I just got off the phone with my Nanny. (“Nanny from Newfoundland”, as she is called in our household.)  With her 95th birthday fast approaching, her extended network of family got quite the scare earlier this week when she fell and fractured her hip.  And while it’s still a story in the making, and a real concern considering her age – I must say that I’m getting the impression that she’s getting a bit of a kick out of the adventure.

As the story goes, she was walking from the living room to the kitchen when she tripped.  Despite many attempts by family for her to have help close at hand – or at least a system to call easily for help – in her fiercely independent nature, she passed on all of those options.  So, living alone in a small Newfoundland community, she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands.  She knew that something was wrong with her leg, and while being unable to stand, she began pulling herself along the floor ‘like a seal’ , as she described the ordeal.  After some time, she reached the phone to call for help.

I can’t quite shake the image of my 94-year-old nanny pulling herself along the floor from my mind – and I have to admit, that rather than being appalled that this incident happened, I am awed yet again at what a strong, determined woman I have for a grandmother.  (although that’s not to say that I didn’t share some worried moments/days with many family members at different points this past week.)

The reality of this is that she had to be transported to St. John’s for surgery, which was another ordeal due to other health complications and the very real concern about putting her asleep for surgery.  After a few days, the doctors opted to do the partial hip replacement using only an epidural.  This meant that she was fully awake for the whole time, listening to them ‘hammering, banging and sawing away down there.’  “It sounded like they were building a fence!” she reported.

So today, only a few days later, she took her first steps with a walker.  I don’t know yet what type of recovery is expected, how long that may take, or how long she may stay in the hospital for monitoring.  I just know that her Canada-wide family of 7 living children, 16 grandchildren and 20+ great-grandchildren are all breathing a sigh of relief that she seems to have come through this so well thus far.

And I know that I am certainly not the only one who is shaking my head in wonder at the superwoman that she is.  Wow.