Last Sunday, I spoke with George in the evening. His foot hadn't been healing (he's diabetic), and the doctor told him to stay off of it. Then he told me that his vision had faded out to black in one eye, which *really* worried me. "Um...George? Do you want me to take you to the emergency room?"
"No, no. I'm going to make an emergency appointment with my specialist on Monday. I'll call first thing tomorrow morning and get in. I'll call you on Monday or Tuesday to let you know how it goes." -He didn't want to go to the emergency room because he figured that they wouldn't be of much use. That they probably wouldn't know what was up with his vision and that they wouldn't have a specialist on hand over the weekend. After thinking about the many times that I took my mom to the hospital, and how frustrating it would be having to explain and get the emergency room staff up on my mothers condition, I thought about it and decided that George was probably right.
George is a very practical man. When you call him, and get his answering machine (and yes...he has an *actual* machine in his apartment) the recording that you get says: "Leave your message after the beep." That's it. Straight forward. Simple. Clear. He's the kind of man who calls when he says he will call. Shows up when he says he will be there. He's steadfast and reliable. So when he didn't call me on Monday or Tuesday to let me know how he was, I began calling him. It's now Saturday. And I still haven't heard from him. On Friday I called the hospital that he usually goes to. This morning, when I still hadn't heard from him, I called all of the other hospitals in the city as well. Then I called the police department to do a welfare check. My friend Katy, who is a social worker advised this. She told me exactly what to say to make sure that someone actually does go down and do a check. She told me things that I wouldn't think to emphasize. Wouldn't *know* to emphasize...how would I really? I've never done this sort of thing before. She told me to tell them that he's old, the last time I spoke with him he was sick and was going to go to the hospital, that he has no family, no one to make sure he's OK, and that this is very unusual behavior. That I speak to him *all the time* and that I haven't been able to get a hold of him since Sunday. That he would call. That he always calls.
To the credit of the San Francisco Police Department, they listened. From the initial officer who took the non-emergency call that I placed, to the street cop who called me back shortly thereafter. They followed up promptly. They contacted the owner of the building, and unfortunately, everyone who has a key to George's apartment is in L.A. this weekend. :p But they also spoke with his neighbors, and they said that he usually leaves his shoes outside of his apartment door. The officer said that there was a pair of Crocs (oh George...Crocs? :)) outside of his door, but that his neighbor said that he wears other shoes when he goes out and that they were missing. "That's a good sign right?" I said. The officer wasn't sure and asked me if I wanted them to break down his door. I really am not sure. I don't want to make the wrong call on this one. He very well could be in a diabetic coma in his apartment, slowly dying. That thought has crossed my mind. Or he could be in a hospital somewhere...and maybe through some clerical error or perhaps the person not hearing me clearly, when I called to see if they had a patient with his name...he didn't show up? But was actually there??? Or maybe he's dead, which is *why* they don't *currently* have a patient by his name? Or maybe he's at a friend's house, being taken care of because he was too sick to care for himself? I honestly don't know. Or he could be just fine (fingers crossed) and in a very out of character manner has simply forgone checking his answering machine or calling me like he usually does? -Yeah...that last one is not likely...but I hope it's what has happened. The police officer told me that if I wanted them to break down his door, that someone would have to be there to take responsibility and secure his apartment. -makes sense. Glad to see that they won't just break down a door and leave it unlocked. :p I'm waiting a bit longer. If I don't hear from George today, then I will do it. The logical part of me says so many things. I'm not sure what to do really. I don't want to break George's door down and have him come wandering back home. But I *really* don't want to do nothing when he needs me. ...And what if I already have? What if I should have broken his door down on Wednesday? I have a horrible feeling inside of me. ...Of "What if?" What if...George is dead? How am I going to handle it? How am I going to reconcile myself with that, knowing that I may have acted too late? What if...we break down his door and actually find him?
Please George...Just be OK?
"No, no. I'm going to make an emergency appointment with my specialist on Monday. I'll call first thing tomorrow morning and get in. I'll call you on Monday or Tuesday to let you know how it goes." -He didn't want to go to the emergency room because he figured that they wouldn't be of much use. That they probably wouldn't know what was up with his vision and that they wouldn't have a specialist on hand over the weekend. After thinking about the many times that I took my mom to the hospital, and how frustrating it would be having to explain and get the emergency room staff up on my mothers condition, I thought about it and decided that George was probably right.
George is a very practical man. When you call him, and get his answering machine (and yes...he has an *actual* machine in his apartment) the recording that you get says: "Leave your message after the beep." That's it. Straight forward. Simple. Clear. He's the kind of man who calls when he says he will call. Shows up when he says he will be there. He's steadfast and reliable. So when he didn't call me on Monday or Tuesday to let me know how he was, I began calling him. It's now Saturday. And I still haven't heard from him. On Friday I called the hospital that he usually goes to. This morning, when I still hadn't heard from him, I called all of the other hospitals in the city as well. Then I called the police department to do a welfare check. My friend Katy, who is a social worker advised this. She told me exactly what to say to make sure that someone actually does go down and do a check. She told me things that I wouldn't think to emphasize. Wouldn't *know* to emphasize...how would I really? I've never done this sort of thing before. She told me to tell them that he's old, the last time I spoke with him he was sick and was going to go to the hospital, that he has no family, no one to make sure he's OK, and that this is very unusual behavior. That I speak to him *all the time* and that I haven't been able to get a hold of him since Sunday. That he would call. That he always calls.
To the credit of the San Francisco Police Department, they listened. From the initial officer who took the non-emergency call that I placed, to the street cop who called me back shortly thereafter. They followed up promptly. They contacted the owner of the building, and unfortunately, everyone who has a key to George's apartment is in L.A. this weekend. :p But they also spoke with his neighbors, and they said that he usually leaves his shoes outside of his apartment door. The officer said that there was a pair of Crocs (oh George...Crocs? :)) outside of his door, but that his neighbor said that he wears other shoes when he goes out and that they were missing. "That's a good sign right?" I said. The officer wasn't sure and asked me if I wanted them to break down his door. I really am not sure. I don't want to make the wrong call on this one. He very well could be in a diabetic coma in his apartment, slowly dying. That thought has crossed my mind. Or he could be in a hospital somewhere...and maybe through some clerical error or perhaps the person not hearing me clearly, when I called to see if they had a patient with his name...he didn't show up? But was actually there??? Or maybe he's dead, which is *why* they don't *currently* have a patient by his name? Or maybe he's at a friend's house, being taken care of because he was too sick to care for himself? I honestly don't know. Or he could be just fine (fingers crossed) and in a very out of character manner has simply forgone checking his answering machine or calling me like he usually does? -Yeah...that last one is not likely...but I hope it's what has happened. The police officer told me that if I wanted them to break down his door, that someone would have to be there to take responsibility and secure his apartment. -makes sense. Glad to see that they won't just break down a door and leave it unlocked. :p I'm waiting a bit longer. If I don't hear from George today, then I will do it. The logical part of me says so many things. I'm not sure what to do really. I don't want to break George's door down and have him come wandering back home. But I *really* don't want to do nothing when he needs me. ...And what if I already have? What if I should have broken his door down on Wednesday? I have a horrible feeling inside of me. ...Of "What if?" What if...George is dead? How am I going to handle it? How am I going to reconcile myself with that, knowing that I may have acted too late? What if...we break down his door and actually find him?
Please George...Just be OK?
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