Last November, I awoke to a phone call from my mother on an early Saturday morning telling me that she thought that she was having a heart attack. Her voice sounded weak and almost inaudible. Pure panic struck as I struggled to remember her address and apartment number. I managed to ask if her door was unlocked (I couldn’t remember where I had put her spare key) before I told her that I would call 911 and get there as fast as I could. When I arrived, two ambulance workers were loading her onto a stretcher. She was pale and grasping her chest. Later at the hospital, we learned that she had suffered a heart attack. After a week in the hospital and two weeks in rehabilitation, she came to stay with me a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday.
On the Sunday after the holiday, she announced that she was ready to return to her apartment. I had concerns because she still seemed weak and would fall asleep at the table while I was talking to her. She assured me that she was fine and that she was ready to drive home – a ten-minute drive. She had insisted that we keep her car at our house for safekeeping. My husband offered to drive her, and I would follow in our car. My mother is a very independent person and would not have it. She did agree to let me follow her in my car.
My husband warmed up her car, and she climbed behind the wheel. As I followed her down the street, I kept seeing her head and trunk go forward and she crossed the centerline five times. The same panic that struck me the morning of her heart attack was back full force. I attempted to motion for her to pull over into a parking lot. I struggled to get my cell phone out of my purse to call my husband – I still don’t know what I expected him to do. I was angry with myself for letting her control this situation against my gut feelings. After all, I am a driving rehabilitation specialist and should have known better.
It seemed like hours (actually only ten minutes) before she pulled into her apartment parking lot with me right behind her. As she opened her car door, I was already beside her car assessing the situation. She greeted me with a smile, and I greeted her with a “what in the heck were you doing?”
She laughed at me and stated “I was adjusting my heat – I just could not seem to get it set right.” I explained to her that it is not okay to cross the centerline, and she responded that she would not have crossed the line if someone were coming.
I learned a couple of important lessons last November. Keep addresses, phone numbers, keys, etc. accessible because you can’t think when you are in a panic. When it comes to my mother, I am going to go with my gut. It was a horrible feeling to think that I might have made a decision that resulted in her hurting herself or others.
Submitted by Laura Noblitt, OTR, Driver Rehabilitation Specialist