Community Chat

[MaggieToo]

Oh, Mama Mia,

I know exactly how you feel. I carry my cell phone with me everywhere in case I fall and can't find a place to pull myself up. I can get up using a chair or something, but up without any help, no way. Only showers here, too. Can't get out of a tub. I used to really like to lie in the bath and relax.

You take care. Glad someone was there to help you...

[tansy]

On 4/27/2014 NoelSeven said:

On 4/27/2014 tansy said: Was there a reason you fell, Noel, like uneven pavement? After a fall from a bike that earned me a shoulder replacement and another fall, I am way too scared of falling again:/

Hi tansy

No good reason, lol. I caught the tip of my toe on a curb that was higher than normal and went you-know-what over teakettle.

Oh, man... your fall sounds awful. A shoulder replacement! Geez, that had to have hurt you a lot, and then surgery! Are you basically OK now? No residual pain, I hope.

That thing we get of fear of falling is awful. It makes sense, we're kind of always on our guard, but I really hate feeling like that.

It's been almost six years now and my range of motion is still not optimal but continues to improve. I do have pain and shakiness if I use the arm too much on any given day but it's much better than it was. I hate realizing how quickly life can change-- the vulnerability.

[tansy]

Sigh...another DP.

[scotttie]

Oh yes, Mama Mia. I have certainly done things and then said "WHY DID I DO THAT??" Most recent was putting one foot out of the shower to grab a hair product and then of course when I got back in I fell.

That is the part of aging that is the worst. Sickness and not able to do what we want when we want.

Perhaps you just need to take it a little slower and make sure dh is close by.

[ShowMe]

On 4/27/2014 Mama Mia said:

On 4/27/2014 ShowMe said:

On 4/27/2014 Mama Mia said:

At least i know I am not alone.

Showme, what a mess you were in, it is scary too, and I am glad you were able to get up. Frustrating that's for sure and I hate it. Can't take a bath anymore because I can't get out of the tub, again, no strength.

<br />

mm

I don't take baths any more either......only showers. Have a fantastic mat down on the tub floor, and it is long enough that I can walk back and forth to get under the shower water. I do need to get one of those handle things though. Am thinking I will have the owner/landlord install it for me. Also, I do take my cell phone in the bathroom with me and put it on the toilet seat lid......that way I could reach it from the tub area if I needed it. Don't think the man upstairs from me would be of any help to me one bit.

Stay safe and keep up the good work you have done this far.

Now Showme, the man upstairs might be delighted to help you out!! Just teasing.

We have a shower chair, with one of those extended shower heads, that you pull down. i like it, but never in my life thought I would need one. DH too. But here we are.

mm

Mama.....does your shower chair have handles on it????? Have wondered if I should get one. I do have a shower massager, but it is one that is permanent.....

No, guess none of us ever thought this would be happening to us. And, we wonder why we are out of sorts some of the time.......and people then start on us when we are having one of those days. Maybe we should all stop and think before we post that way to someone....... We have no idea what the other person is feeling like on any given day.

[scotttie]

Well said, ShowMe.

[kittymomNC]

On 4/27/2014 NoelSeven said:

On 4/27/2014 Mama Mia said:

On 4/27/2014 NoelSeven said:

On 4/27/2014 Mama Mia said:

Thanks all, for sharing.

Noel

mm

I feel terrible for you, MM. I have a pretty good idea what you went through, I had a similar thing happen at the end of last year.

Long story short, I fell in the street in front of a restaurant. I didn't find out until later that it was a very bad fall. My daughter was already inside and DH was parking the car. I was all by myself, laid out. My faith in mankind was restored when people ran to help, one was a nurse. MY FAVORITE PEOPLE, NURSES! LOL. Two teenage girls ran to find my daughter, and a security guard wanted to call an ambulance. I needed help getting up, my knee was really ripped from hitting the curb.

It's really scary when something like that happens and you're all alone. (((((MM)))))

OMG! Noel, what a fall you took, you never said on here that i recall Thank goodness there are good people in this world to help you out. Did you hit your head too, I hope not.

