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I have now had two tumbles this week alone. I call them tumbles rather than falls. Generally, I fall backwards.
Two or three weeks ago, I said to the kids just to let me do what I do, rather than molly-coddle me. That eventually I would break something, and then perchance I would listen. I haven't broken anything yet, and both these falls were at home.
Take the fall today. I had a basket of autumn leaves in my arms and was walking up three steps to get to the Green-Bin. The first step was okay because I took it with my left foot, but the second step I took with my right foot, causing me to rear backwards. The basket of leaves fell into the bed of primulas, as I rolled sideways to the edge of the garden and over the three foot high wall. I am getting seasoned at this, and realise that it is my head I do not want to bang. Somehow I keep the roll tumbling until I tumble no further. Fair took the wind out of me though.
And removed more layers of skin from the underneath of both lower arms, banging both my ankle and my right shin-bone. This latter was the bit that hurt the most.
What I should have done, was what I did for the rest of the afternoon. Never go up steps leading with my right leg. Always lead with the left, which slows the process down AND my left side is not as impacted as my right. And to think it was only sometime Saturday afternoon that I was contacted by my neurologist, Michael, to come back into Royal Prince Alfred [RPA] to talk to him about both my cough and my increasing deafness. I think he has forgotten that he gave me something for the cough last time, which has made minimal difference. I am not sure that much can be done with my hearing, because the deafness is caused by my brain [ganglia really], rather than my ears alone. Besides, hearing aides are atrocious items that make you hear EVERYTHING!
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6 comments:
Well...you DO like to keep life interesting!
New experiences with tuck and roll or flail and roll.
When I was a teenager I had epilepsy.
I had heard stories of my great aunt who worked at the Epileptic Home at Bailey Henderson Mental Hospital - they had a special home for them??!!
And because we occasionally frequented the mental hospital (my grandfather and uncle worked there) I would see people wearing helmets. "What's that all about?" I asked my Mum. Ah well, they have fits and fall over and bang their heads. So I was seriously freaking out when I had my first seizure - I thought I'd have to wear a helmet all the time! But the thing that really pissed me off was I couldn't have baths anymore coz I might drown!
Life's a weird old thing, isn't it?
The things that can go awry with these bodies of ours.
If you do indeed need a helmet - can I suggest one of these - they have the best designs!
http://www.nutcasehelmets.com.au/collections/all
There are so many serious issues in your comment, Letty, that it makes me wonder why I chuckled all the way through it.
More to come ...
oh, julie, you seem to have tumbled down into the mother of all rabbit holes. keep an eye out for the queen. she doesn't have a sense of humor.
Don't you just love Letty's links :-)
Now for the falling, I don't know how you cope. I have fallen a few times in recent years and I am a wreck for a week and need visits to the chiropractor to straighten me out. Just make sure you stay well away from cliff edges when you walk .. I fell on a bush walk once and was saved by a tree from something far worse than the sprained ankle I ended up with.
As for those hearing aids. They reckon I need one but when they put one in to show me the benefits I figured I was hearing much more than I wanted to so am putting it off.
Joan, I will say that the younger one does the hearing-aid thing, the more successful the venture will be. With me, I never intend to have hearing aids.
I suffer from quite loud tinnitus, and the dissonance would be insurmountable.
... *chuckle* ...
Julie—
I know what falling is like. With my compromised sight, I am forever tripping over things, so I empathize.
My sister-in-law has tinnitus, but wears hearing aids, so I suspect the technology has advanced sufficiently that you might, maybe, perhaps change your mind.
And you're right. Take stairs slowly. Go up one, leading with the correct foot, bring up the other foot, then stop, then repeat.
Boring and old-ladyish, right? Yes, but saves us lots of pain and shorn skin.
As for helmets, there are some great ones at that link, including some clearance-priced ones. And a shirt that says "I love my brain" on the back. I know it's hard to love a brain that's betraying you, but, as some of my friends say, "Fake it til you make it."
Or maybe you can get a helmet that says "I left my motorcycle on the other street"!
Luv, K
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