Another friend falling incident......not good recovery so far.

Falls can be the downhill slide for many older folks. Practicing balancing and taking a fall prevention class is a good idea.
Holding handrails on stairs is paramount--I can't tell you how many folks I see who don't, at any age!
 
I went to see him this evening. He's in bad shape with the brain bleed. Apparently, they are not seeing much in the way of healing and his memory is very bad. He didn't recognize his wife this afternoon (she told me this), but he recognized me tonight and there was a smile on his face. I stayed 1/2 hour as he was drifting off. Ugh!
 
My compliments for being such a good friend. It can be hard to make those visits knowing what you'll see.

Sleep well tonight. Seeing your close friends start to fail is hard to watch. Even though it will eventually happen to all of us, it doesn't mean tomorrow. Take care of yourself, keeping safely moving, and wake up every day, until you don't. :)
 
aja8888 said:
I went to see him this evening. He's in bad shape with the brain bleed. Apparently, they are not seeing much in the way of healing and his memory is very bad. He didn't recognize his wife this afternoon (she told me this), but he recognized me tonight and there was a smile on his face. I stayed 1/2 hour as he was drifting off. Ugh!
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So sad! My heart goes out to you. I’m sure your presence was so appreciated by him and his wife. I’m so glad he recognized you and smiled!
 
I am sorry to hear about your injured friend.

This is another reminder to do those daily balance and strength exercises.
 
aja8888 said:
I was a pretty good athlete over my lifetime, having played most sports other than football (too thin and light weight). I was a pitcher in college and played a little third base too. And was a long distance runner for over two decades. But these days, no bicycles, skates, running, etc as I don't want to take a tumble that would cause a lot of damage.
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I can relate.

I need to forget that I was a good athlete and limit my activities to what my body can do NOW. But too often, my body acts before I can think.
 
aja8888 said:
I went to see him this evening. He's in bad shape with the brain bleed. Apparently, they are not seeing much in the way of healing and his memory is very bad. He didn't recognize his wife this afternoon (she told me this), but he recognized me tonight and there was a smile on his face. I stayed 1/2 hour as he was drifting off. Ugh!
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Bless you for visiting him. That is such a huge encouragement for both he and his wife. My father could be a difficult person and after he fell and was a nursing facility, only one non-family person came to visit him. And it wasn't even a man he knew super well; just a kind person from their neighborhood. My mom appreciated it so much. That same gentleman died a week later. He had no family, just a caregiver of his own. I will never forget that act of kindness he extended simply by showing up.
 
Sorry to hear about your friend, Aja. It sounds like the fall was the result of dementia and not his being less than careful. Unfortunately, there is only so much we can do to prevent the onset of dementia. Glad to hear that he has great family and friends to support him going forward.
 
Aja8888, please watch out for yourself re falling. We would miss your posts.
 
In the last week I've gotten two reminders of how much older people are at risk. A woman in my church has had to drop out of some duties because she's been falling frequently. She has a doc appointment scheduled. She's sweet and gracious and is a caregiver for her husband who's slowly sliding downhill due to breast cancer.

And this morning I learned that one of the most dynamic and hard-working people in the church died peacefully last night in home hospice care, 3 years after a hard fall on the ice (while playing hockey at age 70) that resulted in paraplegia.

Sad reminders never to take good health for granted.
 
athena53 said:
In the last week I've gotten two reminders of how much older people are at risk. A woman in my church has had to drop out of some duties because she's been falling frequently. She has a doc appointment scheduled. She's sweet and gracious and is a caregiver for her husband who's slowly sliding downhill due to breast cancer.

And this morning I learned that one of the most dynamic and hard-working people in the church died peacefully last night in home hospice care, 3 years after a hard fall on the ice (while playing hockey at age 70) that resulted in paraplegia.

Sad reminders never to take good health for granted.
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That is so true! Health is really everything. I have seen many elderly people that have fallen and broke something. It always seemed like the start of the end. A sad thing to say but I believe in a lot of cases it holds true.
 
aja8888 said:
She's indicated she doesn't feel like she can. They don't have children to help, either. My guess is he will have to be put into assisted living. Money is not a problem, either.

She's pretty frail herself and tiny in size (maybe 5'2" 110 pounds).
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With my parents, it was more like come-and-go symptoms of dementia, but there was no definitive diagnosis. After some time, I came to realize DF's symptoms were indicative of a UTI, and DM got confused when she was on a heavy dose of meds.

