(207) Crisis with aged relative

I went to a place south of here to visit my eldest aunt. She fell a few times the day before and was hospitalized yesterday.  My two cousins took their mum to the public hospital at 8 am. Finally, at 2:30 pm we managed to visit her, two visitors at a time, in the ward after she was settled in. We were given special concession to visit during non-visiting hours for we came from out of town.

My cousin May took my mum up first. After my mum came down, May took me up. In the intervening 5 minutes, my aunt had forgotten that my mum visited. She was surprised to see me and asked why I came alone and not bring anyone with me as it was a long drive. I suppose at that moment reality struck, her short term memory loss was so pronounced that I could expect that she would not recognize who I am some time in the foreseeable future. But she has known me for as many years as I have lived. I remember my deceased grand ma said that this aunt came to help care for me as a new born and cook for my mum while my grand ma was looking after my two other siblings and cook for the rest of the extended family. You see, special food full of ginger, wine and vinegar is usually cooked for the lactating mother. We were quite poor then that the best food was given to the new mum.

May was her usual bustling, efficient self, after all she was formerly a school principal. She tended to everything that needed to be done as she was required to spend every night in the hospital caring for her mum. There is a severe shortage of trained nurses for public hospitals as many went to earn the high salaries in the middle eastern countries. My cousin Leon was very subdued and he was near tears when my mum and I asked about the details of the several falls. Meanwhile, my husband and son was waiting in another area with my God sister.

According to the x-rays taken, the fracture was located at the top of the femur which is actually in the hip joint. An operation seemed indicated. On the other hand, my aunt is 85 years old. While she has hypertension, her overall health is good. Her blood sugar is perfectly normal and she has a BMI to be envied. Well, we can only pray that she will heal with traction and bed rest. Should she be operated on and not survive, that she would go painlessly.