#11-26 Goldendale and Yakima, WA July 6, 2011 until ??

We left Keizer, OR about 11 am and headed north and east towards Goldendale, WA. The drive along the Columbia River was beautiful, the weather couldn’t have been better. We arrived at Brooks State Park about 10 miles northeast of Goldendale. Frank’s HS buddy, Walt and his wife, Donna had invited us to their home in Goldendale for a B-B-Q steak dinner, so we hopped in the car and drove back to their home.

While Walt, was cooking the steaks, Frank decided he was going to get out of his chair and walk around. Well, his foot stuck to the carpet on the patio and over he went, right onto his right hip. He could not get up by himself, so I helped him back into the chair, we ate dinner—wonderful steaks from Belted Galloway steers. (Oreo Cookie Cows) Frank was semi comfortable as long as he didn’t move. He enjoyed the steak dinner and then realized there was no way he could get up. So we called an ambulance to take him to the local ER. They did x-rays and found that his had broken his hip and would need surgery. The little town of Goldendale does not have an orthopedic surgeon, so we decided to send him to Yakima for surgery. Back into the ambulance and he went to Yakima, and I went back to the RV.

The next day, with the help of another of Frank’s HS friends, Earl and wife Barb, we moved the RV to the Sportsman State Park near Yakima. They only had space available for two days, but I took it anyway. By the time we got set up and headed to the hospital, Frank’s surgery was over and he was in the recovery room. When we arrived at the waiting room, Frank’s god-nephew, Paul was there from Seattle, another friend, Stan and wife, Alice, from Toppenish were there and then Earl, Barb and I came in. So he had six of us waiting to see how he did. By the time he got to his room it was late afternoon. He was very groggy from the surgery and of course, he was hurting. We got to give him a hug and then left so he could get some sleep.

Believe it or not, the next day they had Frank get out of bed and he walked with a walker around his room. That tired him out and it was all that he wanted to do. I took pictures with my phone and kept all the kids informed via texting with photos. Impressive what modern technology can do.

Three days after surgery the hospital released him to a rehab center, where he will learn to walk again with his new titanium alloy ball. The first 3-4 weeks he can only put about 50 lbs of weight on that leg. All the ligaments were cut and stitched back together, the muscles were spread apart and moved around, so he has to retrain them. He is a real trooper and the PT people say he is one of their favorites because he doesn’t complain, does his exercises and then does “homework” exercise in his room.

Frank has had visitors every day. Nieces, nephews, HS friends, former in-laws and me! His attitude is amazing and I see improvement every day. He said the food is good, the staff is helpful and he has a nice room—overlooking an alley and the side of a building with no windows. But, he can go outside to the patio areas, and he made friends with a number of other men, so has someone to share mealtime with.

After the two days at the Sportsman state park were over, Frank’s nephew, Bernie, came and helped me move the RV to his home. He has a full hook-up RV space right outside his home. So I am now a semi-permanent guest. His home Is about 10 minutes from the rehab center, so I’m close enough to visit every day and sometimes twice a day.

He is now using the walker and can go from his room to the dining room as long as someone is walking with him. There are two long hallways he has to negotiate and that is part of his therapy.

You go Frank, next you will be running!