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#Post#: 4027--------------------------------------------------
Another fall
By: agate Date: May 17, 2023, 1:24 am
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I had a couple of rather bad falls a couple of years ago but
they were the first falls in 5 years. Today I had another one.
Luckily so far there is no damage that requires medical
attention but I have a bump and a cut or scrape on my forehead,
a swollen and bruised left thumb, and a swollen and painful
right foot that gets in the way of walking, but there's the
rollator, and there's also the wheelchair.
Why did this fall happen?
Because I was being stupid and trying to do too much. Some
people don't ever learn.
I knew that some plants would be delivered today, the rest of
the annuals that are destined for the patio. I wanted to be up
to dealing with them and had decided to take it easy for much of
the day.
But then I realized that I really didn't need all of the flour I
have in containers around here. It's been there for two years,
and I haven't used any flour for anything in about 12 years. So
in a fit of tidiness I tossed it out and cleaned the 3 glass
containers they had been in.
Then I remembered I needed to mop the floors. So I did that.
Then I remembered that I hadn't really cleaned the "surround"
that forms a sort of wall around the bathtub/shower. I took off
my shoes and stood in the tub with a rag and some Windex. It
didn't take long and I was very happy that that neglected job
had been done.
So happy that I forgot something about the bathtub. Its floor is
at a different level from the bathroom floor. It is higher. You
have to remember that when you step out of the bathtub, you will
be stepping down. I know this so well that it's ridiculous. I
even had a discussion with a neighbor once years ago about it,
and she was saying how hard it was to get in and out of the
bathtub on that account. So it's a feature of all tubs in this
building. Why they did that I don't know.
So I was probably turning somewhat while I exited the bathtub,
forgetting about the drop, and went sprawling. I don't know what
I hit--maybe the bathroom scales as it was in the wrong place
after I fell, and I must have knocked it.
For a wonder, I wasn't too dazed that I was unable to get up. I
sat there for long enough to evaluate the situation, then found
that I was bleeding, but was able to get up and tend to the
wound, more or less.
Later on I improved on the bandaging. The swelling was quite
dramatic but now, thanks to some icepacks, it is much better and
the bruises on my face are, well, interesting.At least the
bandaid and my hair can cover up the worst of it.
That's my story for today. Everything has been slowed down to a
snail's pace for now, and so I haven't found anything to post on
here today except for this chapter of "My MS Journey" or
whatever the book title should be.
#Post#: 4032--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another fall--update
By: agate Date: May 22, 2023, 1:17 am
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It's been 5 days since that fall, and life goes along more
slowly than usual with a thumb in a splint and a foot hobbled by
swelling and pain, as well as the need to attend to changing the
head BandAid.
The bruising keeps spreading but the swelling is down
considerably, everywhere.
And most of all, I keep feeling better. But I tire easily and
can't do as much as I usually do.
I'm keeping an eye on the wound and have made some plans for
getting to medical care if an infection starts up.
I'm making a sign to hang on my bathtub wall, maybe from the
shower head--somewhere where I can't fail to see it. It will say
WATCH STEP and mention that the drop is 5 inches.
#Post#: 4035--------------------------------------------------
Another update
By: agate Date: May 25, 2023, 1:22 am
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It's been over a week now. My thumb still requires a splint.
Otherwise it's too painful. But I have a gadget for doing and
undoing buttons that is helping with that task. It is like this
but without the zipper hook:
[img]
HTML https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0132/6854/9696/products/buttonhookforarthritisaidshelpbuttoningforseniors_designingdetailsofthebuttonhook.jpg?v=1665823647&width=1445[/img]
My foot is less swollen but new bruises keep popping out, even
now. At least I'm not hobbling as much as I was.
The face bruises are still very much there--maybe turning more
purple than blue-black in places. I'm still wearing sunglasses
when among people.
The bump is almost as big as ever but the wound bleeds less, and
I put Bacitracin on it every day after cleaning it, and then a
new Bandaid goes on. It's hard to find a Bandaid the right size
but I'm working on it.
I made the sign today and hung it from the showerhead. It says:
WATCH STEP - 5" ↓ DROP
#Post#: 4041--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another fall
By: agate Date: May 31, 2023, 1:58 am
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And another update for this fascinating saga:
Today marks the 2-week point. Two weeks ago I fell, and I have a
way to go still towards recovery.
The head bump appears to be something called a scalp hematoma,
and according to Dr. Google it takes quite a while to heal,
maybe 4 weeks. Every day I change the bandage but it still wants
to bleed a little. This is a concern but I'm watching it. And
adding Bacitracin every time I change the bandage. The bump is
still an inch and a half wide but has gone down considerably.
The face bruising is much much better. Soon I might be able to
go around in public without the sunglasses I've been wearing to
conceal some of the bruises.
My left thumb is still in a splint most of the time. If it's out
of the splint for a while, it gets painful.
The really good news is that my right foot is almost free of
bruises and not hurting much at all. It does tend to buckle
suddenly though.
And now there is a weird lower back pain. It comes and goes. It
can be depended on to hit me if I try to bend over.
I have new (diabetic) shoes that have laces. I haven't used
shoelaces in some years, and now I'm finding that I can't bend
over enough to lace them. I'm going to have to ask about a
different type of shoe. There is a 30-day trial period on the
shoes.
That is my update. In general I'm tiring less easily. I take
Tylenol a couple of times a day and have stopped taking aspirin
for now.
I'd like to think that by now I've got through this fall without
having to go for medical attention, but have to admit I'm not
out of the woods until that wound looks a little better.
Since there is probably nobody reading this, I'm just running
off at the mouth here--and the post will be here as a sort of
record for my reference.
