4. Broken Hip – November 2025

Early November 2025

Things were going too good. I was feeling too healthy and energetic, so I had to create some kind of event to slow myself down. I chose a harsh one, breaking my damn hip!

Three weekends ago I drove to Reno and rented an Airbnb “in the heart of midtown”. The official reason for the trip was to tour the Promenade, the old folks home right behind my old condo by the river. The tour went fine (too expensive!). But the point here is that before and after the tour I had just a marvelous time recreating my old life on Reno.

• I drank my usual Reno amounts with my friend Ed.
• On Saturday I walked down to the Reno No Kings rally (walked!).
• Thursday and Friday we drank in fine places new to me.
• Saturday and Sunday we drank in places familiar from the old days and ran into many people I used to know.

It’s sad and ironic that five days after walking everywhere in Reno, I would destroy my ability to walk anywhere for a couple of months in a blinding act of stupidity.

Prelude

In late October 2025 I signed up to spend Friday and Saturday night at Martha’s house to dog and cat sit. (Nothing to it: keep the water bowls full and fill the food bowls twice a day). I look (looked) forward these weekends, because it got me out of Cogir and near an actual downtown scene. So it was a great thing … if I don’t screw it up, which sadly I did this time.

The event

Everyone says that you don’t metabolize alcohol as well at 75 a you did at 65. I’m here to say that’s a true statement. I wish I had listened!

It was a lovely Friday night. I had dinner at the Speakeasy, then a lovely beer outside at the Riverfront Cafe, enjoying the twilight reflections on the water in the harbor.

I hopped across the river on the coolly lit pedestrian bridge, through the little shopping center to the The Block which I have driven past since it opened, but which I think I’d never been to. I liked it!

Back across the river to Buffalo Billiards. Two beers there. I have a vague memory of the bartender encouraging me to slow down, but this was going to me my last stop, so I did have that second. Let the record show that she tried, I was just too dumb to listen.

The Block ($10)
Speakeasy ($29)
Riverfront Cafe ($8)
Buffalo Billiards ($20)

Then the fatal decidsion to walk up Martha Lane

Kids called the ambulance

Providence first, then Kaiser

Kaiser

I’m generally happy with Kaiser, but I’ve got two negative observations, one long running, and one from this sad health event.

Seeing a doctor is hard

At St Mary’s Health in Reno, I was given an appointment with my cardiologist every 6 months for 15 years whether I needed it or not. Didn’t even have to ask.

I’ve been with Kaiser for 2 years now. I’ve seen my primary twice.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen my cardiologist.

Kaiser is good with scheduled things, bad at unscheduled things

This is my observation after showing up at their emergency room late one Friday night.

Evidently the policy up here in Sonoma is to always take trauma victims like me to Providence Hospital in Santa Rosa. I kept saying “I’m with Kaiser”, and they said “yeah, we’re taking you to Providence anyway”. Since my trauma wasn’t really so traumatic, they asked Kaiser “will you take him?” and they said “sure!”.

I had been wheeled into Providence a little after midnight. Somewhere around 3-4 AM I got another ambulance ride to Kaiser Hospital. Every transfer from bed to gurney to the next bed was very painful.

Kaiser is pretty good with the money though:

I stayed on my back in an ER bed for little over a day. I finally got operated around 6:30AM on Sunday. Remember, the accident happened on Friday night.

How being in emergency is different than being in a ward

• Emergency
  • Bed is obviously temporary, whole room feel temporary, because it is!
  • You get a gown to cover you, but you keep your underwear and socks.
    • You’re not a long-term guest! 🙂
• Ward
  • As soon as the get you in they cram an IV in your arm, which stays there till you leave.
    • First thing on, last thing off.
  • They remove your underwear and replace your socks with those funky hospital checkered plaid socks.
    • No vestige of the outside world is spared.
  • Nice bed, rooms are nicer

Back in Cogir

(which I fear I will not escape for a while)

We negotiated for a helper. Most of the helpers at Cogir are people from Fiji. They are great at it. My guy was named Eric. He was mostly great, but he got a little cranky at the end when we broke up. Getting wheels around in a wheelchair is a drag.

[when I got the bills, turns out those people are very expensive!]

Thanksgiving field trip

It was really exciting to escape Cogir for even a single day!

Chad came and got me, I negotiated the stairs like a champ, and we had a great day!

Four weeks

Some days, it seems like there is no progress, then one day there’s great progress!

Two weeks ago I was getting wheeled to dinner in a wheelchair, then 10 days ago we switched to the walker, so I started getting at least a little bit of exercize.

Suddenly (it seems) I can walk around the house with no aides at all, can hop out of my chair (almost) without thinking – pretty exciting!

Two months – Is this what normal is?

I am “almost” normal. I have a little ‘hitch in my giddy-up’ when I stand up as start walking, but I’m pretty normal after that.