Contestant No. 2 is...

I received a call from my brother: "Have you talked with mom?"

Me: "No. Why?" (thinking I was in trouble for not sending an anniversary gift sooner or something)

Brother: "Dad's in the Hospital."

At this point my mind is racing with the horrid possibility that it had something to do with his heart. And then hoping beyond all hope it's actually nothing and everything is ok.

Brother: "Dad fell and cracked some teeth. Possibly cracked his jaw and is get surgery right now.".

Good lord. Did he fall because of heat stroke, which is possible. The last time he got heat stroke was several years ago and a bit funny because he ended up with temporary amnesia. How I would have loved to been with him in the emergency room that day!

When I was finally able to get through to mom, I found out that dad got his foot caught up in the bricks that outline the lawn. He tripped and ended up landing face first into the stoop. WTF?? Mom is the one who is the known clutz. For example, several years ago she tripped in a parking lot and totally fractured her knee. Had surgery and was in PT for about 6 months.

Mom told me that he finished round one of surgery. Has about 200 stitches in his face, mostly his bottom lip. His teeth went through it and tore through the muscle. Now dad is currently en route to another hospital to get surgery done on his teeth. I briefly talked with him and he said he may have to get a few false ones put in. WOW!! Ah, and he managed to say -- very stubbornly -- that "I will not have my mouth wired shut. If my jaw is only fractured then it'll heal w/o that wire." Can't wait to see that head on collision with the doctor.

Now to wait and hear back after surgery number 2. Overall, I am thankful that it wasn't anything worse. Wow. Ok... Let's see. Last month Casey is diagnosed with Lyme's disease, which is then followed by a slew of side effects. Now my dad trips and rips up his face. It's been said that everything comes in threes and it appears that Karma has selected the men as her target this year. So who's next? My brother? My sister's husband? Eek. Not even going to think about it.

Update: Dad is currently undergoing surgery #2. There are 2 fractures in his jaw: one near his sinus cavity and one further down (local unknown - i forgot). Luckily they're hairline fractures and the doctor believes will heal on their own. As for dads teeth, they're working to save them and he'll be wearing teeth braces to keep them all in place.

In regards to the actual fall, I asked mom whether dad braced his fall by putting his hands out. She made a valid point: he was probably trying to safe his coffee (in one hand) and his dry cleaning (in the other hand). Therefore, he had no hands to brace the fall. Now there's taking one for the team?