#Post#: 4045--------------------------------------------------
And again an update
By: agate Date: June 4, 2023, 2:23 am
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I can tell how ultra-fascinating this thread is by the number of
page views it doesn't have. Nonetheless, I'll persevere--with
yet another update.
There was a routine podiatrist's appointment on Friday, and
while I was there, the podiatrist wanted to Xray my injured
foot. A metatarsal bone was found to have a break. And here I'd
thought it was healing up nicely, what with the swelling and
bruising almost gone after two weeks.
The effects of a fall can go on and on.
As of now, the foot is in a walking boot for a month, to give it
a chance to heal better. My left thumb is still in a splint. My
face is still bruised but today was the first day I felt it
would be all right to go out into the world without sunglasses
hiding my purplish face. There's some bruising left but it's not
nearly as noticeable as it was.
I have a strange pain in my lower back that comes on in a
stabbing way when I try to lean over at certain angles.
I still have another strange pain in my left arm that is there
on some days worse than others.
The head bump is smaller. It still looks fairly ugly but is
bandaged at all times. I treat it with a new bandage daily after
cleaning it and putting some Bacitracin on it. The really good
news here is that it has been two days with no actual bleeding.
It is at last showing signs of healing.
There are some exercises involving tiptoes that I can't do for a
month. Buttoning anything is hard but I have a buttoning gadget
that helps. I have some problems with shoes and socks (reaching
them) on account of the back pain but there are work-arounds.
#Post#: 4046--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another fall
By: agate Date: June 5, 2023, 1:42 am
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This fall, which should not have happened, has been a wake-up
call for me. I had been trying to pare down my life lately,
getting rid of things I no longer need. But the fall prompted
still more simplification.
It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been trying to do too
much. So I'm cutting out still more.
Once a month someone from a local charity calls me to see if I
want a free food box that month. I always accept one of these,
and when it comes I have to sort through the food that has been
brought. There's almost never any food that I can use, and I
usually have plenty of food around here anyway, but it's
something I can do for the building, which has residents who are
just scraping by.
Once a month there is a "free table," where residents put things
they no longer want or need. I always put the free food out
there for them.
However, doing this involves several trips down the hall
balancing canned and packaged foods on my rollator, arranging
the items on a table, and then making sure they all get removed
by the end of the weekend. They always disappear by then but if
they didn't, I would be responsible for removing them.
Waiting for the delivery and waiting for that call are two
responsibilities I can do without at this point. Transporting
the food is also a task I don't really need to be doing. Other
people here get these food boxes and contribute items to the
free table. I've done this now for a couple of years. It's time
I took a break, maybe a permanent break.
There are also people here who are hoarders, and they are the
ones who come along as soon as that food appears, snap it up and
hoard it. These are people who don't really need the food, more
often than not, but they can't pass up anything free.
And so people who might really need the food aren't getting it
anyway, thanks to the greed of some of their neighbors.
And I realized I no longer use flour, even though all my life
I've kept it in my kitchen as a staple. It was one of the things
no kitchen should be without, or so it is said in cookbooks.
I used it often for baking in the past but I haven't done any
baking in about 15 years. So I recently tossed out about 5
pounds of flour that was a couple of years old. I even tossed
out a couple of glass containers with sealable lids that I
always kept the flour in.
Disposing of the flour freed up an entire shelf in the kitchen.
The more clutter I have around me, the harder I have to work to
get at things I need. It takes time and energy to rummage. When
I've expended too much time and energy, I'm apt to fall.
"Simplify, simplify." Thoreau may have said that.
#Post#: 4057--------------------------------------------------
Re: Another fall--another update
By: agate Date: June 14, 2023, 1:50 am
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It's been 4 weeks since the fall.
It doesn't cheer me to learn that Fosamax, the osteoporosis drug
I began taking about 6 weeks ago, actually causes some of the
fractures it's meant to prevent. I don't want to think about
that just now.
At this point the head bump swelling is gone but the bandage is
still there, replaced daily, because the wound hasn't completely
healed.
Most bruising is gone from my face.
The thumb is now out of the splint for longer and longer periods
of time.
As for the walking shoe, I still have to wear it for about 3
more weeks.
I was also having lower back pain and left arm pain. Both of
these have calmed down considerably.
Tincture of time may be the best solution for many injuries due
to falls.
#Post#: 4118--------------------------------------------------
The fall, after 2.5 months
By: agate Date: August 10, 2023, 1:45 am
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The fall was on May 16, and if anyone wants some advice from
someone who's had MS for quite a while, here it is.
1 - You might want to avoid taking aspirin on a regular basis
for arthritis pain, inflammation, and stiffness, as I was doing.
I'm not taking it any more.
2 - Don't be surprised if it takes longer to get over a fall
than you think it should.
3 - Expect to have some MS problems flare up for quite a while
after a fall.
The bruising on my face still isn't completely gone. There are
blue-gray rings around my eyes. They weren't there before. I can
hope they'll go away.
The foot injury hasn't healed, the podiatrist says, and he says
to ignore it so long as it isn't causing problems. It isn't.
It's just a very mild pain sometimes, with a bit of swelling on
the top of that foot.
I was able to do without the head bandaid as of a couple of
weeks ago, and I dispensed with the "walking shoe" a week ago.
I've been thinking about bathtub modifications that might be
possible to prevent future falls but so far nothing has
suggested itself.
The bathtubs in this building are set too low but they have one
wonderful feature that I would hate to lose. They have a
built-in nonskid surface. It is easy to clean and hasn't
discolored yet. It is far superior to the nonskid stick-ons I
used years ago on another bathtub.
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