When I entered her rehab room for the first time, I saw a nice sign by the entrance.
It was a beautiful color photograph of autumn leaves with a message printed on it. But its message wasn't about autumn.
It declared that the occupant of the room (my mother in law) was at risk for falling.
Just in case this message needed to be reinforced, my mother in law was wearing a hospital like bracelet with large lettering. The lettering said:
Falling Risk.
That is what my mother in law was, to the staff of this rehab - this woman who raised four children, one of them developmentally disabled, cooked, cleaned, did generous things for friends. The woman who has lived self-sufficiently as a widow for over 15 years.
Because it's true. She's fallen many times before. Falling was a part of growing old. It couldn't be helped. One day you would get sick and die. Or you would fall and die.
Now, my generation wants to prevent falling where we can.
We hope that falls prevention classes like the one I took helps us avoid that fate. Doctors do fall assessments on older patients. Those that are at risk have their needs addressed.
Now, using my knowledge, I hope I can help break the falling cycle with my mother in law. But first, we'll see what her rehab work has done after she is released today.
Wish us both luck.
I hope MIL recovers. I understand about the falling. My grandmother fell in the tub when she was in her 70's and landed in the hospital. It is really difficult as you get older.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that's not all that you mother-in-law is to them. The falling risk band is to alert the staff. Falling is a big concern to health care workers. (I remember my mother went in for surgery once, and she got one of those bands. It was quite funny, because at the time she was in charge of the falling stuff for the hospital.)
ReplyDeleteI hope other people learn from your experience with your mother in law. It's so worrying to see people aging and becoming frail. And yet, that's a part of the great cycle of life. We don't want to admit that each and every one of us will succumb, if an accident doesn't take is our beforehand. I wish we could just live a strong and healthy life until we slip away in our sleep one night.
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