I fell in the hallway about an hour ago, going to answer the door. It was a neighbor, and between him and Melanie, they were able to get me up. I had stubbed my right toe turning the corner in the hall, and while I lifted my right foot, the left leg just gave way under me. I'm okay, a scratch and bruise on my left arm, but it was a bit scary. I need to remember to take a cane with me even when just going down the hall since my left leg does not always work properly.
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
glad that you are okay
sending healing huggles to help!
Hey watch out for those Huggies
They contain girly germs and may make you suddenly like dresses.
I was a manly man before I met dorothy and she and her girlie germs turned me into a woman!
Relieved that you're ok
Just be careful. Take your time answering the door. Whoever was knocking can wait.
Hugs,
Sammy
Glad to hear you’re OK……
And glad Melanie was there to help you.
I had a brief interlude with muscle and joint weakness and pain toward the end of my immunotherapy several years back due to a reaction to the treatments; I was left struggling with a cane by the time we figured out what was causing the problems. We had a few of them in the house that had previously belonged to my mother-in-law, and one of my sons dug them out for me to use. Luckily, once my oncologist found out about the issue and put me on prednisone to counteract the reaction the issue resolved itself.
Since then, my spouse has found occasion to use one of the canes periodically. We keep one in her car in case she needs to use it, and another in the house as well. She is going to need knee replacements eventually, and is simply waiting for her orthopedic doctor to pull the trigger on the surgery.
Embarrassingly enough, I found the biggest problem I had during the period of my reaction to the treatment was managing to get up off of the toilet! Luckily, I managed to make it up on my own every time. I can’t imagine how embarrassed I would have been to have to wake someone up in the middle of the night to help me up off of the shitter, lol.
Hopefully you won’t have any complications due to the fall. Feel better.
D. Eden
“Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.”
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Toilet Is Common Problem
The normal height of most toilets is absolutely the wrong height for most to rise off of. To compound the problem they don't have grab bars close by, which would make rising immeasurably easier. Usual seat height of a toilet is fourteen and a quarter inches. The height of a normal chair is seventeen to eighteen inches. The difference could be a mile when rising from a setting position. I've installed handicap toilets, the seat height is seventeen inches. I've installed toilet spacers which fit under normal toilets to raise them up. If a wall is close a grab bar would help without the expense of raising the toilet or buying a new toilet.
While discussing this entertaining project, I am going to add a bidet to my existing toilet. The things are inexpensive and fit under the existing toilet seat and or as a wand. Think of Danish Telephone attachment, which is the spray nozzle in your shower or bathtub on a long flexible line.
Hugs Ms Eden
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Caution We Do Not Age Well
A cane would be an excellent helper as such provides a third stabilization point. Balance, distance, focus, are only a few of the things which degrade slowly with age, we don't notice really until the accident(s). Take care of your feet as that is your secondary balance indicators behind the liquid inside your ear canals telling you if you are vertical or horizontal. Ah ha, you thought your eyes did that job? Only partially giving the stamp of approval or rejection on what your ears are telling you.
Age equipment may be a cane or similar device, good shoes, preferably sneakers.
Hugs Erin, I empathize with you. Heating pads, Excedrin, Tylenol, Bayer, DMSO, alcohol, Mercurochrome, Iodine, always close at hand. I buy bandaids by the hundred count along with boxes of large four inch non stick pads. Rolls of gauze and medical tape lasts a month or two. The days I'm not bleeding I wasn't working on fence, equipment, or handling goats. Goats aren't mean, they are pets but dangerous the same way all farm animals are. They have long sharp horns.
Take care of yourself Erin. One of these days you and I are going to be sitting on the top rail of the coral fence. We will be swapping tales, laughing at the things we did we wasn't suposta and got away with.
Hugs Love,
Barbie Jean
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Excellent suggestions, any may help you, Erin
My sister and I have a toilet booster seat or whatever it's called.
She got it for my late father maybe 12 years ago as his mobility declined
That and a few grab bars we installed before that helped him a lot and help us now
As to canes, classic candy cane shaped ones work okay for short distances and can be hung inside a grocery cart when shopping
For longer distances a walking stick, IE tall, beefier with no hook, will keep you stable better than a cane
Can be wood, with or without a leather/rubber grip and use replaceable rubber tips
The same as used on metal chair legs. Ace Hardware has them
Pretend its your wizard's staff - YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
I've seen telescoping metal ones with wrist straps and quick-change tips for indoors and soft soil -- a bit like ski poles
A folding rollator? chair is great for places like a farmers' market
Even used one several years ago at Bristol Renaissance Fair on dirt paths to get around and to have an empty seat handy
And the ones my sister and I have are cheaper low-end items yet proven quite durable
There are heavier duty ones available
A mobility store near you should have such devices
Heck Walgreens carries some of these
Or home improvement store, IE the grab bars
Might be able to get some stuff used and save
Maybe relatives or friends have some they would share or sell for little
Habitat for Humanity ReStore might have stuff very cheap but hit and miss on availability
Those four-footed metal canes work when you need one that can stand up on its own. Needs a firm and fairly level surface though
Try various aids to see what works for you
John in Wauwatosa
Takes a licking, keeps on ticking!
So glad yer OK! Falling is always a question at our age:
How bad is THIS gonna fuck me up??? A couple of days ago
I was carrying in a few too many reusable canvas sacks of groceries;
trying to get them all in one trip when my legs started trying to imitate
Ray Bolger's scarecrow dance. Each was somehow on the wrong
side of me and I fell hard without my hands to break my fall.
But it was meaty thud, with no crunching or snapping
and my biggest issues were getting out of the pokey
pine branches I'd landed in, finding where my glasses
had flown to, and getting upright again. This last
wouldn't have been a problem even 5 years ago
but it took some logistics. Are we having fun yet?
~big hugs, Veronica
for the axe had convinced them that because his handle
was made of wood he was one of them.
Getting upright again
When I find myself needing to get down on the floor, I always stop to consider just what I can use to get back up again. Also when I'm on the floor, regardless of how I got there, I'd do well to look around and see if there's anything that needs doing while I'm there..
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann