Let me set the scene: Last Sunday night. Outside. Alone. Dog is tangled. Go out with no cane. Lose balance. Yeah, not fun.
Last week it was time for last call. Oscar the Beagle got his chain tangled around his leg so I went out to help him. I never thought anything of it. I’ve probably done that hundreds of times.
I don’t know if I was tired (It was almost 11:00pm), or if I just got overconfident, but as I stepped around him my foot went into an uneven part of my yard and I suddenly had no balance. It’s almost like I can see it in slow motion: I felt myself falling backwards with nothing to grab on to.
I realized that falling on my back was probably not a good idea since I’d probably hit my head so I twisted myself and landed on my left side. I quickly rolled on over onto my stomach and took a quick inventory: “All right, nothing seems broken.”
That’s when my “fall recovery” kicked in. Three years ago when I was at Southeast Rehab at Charlton Memorial Hospital, one of my physical therapists had taught me “fall recovery.” She said I couldn’t go home until I learned it. I specifically remember Mackenzie telling me, ” It’s not IF you’ll fall, but WHEN you’ll fall.” Well, this was my WHEN.
I was able to make it on to my knees and then I was able to go to one knee and then force my way up. My back up plan was to crawl near my Jeep and then lift myself up by bracing myself against it, but I was able to stand.
I’m very lucky as I seemed to make it through the ordeal with just pulled muscles in my chest and groin that I probably got as I twisted. Mandatory rest time here I come.
I sent a message to Mackenzie the next day: “So the next time you have a patient that says, “I don’t need to learn fall recovery” you can say, “Funny thing about that….” I went on to say, “I hated the day we practiced that, but it certainly helped. Thanks again!”
About a half hour later she wrote, “Oh no! I’m glad you were able to get up safely. I hate to say “I told you so” but this is the ultimate “I told you so.”
So yeah..it happens. You might want to make sure you or your loved one knows what to do.
The first thing I always stress is to have your cellphone on you. Always. Yes, I had mine. I could have used it to call a neighbor to help if I was really in trouble. The trick is to get yourself onto your knees so you can crawl to a sturdy piece of furniture in the house or, as I said, I could have used my Jeep if I needed it. Don’t grab onto any piece of furniture that could tip over. If you can’t crawl on your hands and knees, try to place a towel or another cloth under your knees and maybe you can slide across the floor to something you can pull yourself up with.
Most of all, don’t panic. You got yourself into this situation, you can figure a way out of it. What are your options? I had a few that night but I also had learned some very good lessons in my rehab.
It was a wake up call for me. I have made some great progress since my stroke three years ago, but I still need to be extra careful. I learned that….again.
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