(((((((Noel)))))

mm

Thanks you I hadn't mentioned it before, MM. I did not hit my head, thank God. I did some damage to the knee, but it almost never bothers me walking. I did end up with a night in the hospital for a reaction called "costcocondritis." Super pain in the tissue between the ribs, so bad, it's difficult to breathe. I'd never heard of it before. But that's gone now and the knee is tolerable with Ibuprofin and Tylenol.

I'll tell you though, I am afraid of falling now. Have you felt that? I really don't like that feeling.

Noel, I don't know many people who have any idea what costocondritis is, and I'm sorry you experienced it. I had it three weeks after my Mom passed away, following 5 months of surgery, radiation, etc. for a brain tumor. I thought I was having a heart attack, and a co-worker took me to my cardiologist's office. That's when he told me that was what I had. It can sometimes be caused by prolonged stress, and he said once you've had it, you are more prone to having it again. I hope you don't. I've had it a number of times since, to varying degrees, and now usually take aspirin for a few days and it takes care of it. I've taken a few falls, but so far nothing that required treatment. I certainly understand how anyone who has had a really bad fall can be afraid of it happening again.

[sophiamarie]

I also have costochondritis, which started after my heart attack. It's an inflammation of the rib cage and the pain (to me) is more annoying than it is scary, since I know it's not a heart attack. I don't take anything for it and it goes away in a few hours. I haven't had an episode for many months now.

I also fell 5 months ago. I was wearing flip-flops, dancing around with my dog and my right toe got caught in my left heel and I couldn't get out of it. I fell flat on my a/$$ right in the middle of the living room. My husband was about 15 ft. away from me and he ran over to me, grabbed me by my wrists and pulled me straight up in a standing position. I had a little pain in my right femur which I thought was normal.

By the next day, we decided to call the doctor, who told me to go to the ER for x-rays. The x-ray didn't show any break, so they did a CT scan, which also didn't show any break. They sent me home with a paper saying it was a contusion and could take days or even weeks to heal.

Eleven days later, I wasn't feeling any better, so another call to the doctor. He told me to go back to the ER and get an MRI, which showed I had a femoral neck fracture. He was already in the ER doing paper work, and called the Ortho Surgeon. I was admitted and that evening he inserted 3 titanium screws in my femur, up through the femoral neck into the ball head. I was discharged the next day (Thanksgiving Day)...... I was followed up by the Ortho the following week, then a month later, then I just had my 3 month follow-up. He said it looks like I am healed already and to come back in 6 months. This is my story and I'm stickin' to it.......

My husband also installed safety bars in my shower and tub. We just can't be too careful.

[Shorty2U]

Im so glad your husband was around to help you. I can relate. I get upset too not being able to do what I used to. (mainly dancing!). I have a bad back and try to do things all the time I shouldn't be doing. Ive already got on my knees to try to garden and got stuck too. lol. But I crawled to the porch and grabbed hold and finally got up. So yes I do dumb things all the time too.

[NoelSeven]

On 4/27/2014 tansy said:

On 4/27/2014 NoelSeven said:

On 4/27/2014 tansy said: Was there a reason you fell, Noel, like uneven pavement? After a fall from a bike that earned me a shoulder replacement and another fall, I am way too scared of falling again:/

Hi tansy

No good reason, lol. I caught the tip of my toe on a curb that was higher than normal and went you-know-what over teakettle.

Oh, man... your fall sounds awful. A shoulder replacement! Geez, that had to have hurt you a lot, and then surgery! Are you basically OK now? No residual pain, I hope.

That thing we get of fear of falling is awful. It makes sense, we're kind of always on our guard, but I really hate feeling like that.

It's been almost six years now and my range of motion is still not optimal but continues to improve. I do have pain and shakiness if I use the arm too much on any given day but it's much better than it was. I hate realizing how quickly life can change-- the vulnerability.

Absolutely!