Harried Weekend

My weekend started with a call from my stepmother that my father fell and broke his hip. He was transported to a the hospital and then moved to another hospital farther away where the doctor authorized by his HMO has hospital privileges. During the transfer, they neglected to bring his x-rays with him and so he had to be x-rayed again. Which meant he had to be moved around again - with a broken hip! I often think that our health plans are designed with the convenience of the medical personnel and insurance companies rather than the needs of the patient. But I digress.

The rest of my weekend has involved figuring out what is going on with my dad and how we're going to handle getting my stepmother some transportation. She does not drive. I'm hopeful that tomorrow when hospital offices open again, I'll be able to find some help for her. The office the hospital operator transferred me to, when I explained my dilemma, is not open on weekends. It would seem to me that hospital services should be available 24/7 because people can't arrange to need the services only between 8-5 on weekdays. I also discovered that,when Dad wants to phone his wife from his hospital room, he incurs toll charges. It would also seem to me that phone calls are so cheap these days, hospitals would have low per minute charges. But what do I know? In the meantime, I've made sure he has a phone card, that the hospital knows I have authority to receive information about his condition and that my daughter will make a trek to L.A. to check on him.

Because I knew I wasn't going to have a lot of free time and also because I'm a procrastinator, I had to quickly mail a few gifts out. I'm not a good gift giver in the first place and so this year I'm even more pathetic. And forget about cards! I'm happy Debra and I have altered our Christmas traditions so that we go out and have a nice meal and then go to a show or spend some time together at the spa. Easy, breezy. And fun too.

Now that I have the dad situation as much under control as possible from 300 miles away, I think I'll try and get some other chores out of the way and then I'll curl up with a good book. And then I'll feel less harried.