ambulance to transport her home, but they got her there and into bed, however she developed problems during the night with dizziness and related symptoms, so that she had to go to another ER early in the morning. This ER was in a hospital a few miles further away, but they provided much better service. Kathy took us to Mom’s house where we got the key for Mom’s car, and we followed her to the hospital.
Mom didn’t look very good when we finally got in to see her-she had a lot of bruising; and she wasn’t able to move herself at all. The ER doctors had discovered that she had chipped a bone in the back of her neck in some way – probably through the violence of her neck turning as she hit things during the fall. She seems to have sustained injuries very similar to bad whip lash.
The doctor wanted to have mom get some at-home therapy, but that would not be available until after she had been admitted to the hospital. They were therefore trying to get her a room in the hospital for a night. The hospital was full, so there was a long wait. The ER area had people in beds in every room and in every wide spot in the hallway. There were at least four people waiting for a room, and Mom wasn’t the first on the list, even though she had been waiting there since mid-morning. She never did get a room before we left to drive back to the Sun City Gardens retirement center where Mom had arranged for a room for us to stay in.
In the morning, (Thursday) we did some study, and then went to breakfast. It was nice to meet with several people there who knew Mom; and we were able to report her condition to them. This made for a pleasant breakfast. After some more study, we drove to the hospital, and found her in a regular room. Her personal doctor came to see her and wielded a lot of weight to get things done the way she wanted. As a result, the hospital provided a belt to make it easier to help move Barbara around, and they arranged for her to be discharged a few hours later. We were there several hours, but they weren’t ready to release her yet, so we left mom’s car there for Sharon to drive her home in as that car was lower and would be easier to get mom into. We drove Sharon’s new car back to the retirement center, and later they arrived. They were able to get mom comfortable in bed. Kathy came, and her son Kevin with his family. We were able to give mom a blessing, and see her comfortable back in her own home. Then Kathy took us to Riverside, CA where we had dinner at a Sizzler steak house. It was nice to visit. We then went to Kathy’s home where we had some time to talk, then a good night’s sleep in Jennifer’s adjustable bed – pretty fancy stuff! Jennifer drove us from the restaurant to their home in her new dodge car that has a supercharged engine. It was quite a ride. She told us of an attack upon her that took place a few days earlier in the prison where she works as a guard. An inmate there on a life sentence had attacked her and caused a lot of ruckus, but she had been able to defend herself well enough to get safely through it. He had done the same thing several times before to other guards. From the description, he must be an individual wholly given over to evil. She said that he will likely never again be allowed to be moved without full shackles and chains. Quite an interesting event.
Today, she will take us to the airport in time for us to catch our flight to Utah. We will be staying with Susan and family until we enter the MTC next Monday morning. Our trip to California hasn’t been exactly what we expected, but it has given us time to visit with the family and prepare to leave them behind as we go to Germany for nearly two years.
GSH&PLMH