Poor Sparky!

My dear old dad slipped on some ice on Friday and did a pretty good job of beating himself up! He had just gotten out of his truck and was walking toward the house when he fell. He landed in a puddle of water and couldn't get up. He tried to call my mom, but he had dropped his phone into the water and it wasn't working very well. Finally, he got himself up and into the house. He called my mom and she could tell he was in bad shape. She took him over to the ER and they knew he had broken some ribs, but they were really worried about internal injuries. My mom was preparing herself for the worst (surgery) when they came back and told them everything internally would likely be fine, but he had bruised his spleen and who knows what else. They said he could come home, but was going to be very, very sore. We went over to visit when they got home and walked in the door just as my dad started coughing and said, "I just felt a pop. I think I broke another one." It was quite special.

The irony of the whole thing is that my dad was just getting back from the gym where he has been doing physical therapy for his back. He was exposed to a chemical spill at work a few years ago and blacked out and fell, resulting in some major damage to his back. He ended up having to have a pretty intense back surgery and was doing much better, when he injured it again last winter. He has tried everything and finally has totally devoted himself to physical therapy and strengthening his core in hopes that it would help his back. It has really worked and he has felt so much better. He has lost about 30 pounds in the last few months and looks awesome--everyone has been commenting on how good he looks. Thankfully, he doesn't think he hurt his back in the fall (apparently his therapy is working), but is bummed about having to take time off from his work-outs.

True to form, Sparky has been handling this challenge with his unfailing optimism and humor (athough he begs us not to make him laugh because it hurts too much). He did admit this hurts even worse than his back surgery, but I've yet to hear him complain or be grumpy with anyone. The hardest part for him is not being able to hold the grandkids. He coerced me the other day into letting Garrett sit on his lap and I was a nervous wreck the whole time. He had an important meeting at work he didn't feel like he could miss, so he got up this morning and went to work. He came home at lunchtime and thankfully is going to take the rest of the week off. Hopefully he'll be doing a lot of this over the next few days:
And here we have Nurse Susie Q and her cute little helper. (Garrett really likes to help give Pops his medicine.) My mom has been such a trooper through all of this. Despite being Relief Society president and working full-time, she still manages to put my dad first. I know it's been challenging for her to take care of him during these injuries the past few years, but she never complains and is always there with everything he needs. Watching them has really helped me understand the importance of being totally committed "in sickness and in health." I couldn't ask for better examples of how I want to be when I grow up!

Get well soon, Sparky!

Funny side note-- Two other guys in town about my dad's age fell this weekend and were also injured. My mom said, "Well, I guess we're just the old folks now who fall on the ice and end up in the hospital."