Not So Free Falling

Red blood stains the white sweater at the elbow of an elderly woman. She just took a spill outside the café where I’m picking up my lunch salad.

I ask her companion, a middle-aged man, who’s getting a bag of ice from the inside staff, if I should fetch my first aid kit from the car.

“No,” he says. “She’s got a huge scrape and I don’t think a band aid will help much.” He continues, “I’m taking her out to lunch today to talk about her falling. She’s 90 years old and very stubborn.” “I have an 85-year old mom,” I commiserate.  “It’s tough.” 

Fall – [intransitive] to suddenly stop standing

Synonyms: topple over, tumble over, keel over, fall down/over, go head over heels, go headlong, collapse, take a spill, pitch forward; trip, stumble, slip.

Falls are the leading cause of injury, death, and hospital admissions for older people.

When I ask how my mom’s friends are doing, she reports that so-and-so fell in the shower, out of bed, at the theater, walking into the restaurant, getting into the car, getting out of the car. 

My mom is a frequent faller.  Bruises and cuts, luckily no broken bones unless you count the time she took a nosedive (and broke her nose). It makes my heart stop.

Last fall she took, she lay on the floor for over an hour.  I called her and when she didn’t answer the phone, even though I knew she was home, I called the reception desk at her senior living complex, and asked them to go check on her.  They found her on the floor.

She refuses to wear her “alerting” device. She tells me, “I’ll just use my cell phone, if I fall.”  I repeatedly explain that she won’t be able to reach her cell phone when she is on the ground.

Why do old people fall so much? Impaired vision, lack of physical exercise, reactions to medications, diseases (Arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s), dehydration, hypotension, environmental hazards.  They get dizzy, unsteady, weak, and their spatial perception fails them.

“Drink lots of water, go to your exercise class, and wear the sensible shoes I bought you.  Think before you move. Be careful.”   This is my daily admonishment to my mom.

I hope that my words do not fall flat.