By AMY SHANKLAND
Sandwiched
Last Sunday morning, I got a call from my mom’s assisted living facility – something that always makes my heart drop in fear. After hearing the nurse’s greeting, I asked my usual question – “Is everything okay?”
She quickly assured me that Mom was fine. However, she had raised her power recliner too high, causing her to fall out of it. Mom pushed her notification button and was quickly rescued. The nurse reassured me that she was okay and more embarrassed than anything. I texted my siblings to let them know about the incident but reassured them that Mom was fine.
It took me awhile to stop shaking. Mom’s not been quite as lucky with her falls in the past. The worst one left her with a shattered femur in 2013. She had to spend seven months in a rehabilitation facility up in Mishawaka.
In fact, I was due to go up to Mishawaka that very afternoon. My great-nephew was having his graduate open house. I debated about checking on Mom first, but my husband reassured me he would see how she was doing when he visited her that day. John was going to use FaceTime to connect Mom with family and friends during the open house.
After I got to the party and chatted with people for a while, many of them who had heard about the incident through my sister, it was time to call John. I saw Mom’s smiling face and passed my phone around so people could talk to her.
Naturally, the first thing everyone said was “Hi! Are you okay? I heard you fell.” To which Mom replied, “No, I didn’t fall.”
According to my husband, the more people asked her this question, the more irked she became. For some odd reason, Mom truly believed she didn’t fall. I guess this was a good thing!
When I came home that evening and told John I’d be taking Mom for a blood draw on Tuesday, the first thing he said was, “Don’t you dare ask how she’s doing after her fall!” We had a good chuckle over it and I was relieved to see Mom that morning looking and feeling just fine.
We were lucky last Sunday. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, falls are the leading cause of injury-related visits to emergency departments in the United States. They are the primary cause of accidental deaths in persons over the age of 65 years.
I’m sharing this because, as members of the sandwich generation, we need to do all we can to help our elderly parents prevent falls. The CDC, Mayo Clinic, National Institute on Aging, and other institutes have excellent suggestions and resources to guide us.
We can also help ourselves avoid falls in the future, including working on our balance and our core strength through various exercises. I do a lot of this through my hoop dancing.
Hopefully, we can keep our loved ones and ourselves “fall free” and live long, happy lives!