Old Folks and Falls

[SARGE67]

Got a message tonight from friend saying her 95-year-old Mom had fallen and suffered a big knot on left temple and CT scan showed brain bleed. She is a very alert person I've known for many years but like you and me, we're going down one way or the other. For myself I'm 75 and scared to even step over the tub which we don't use just to take a shower a few times each week. Hoping to get tub removed and a walk-in shower installed someday with grab bars.

 

[echo1]

In November of 2021 I self-admitted to the hospital. I couldn't walk 20 steps without stopping to catch my breath, Covid and all those concerns. Turned out I had bronchitis & pneumonia, and my lungs were full of fluid. they got that dialed in but said there was some discrepancies in my heart rhythm and referred me to a cardiologist. Start the routine visits with him after the new year. I was coming for an office visit when I told the receptionist that there was something going on, I thought my duodenal ulcer was giving me grief, but it was a little different in that my fingertips were tingling. They did an EKG and the doc gave me some nitro, it went away. I had an episode in the cardio's office. That was on Thursday, Sunday they did a triple bypass, March 6th, 2022. They cleared me for my summer gig in Idaho. In June I started tripping and falling and was in contact with my cardiologist. He said stop taking one med and to go to emergency if it happened again. It did, so on July 12th I went in. Ran the test protocol & in contact with my team back home 1000 miles away, found out my kidneys shut down due to lack of proper hydration. In 2 days I was fine. Near the end of August, I asked my cardiologist if I should resume the meds he had me stop, he said yes. At the end of the last day of work, 8/30 I got up from a chair in front of the hanger, turned and walked about 20 steps and fell into the aileron of one of the working ships and the ribs ripped my face open in 2 parallel lines, from my neck to above my ear & temple. I fell 2 more times about a week apart, once in Coeur d'Alene, my bud and his wife caught me, and once again back home. That time I hit the deck but didn't screw anything up. It sucks to find out you not invincible anymore. I'll be 72 in January. Gettin old ain't for pu**ys. PAX

 

[Moonpie]

Sadly it’s a very real thing.
My wife has fallen several times now. Shattered her elbow the first time.
Recently she injured her wrist.

 

[MountainGirl]

Got a message tonight from friend saying her 95-year-old Mom had fallen and suffered a big knot on left temple and CT scan showed brain bleed. She is a very alert person I've known for many years but like you and me, we're going down one way or the other. For myself I'm 75 and scared to even step over the tub which we don't use just to take a shower a few times each week. Hoping to get tub removed and a walk-in shower installed someday with grab bars.

We're very careful now, too. There are some really good suction-held grab bars you could get now to help you over the side of the tub. The very first thing we did, even before fully moving in, was have the big garden tub removed and a walk-in shower created with a shower pan, a ledge to fill the gap, and some tile...total cost with install about $1500. Not feeling scared made it worth every penny.

 

[echo1]

We remodeled our bathroom and put 2 grab bars in the tub. My wife has fallen several times. We're both very conscientious of falls. PAX

 

[striker55]

Yep one thing about getting old, tripped over a curb and went down hard. Nothing broken but put a scare in me. Still riding my bicycle but being extra cautious.

 

[toddnjoyce]

Ain’t gotta be old to fall and injure yourself. About decade ago, I was stepping into the shower at out place near Ft Hood. First foot in hit something slick, I went horizontal, fracturing and fully dislocating my left shoulder. The bathtub was across from the shower; my head was resting against the floor, less than an inch from the tub when I was finally able to move. Wouldn’t have taken much more for my head to have smacked the tub on the way down, and that would have been a concussion at best and fatal at worst.

 

[MountainGirl]

We need to do this, too.

"How old would you be if you didn't know the day you were born."

 

[deemus]

When I was young I was a pretty good athlete. Lettered in every sport, roller skated every weekend, and skated backwards while talking to the girls. Was at a granddaughters birthday party Saturday and my kids tried to get me to skate like I did when they were kids. I knew better. A fall these days cost more than it did back then. I’m usually hurting without a fall, don’t care to think about a fall right now, especially on skates, and a hard floor.

 

[msharley]

Got a message tonight from friend saying her 95-year-old Mom had fallen and suffered a big knot on left temple and CT scan showed brain bleed. She is a very alert person I've known for many years but like you and me, we're going down one way or the other. For myself I'm 75 and scared to even step over the tub which we don't use just to take a shower a few times each week. Hoping to get tub removed and a walk-in shower installed someday with grab bars.

Prayers up for the nice Lady..

Full Healing..

 

[MountainGirl]

When I was young I was a iretty good athlete. Lettered in every sport, roller skated every weekend, and skated backwards while talking to the girls. Was at a granddaughters birthday party Saturday and my kids tried to get me to skate like I did when they were kids. I knew better. A fall these days cost more than it did back then. I’m usually hurting without a fall, don’t care to think about a fall right now, especially on skates, and a hard floor.

Probably a good thing you didn't tie on the skates.
If you were sure you were gonna fall, you would have.

Whether we think we'll fail, or think we'll succeed, it's usually what happens.
Or so it seems to me.

 

[Byrd666]

Yup, falling is bad. I could tell of a few instances with some different outcomes, just not on a public forum such as this.

 

[Tnhawk]

A fall a home killed my mother at 83 years old. My doctor has told me has lost more patients due to falls than any other medical problem.

 

[MountainGirl]

^Mine too, at 89.

 

[dsgrey]

Yep one thing about getting old, tripped over a curb and went down hard. Nothing broken but put a scare in me. Still riding my bicycle but being extra cautious.

I had a bicycle wreck in June that fractured/broke my wrist in 2 places and required surgery to install a steel plate. 5 months later, I have about 70% functionality with physical therapy. Doctor says I might have 90% at best in the future. My palm is semi-numb and I still get random aches in my wrist. My PCP predicts I'll have arthritis in that wrist later.

I also had a major abdominal surgery this year and I'm 60. I couldn't imagine going through these same surgeries in my 70s or 80s.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Fell and cracked me noggin on the edge of the tub...bled like a stuck hog and now sport a scar about an inch and a half long on my forehead, should've been stitched, but I didn't feel up to traveling...

Old people fall so often it oughta be a geezer Olympic sport!

 

[wakosama]

got run over by a drunk while cycling at 25. trip and fall alot ever since, no dancing anymore. so many years ago I took a couple of local com. college terms of aikido to learn how to fall. still trip and fall alot but not so destructively. doc has repeatedly told me to walk and stretch alot, get more exercise to maintain mobility and balance. I'm only 75 but still we need to move around alot more as we age. walking on grass is supposed to be much better than pavement.

 

[G O B]

We're very careful now, too. There are some really good suction-held grab bars you could get now to help you over the side of the tub. The very first thing we did, even before fully moving in, was have the big garden tub removed and a walk-in shower created with a shower pan, a ledge to fill the gap, and some tile...total cost with install about $1500. Not feeling scared made it worth every penny.

View attachment 414138

NO! Grab bars and shower seats NEED to be 300# rated and installed properly. Chinesium will cause WORSE injury than no bars at all.

 

[deemus]

Probably a good thing you didn't tie on the skates.
If you were sure you were gonna fall, you would have.

Whether we think we'll fail, or think we'll succeed, it's usually what happens.
Or so it seems to me.

“A man’s got to know his limitations.”

 

[BRD@66]

It's a good time of life for orthopedic doctors.