A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

Mrs. Trip was leaving church when she mis-stepped on the curb and fell. It wasn't a serious fall in her estimation, but her side and neck hurt, and so she came to the emergency room to get checked out.

A stately lady, Mrs. Trip had aged very well into her 80's.  She was well-spoken and surrounded by loving friends and family. Her injury seemed potentially serious, but her scans all came back negative, so she was set to go home. Before she was to put her clothing on, she requested to go to the bathroom. Since she felt shaken and weak from the fall, she did not want to walk the distance to the bathroom, so I placed her on the bedpan.

As I removed the bedpan, my stomach flipped a little. It was full of bright-red blood.  Something was terribly amiss.    Yet Mrs. Trip felt fine, besides feeling a bit weak.  Several more scans located a bruise on her kidney that would otherwise have been missed.

She is a lucky lady to have discovered the bruise while she was in the hospital. Imagine having gone home, then seeing so much blood in the bathroom!

S