We were able to keep DF at home, but even when he got confused he was never mean. His face always lit up when he saw me. Also, he couldn't run away as he lost the ability to walk. Importantly I had enormous support from DH and DS#3 who moved in with DF. And we also hired a home health aide (trained in the Philippines as a nurse) so his physical needs were met. So basically there were always two strong men around to do what had to be done. I "supervised", gave him his meds, cooked, scheduled and attended medical appointments, fed him some of his meals, dealt with medical care providers etc., but DF was much larger than I was, I had (have) a bad back, and I never would have been able to change diapers/ bathe him, etc.
 
MarieIG said:
With my parents, it was more like come-and-go symptoms of dementia, but there was no definitive diagnosis. After some time, I came to realize DF's symptoms were indicative of a UTI, and DM got confused when she was on a heavy dose of meds.

We were able to keep DF at home, but even when he got confused he was never mean. His face always lit up when he saw me. Also, he couldn't run away as he lost the ability to walk. Importantly I had enormous support from DH and DS#3 who moved in with DF. And we also hired a home health aide (trained in the Philippines as a nurse) so his physical needs were met. So basically there were always two strong men around to do what had to be done. I "supervised", gave him his meds, cooked, scheduled and attended medical appointments, fed him some of his meals, dealt with medical care providers etc., but DF was much larger than I was, I had (have) a bad back, and I never would have been able to change diapers/ bathe him, etc.
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Glad you were able to take care of your DF the way you did. I hope my DD (all I have left of my family) will be there for me when the time comes, if necessary.

At ROMEO coffee this morning (early, of course on Sunday), I heard the plan for him (Earl, in the hospital), is a skilled care facility for a couple of weeks, then a local assisted living facility. Here in The Woodlands, we have a couple of pretty nice ones so it will be close by for his DW to help and be with him on an ongoing basis.
 
OMG, getting old is no fun!
 
AJA, so many people quit visiting once someone is very sick or has dementia. It’s a real gift for them to have a visit from a friend. Even once my friend with dementia didn’t know who I was I kept going. I would sit with her and hold her hand and it was comforting for her. I felt like her soul knew I was there for her.
 
street said:
That is so true! Health is really everything. I have seen many elderly people that have fallen and broke something. It always seemed like the start of the end. A sad thing to say but I believe in a lot of cases it holds true.
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Agree
 
Teacher Terry said:
AJA, so many people quit visiting once someone is very sick or has dementia. It’s a real gift for them to have a visit from a friend. Even once my friend with dementia didn’t know who I was I kept going. I would sit with her and hold her hand and it was comforting for her. I felt like her soul knew I was there for her.
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Toward the end, my mom often thought I was her brother. I'm sure a visit from her "brother" was just as comforting as from her son. Agree that visits are important.

Because I visited often I was there when both my parents had their final moment of clarity. I don't understand it, but they both had a day when almost all of their memories were clear and they could communicate rationally. I wouldn't have missed those days for anything.

I was the one who was blessed by the visit.
 
Koolau said:
Toward the end, my mom often thought I was her brother. I'm sure a visit from her "brother" was just as comforting as from her son. Agree that visits are important.

Because I visited often I was there when both my parents had their final moment of clarity. I don't understand it, but they both had a day when almost all of their memories were clear and they could communicate rationally. I wouldn't have missed those days for anything.

I was the one who was blessed by the visit.
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This is not that unusual for a person to have one good day shortly before they die. This happened with my dad and it’s definitely a gift.
 
I thought about this thread after I fell while trying to get into our bathtub a day ago. As I fell, my face hit the tub's faucet. I was stunned and it took a few minutes to assess the situation. I thought I broke some teeth but they were intact (whew!). My lower lip was a bit bloody. There was a slight pain in my right wrist. But that was it. I was ok although I still have a bruised lip. I am definitely going to be more careful around the tub, and in general.
 
My youngest niece is getting married in 2 weeks' time and I am flying back for her wedding (20+ hour flight). My brother, who is her father, had been texting me about the upcoming trip and today my sister-in-law using my brother's account, let me know that he had fallen and hit his head and has since been in the hospital under observation. He is 73 yo and has been very healthy up to this point, normal blood pressure, normal cholesterol and a little underweight. No meds at all. He just quit smoking several years ago after trying for more than 50 years. We are a little worried.
 
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robnplunder said:
I thought about this thread after I fell while trying to get into our bathtub a day ago. As I fell, my face hit the tub's faucet. I was stunned and it took a few minutes to assess the situation. I thought I broke some teeth but they were intact (whew!). My lower lip was a bit bloody. There was a slight pain in my right wrist. But that was it. I was ok although I still have a bruised lip. I am definitely going to be more careful around the tub, and in general.
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So glad you're (more or less) okay. Time to put in the hand rails. I wouldn't be without them any more.
 
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