My Tumble

 

I have never used my walker except as a portable sitting place. Until this Friday, that is all I needed. When my knee became so painful that even limping along holding onto things around here did not work, I had Tommy get it out of the back of the Rogue. 

Saturday night, I slept for about two hours and then needed the walker. Remember, it has four wheels and a seat and backrest sort of thing. I don't remember what I did, maybe a drink of water, maybe I used computer, maybe I went to bathroom. But, I came back into my bedroom and wanted to get something from a clothes basket where I had folded clothes and had not put them in drawers. 

So, I pushed the walker up to the basket and bent over the seat part to retrieve the item I wanted. Well, that is where everything went sideways. I just cannot do justice to what happened next and all at once. I leaned too far as I was holding onto a rolly thing, started over, and barely touched the backrest. I screamed as I tried to get up and regain my balance. That never happened. I just kept going. I tumbled right over and rolling forward a bit. 

I landed with neck up against a chest of drawers, sort of on my side, sort of on my stomach and thoroughly tangled in the walker. It was just terrifying. I screamed on the way down. Once down, I yelled Tommy's name. He never alerts me that he has heard me no matter what. So, I panicked and kept screaming his name louder and louder and "help me." 

"What happened?" Just give me my phone. I called the police, told them I could not get up, to come help me. I could barely talk because of my position in the metal walker and head/neck against the furniture. 

I asked Tommy to help me get the walker off me. He just grabbed it and pulled, never allowing me to tell him what way to pull or allowing me to get out a leg, foot, or arm before he kept pulling. I was terrified I would get a scrape or cut that would be hard to heal. Wound care does not seem like somewhere I want to go, so I was screaming bloody murder at him. That was the most traumatic part of the whole ordeal.

He went to the front door and opened it to look out. He came back and said he could see lights at the park. The ambulance service moved into a building next to Senior Center building that is also in the park. 

I had landed on three or four clothes baskets, squashed them and undid any sorting or folding. Finally, after sort of throwing the baskets around after I pulled them from under me, I could sit up. But, I was up against a pink bin. Ugh!

Well, five guys piled into my room and asked what happened. I cannot get my feet under me enough to be pulled straight up. So, I directed them to take my boom box off the stool by my bed, put boom box on bed, and put stool beside me. Then, they pulled me up onto the stool. THEN, I could help lift myself to my feet. Once they saw me take a step or two, all five walked away. 

Tommy was talking to them as they went down the hall. Tommy told the guy he saw lights in the park and asked was that them. The guy told Tommy that they knew where the house was located because they saw him standing in the doorway. That made me laugh. How many people are standing in the doorway at 4:30 in the morning? 

By the way, Sluggy's tale of the stool traumatized me so that I will never get one of those. Mine is a homemade stool that I got at a yardsale for $1. The only thing wrong with this stool is that someone had gotten paint all over it and threw it in a trashpile by the road. I easily got the paint from the varnished stool. 

My neck tendons, both sides, hurt for several days. There were no scrapes on my legs or arms. My knee suffered no further injuries. Unlike my usual falling events, I did not hit my knees as the walker kept me off the floor. On Monday I noticed a lump on my midriff that was very painful. It got worse on Monday night, and I was concerned as to why I had developed a hard, painful lump. Today, I decided it must be from the handle of the walker.

Every day since, I have made a move to pick up things by bending over the walker. I never get to the bending part, just stop and think about what I am about to do. So far, I check myself and move the walker to one side. It only takes me once to realize I will hurt myself. Today, I am not using my walker at all. 

So, that is my tumble. I would not classify it as a fall, just like the time I fell off the bed, an incident brought on by the mattress sliding off the bed. And, I don't need advice on how to use a walker, thank you, or to be careful. I think it is dangerous to use as is my cane! 

I love the color. Someone at Tommy's church offered it up and I asked. So, it is mine.

Has one of the walkers with wheels and a seat ever seemed treacherous to use? 

Cullman Trip and Pain

 Thursday, we went to Cullman to get my mail. Since I had only had 1.5 hours sleep, I was ready to come home quickly. 

I wrapped a box of Reynolds Cooking Bags and gave them to my 92-yr-old friends. She is tired of cooking. They often go out and get a sandwich for lunch and family brings meals to them. They are not so feeble they cannot cook. The just plain don't want to cook! I can relate. That is why we use cooking bags. Well, actually, standing at the stove to cook is no longer possible. 

We also took soup/tuna cans for a mutual friend who collects them from many people and redeems them. We use few cans, so it takes about two months to even get a Publix bagful. This is her casino money, so I am not much invested in this enterprise. But, we do it because the elderly couple want to help her. 

