Saturday, April 19, 2008

4/19 Poor, poor Pete

I was going to write about the fact that I don't have any fingerprints. It's true, I don't.

But the worst thing happened today. My sister Jane and her husband John (who we call Pete) were here helping me empty some boxes and put books away. Pete was carrying a box out to my car and one of my dogs pushed him or tripped him or something. He fell on his hip, and couldn't move. We thought he'd broken his hip, so we called an ambulance. We found out he broke his right femur in at least three places. He's in surgery right now. And I came home after he went upstairs. Jan and Tim, Joe and Cindy, and Jane's friend Deb were all there too. Deb is staying there with Jane.

I couldn't stop crying. Partially from guilt, I guess. One of my dogs caused the fall, plus if I'd gotten everything done they wouldn't have been here helping me.

Our brother Joe said, "No good deed goes unpunished."

Pete is just great though. He doesn't blame me at all. He and Jane both keep saying that it's just an accident. Pete has diabetes though and lives with so many consequences of that disease, so I worry about him.

Jane will call me tonight when the surgery is done, and I'll go back up tomorrow to spend time. In the meantime I'm praying.

7 comments:

Dave said...

Aggh, Jer. Mucho FS for Pete.

Meredith Laird said...

Oh, Jer. I know you must feel terrible, but please do not take on too much guilt over this. It was an accident. Your sister and brother-in-law know that. :-) Hugs, hugs and more hugs.

Jill and Todd said...

When you see Uncle Pete, please tell him that we are wishing him a speedy recovery.

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

I told him, Jill. And DF and Nancie (aka Meredit), I appreciate your comments.

Anonymous said...

It was another of those surreal moments in life where you think you are going over to help someone to their feet and he winds up in an ambulance with a fractured leg/hip, on the way to ER, and ultimately surgery. My heart was pounding so hard and time seem to just stand still when I kept hoping it would speed up.(I am NOT good in a crisis) Jane was AMAZING...freaking amazing. Calm, caring, competent and compassionate. She proved once again that she might well be the best trauma nurse ever. She seem to involve Pete in the decision process without most of us, including him, even noticing. Pete was increadible too. He had to be in horrific pain, yet he remained calm and in control, and when Sarah arrived and was so upset, he reassured her over and over and tried to distract her from what he was dealing with. That is a great dad in anyone's book! I wish Pete a speedy healing process, and I pray Jane can keep up with his care, the care of her kids and the care of almost all the rest of us. Might be time for us to care for Jane!

Anonymous said...

It sounds like a horrible injury! I agree that Jane is always the first one to help someone. I hope I can find something to do for her!

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Cindy, your heart may have been pounding, but you did very well. I'm normally great in a crisis--that's my field after all--but I felt so guilty that my dogs tripped him and basically caused the accident. I cried quite a bit over this. I still feel bad, but don't feel guilty any more. Jane and Pete convinced me they don't blame me or the dogs, that it was just an accident.

Thanks for writing, Andre. It was indeed a nasty, nasty break.