I was adamant the first time it was asked. Fall? I don't fall. Not since my son tackled me in the driveway as I was going for the basket.
Then, I took a tumble, tripping over loose stones, falling backwards, landing none too lightly on the pony wall, the backs of my arms keeping me from landing on the ground. I vowed to wear shoes whenever I ventured out the front door; socks only would be a thing of the past, and I'd be fine.
Then my sandal caught the edge of the oriental rug in the kitchen. I was very glad to have the counter right there; had I been 6 inches further away my nose and the ground would have become quite well acquainted. By concentrating on strengthening my ankles and remembering to pick up my feel rather than dragging them along the floor I was sure I'd be fine.
Then I had lunch with Lady Jane, down three small steps to get to the garden at The Arizona Inn. Coming up after a delightful repast, she tripped over the rubber strip holding the carpet runner at the top of those three small steps. Down she went, right onto the floor, rolling smartly onto her side so that her wrist didn't try to hold her up - and certainly fail at the task.
There I stood, right next to her, unable to do a thing. I was not steady enough on my two feet to lurch over and grab her. The same thing happened to G'ma almost a decade ago. I could do nothing but watch her and her walker tumble to the ground.
This is not a good feeling.
The doctors are right to ask about falling. I no longer bristle at the question.
I used to also bristle at the question but then a friend fell and broke her hip and leg, ending up in rehab. I watched her go through hell and dedicated myself to yoga to maintain a gook sense of balance. It's really helped. I never want to go through what I saw my friend go through!!
ReplyDeleteI have fallen 3 times now. The first resulting in injuring my already faulty Left shoulder and requiring a fix of the rotator cuff. I was in the bathroom of a restaurant, at first I thought, thank god no one was in here to see me and then I was wishing someone was there to help me up, I was wedged between the wall and the toilet. It took me a while to get up. The next time, I was trying to keep the babies out of the way, while furniture was being loaded into my van and in doing so, missed a step and went down on my right hand which caused the shock to go directly into my Right shoulder. Still haven't fixed that. The third time, I was carrying a huge birthday present and turned my ankle on the edge of the sidewalk. I'm sure that fall was caught on camera from the neighbors and will one day end up on funniest home videos. However, my doctor has never once asked me about falling.
Deletelast year I finally realized why oler people are warned not to have throw rugs on their floors, as I caught myself going down and grabbed on to the bathroom counter. We removed the rug that day.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am now very aware of falling. It seem that as we age we just naturally don't pick up our feet like we used to.
TBG tripped on one of his beloved Oriental throw rugs this weekend.....
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In February my slipper caught on our wood floors and I fell head first into the corner of a wall. I put a deep, straight gash of about 4 inches into the top of my head. I got a ride to the ER in slippers and nightgown and a CT scan and many staples in my head once I arrived. Now I am extra conscious of fall dangers and try to be extra careful about picking up my feet.
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