Posted on Fat Tuesday, 2020 (2/25)
Well, I had a different piece pre-written (about Mardi Gras) in my melon this morning until I got the word that mom had fallen last night. It would seem odd to the unfamiliar (like me 2 years ago) that a person couldn’t be at least somewhat fall-free while spending most non-bed hours in a wheelchair, but I have learned that it is completely an individual experience. Some patients try to get up relentlessly. One of the Sweet 17 did that so many times it was hard to be around when she was in the room. First there are the blitzkrieged nerves of watching and waiting for her to fall, not unlike watching a newly walking toddler navigating around in a glass art gallery. If that mode of anxiety doesn’t whet your whistle, there is always the screeching whistle that goes off alerting the nurses, and everyone in the Midwest, that the patient is trying to get out of the chair. Throw in a little anger at the restrictions from the patient and we have a real Mardi Gras parade party going on.
The alternative to the above mentioned Fat (lip) Tuesday is a few months before they are “confined” to a wheelchair when they are using a walker or a cane. As I have written before, the smaller they are, the harder they seem to fall. Walkers in a walker or with a cane fall at a harder speed/angle and tend to get hurt more. Look at my posts a year ago…many have mom with a shiner or a knot on her head. Bottom line: It is nice to have them walking if they can walk, but the potential danger of falling from a higher vantage point outweighs the value of the exercise (in my uneducated opinion). I know that they gain weight and lose stamina in a chair compared to walking, but they simply cannot endure the falls well. You can certainly exercise in a chair, even with a damaged brain. Lots of the Sweet 17 are fit enough to throw a ball around the room to each other while in their chairs. BUT, falling happens. 🙁
Oh, mobility. Such a freedom we take for granted. 🙁 One more of many…
I will let you know tomorrow what I find out.
#EndALZ
Weight Watchers (WW) update: lost 4.8 more for a total nearing 25 pounds since 1/20. It will level out soon to a comfy 2 pounds a week, but this is a nice run…