Well, it goes a little something like this....
It was about 8:46 on a Monday morning and I was folding a load of laundry when the phone rang. It was my Mother and this is what she said, "the elevator pushed me and I fell on my head". Repeat that Mom? She again said she had fallen on her head. There was a childlike confusion in her voice and I knew then that she had fallen and hit her head. Where are you mom? "I am at Dr. Fox's office." At this point I believe she is OK and surrounded by a medical team, I relax enough to let a funny scenario play in my head in animation of an elevator pushing my mom out and her falling directly into an upside down position on her head. She says "security took my statement." Well good. WAIT. Security? Mom, what exactly do you need from me? "The elevator pushed me and I fell on my head." She is starting to lose her composure. I will be right there Mom!
I arrive at the medical building where Dr. Fox is located and Captain Chris with security meets me at the door. He explains what Mom had told him happened as he escorts me to the lab where she has gone to have blood drawn for an appointment later this week. He says he will check the video to determine what actually happened. She was no where near Dr. Fox's office. Captain Chris checks on her again as her blood is drawn and suggests she go over to the main hospital to get looked at. She assures him she will and he says he will inform the ER triage department that she will be there.
As we leave the office she describes to me what happened. She was getting on the elevator when the doors closed. It went like this... She was taking a step forward with all her weight on the forward foot when the doors started closing. She is 84 5'5" and weighs about 112 pounds. As the doors came together her forward movement collided with the now closed door and she was pushed backward by the elevator landing on her butt and falling back banging her head into the non carpeted floor. She was right the elevator pushed her and she fell on her head. Let me assure you my Mom knows how to use an elevator and moves around unaided and very well. She said a man inside even stuck his arm in between the doors but they kept closing and he moved his arm just as they closed.
Mother lives on the 8th floor of a high rise apartment that is full of retired people. The elevators they use have the doors programmed to stay open a very long time because elderly people in wheelchairs, walkers, motorized scooters and walking need time to get on. These doors are also equipped with lasers spaced up and down the doors and the moment anything breaks the beam as they are closing the doors open. People are very very rarely hit by an elevator door. This is what she is used to. Not that I am defending the bad, aggressive rude elevator that attacked her. This rogue elevator is in a medical facility next to a hospital and out of the 11 people in the waiting room of the office she was in all but 1 were over 65. Theresa with Housekeeping who saw the whole thing says people are knocked around by that elevator all the time including a man who was not so elderly that got off that same elevator and helped her.
Fast Forward to the ER. I tell the tech the story and before I can finish he asks her to come in and about 10 minutes later I am told to go back to room 9. As the nurse is asking questions Mom reports that her butt is causing her some pain and she is feeling dizzy and has a headache. Within in moments a Dr. arrives and after a few more questions an X-ray and CT scan are ordered. We wait for the results. The Dr. reports that her coccyx is fractured, L2 and L4
have fractures but they appear old and there is a strange anomaly reading in her head that they cannot make out but does not appear to be internal bleeding. He orders an MRI. A few hours later the Dr. arrives and informs me that she does have a fracture of her coccyx, she has two other older fractures that are not related to this incident and that the MRI has come back clear. He will prescribe some pain meds and we can go.
When Mom returns I give her the results of what the Dr. Shared and she is visibly relieved. I call my brother to give him the news and all he can say is ..."so sis, from what you are saying I have a broke ass Mother?" Yes you have a broke ass Mother, we laugh and as she laughs she calls us idiots. (We have been kicked out of the ER and her hospital room on other occasions for being loud and filling the hall with laughter while there with her.) We are an odd, quirky family. I stare down her nurse who was grabbing release orders and we are sent on our way.
It is now after 4:00 PM and all she wants is a chocolate milk shake and to go take a nap. I swing into McDonald's and order her shake.
It was gone by the time I completed the 3 mile long drive. She took a nap and later we watched her favorite TV show and then I sent her to bed.
That is the end of the day the elevator pushed my mom and she fell on her head.
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