When I told her I was coming in town and could we drop by to leave the cans. She said a nurse was with her. So, we did other things for an hour or so. When I told her we were ten minutes away, she said she wanted me to see her, how well she looked. 

OMG! She looked like she had been beat up with a huge purple knot about her eyebrow and deep purple bruises all along her face, collarbone, and chest. She had fallen off her bed ten days ago or five, forgot which. She had no idea how it happened. She made sure we knew she had never fallen off the bed before in her life. Her injuries were brutal. She said she looked so much better now. Of course, she went to the ER, not sure what they did but I can imagine test on her brain/head and stopped the bleeding.

She has also survived her second round of covid! Thankfully, she was negative today. It scared me to think I was even standing in the yard with a positive person. She said it was so sad and lonely spending Christmas Day alone in her house with her husband. I am quite sure her family brought food. I felt sorry for her the way she said it. 

Just as we were getting ready to go out the door today, something fell on my foot. The pain was so intense! And, I was bleeding. A lot! I wrapped a tissue around it and left. I put antibiotic on it. Keep your fingers crossed it does not get infected. I will probably lose a toe or worse! I am not kidding. I have wooden birds and wings to attach. These are made of 2x6 and are about a foot long. Well, one landed beak-down on my toe, just behind the nail. It was a bare wood cardinal that got me. You can imagine how heavy it was. I worry about wood being the agent that gouged into me. 

At Publix, I found more turkey breasts for $1.49/lb. and bought two, cheaper than bscb. They are in the refrigerator thawing right now. I need a thing to seal this food after it is cooked. Kraft Cheddar Cheese was $3 this week, so I got two. 

This state is a hotbed of covid, flu, and RSV. Today, I noticed more people were wearing masks, mostly older people. And, they were all wearing the kind with a valve--N95, I believe. 

As soon as we came home, I went to bed, but I could not sleep. So, I am up again, hoping to get sleepy enough to get a nap.

I am sitting amidst a bit of clutter I just put down around my chair, on table, on ottoman. Tommy has a similar clutter he has assembled. I told him we had to get this cleaned up and soon. I will not let this happen again. He agreed we should get it out of here. We just came home, so exhausted, not just lazy.

When we had Lynda over, I needed something to hold frilly toothpicks. I asked Tommy and he had nothing. Of course, he finds things he has forgotten he has. I told him something on the order of a shot glass would work. I did have pretty cut glass and pressed glass to use. But that is gone. Well, he came in with a tiny pimiento jar. It looked wonderful to me. I put a red, lacy, Christmas ribbon around it. It was perfect. The pretty ribbon came from an ugly wreath I ripped apart. So, saving a jar and ribbon worked for me. By next year, I will have a new cut or pressed glass tiny container. 

Today the temperature rose to 72F. I think they need it in Buffalo to melt some of the ice and snow. It is amazing to me that the temperature rose from 7F to 70s. 

Dinner: leftover turkey, pan of baked vegetables--carrots, broccoli, onions, potatoes, celery. I am cooking enough for two nights. Saturday will be sausage balls and something else.

It is late now, and some of the clutter is still here with me. I always take away stuff I have put in here instead of putting where it belongs. 

Do you ever use a common item for a really nice item? E.g., jar instead of cut glass...lol. 

Following the Drama, 424 % Increase

 About 4 pm yesterday, a couple missed their dog. Finally, they found it was in a storm drain in a pipe.  Tiger Lily is 14-yrs-old. Finally, at 11 pm the dog was freed from the 18-inch pipe. I was so stressed and shed a few tears. The news today covered the rescue and recovery. I was really afraid the dog might be so stressed physically that she would die. Another blogger was much closer to the action.

Another blogger had a comment that all the cough drops in Walmart in another city were sold out. There were no cough drops in the whole store. Well, I depend on Halls Mentholyptus to keep me well and get me well. I use them to keep sinuses clear when suffering from allergies. On Wednesday night, I told Tommy that we would not come home today until I found them and bought them. 

Publix was out of the kind I wanted but had plenty of everything else. Next, we went to CVS in the same parking lot. There, I bought two packages just to be sure I had plenty. The price has gone up and the number of drops has drastically dropped! 

Before--$0.98 Now--$3.19

Before--40 in bag Now--30 in bag

Before--2.5 cents each Now--10.6 cents each

Increase in price from Before to Now-- 424% !!!

Read that last again. It is astounding. 

Now, I wonder if the size/weight of the cough drop is less. 

Maybe the exorbitant price jump is because I bought the Halls at CVS. I have no idea. 

Maybe the problem is that I bought the bags of Halls Mentholyptus cough drops. Maybe another store would be not so expensive. 

The person who commented said she had to throw away her stash because the drops had become sticky. Sticky is not a real problem other than the fact the paper wrapper will not come off. Bummer when that happens. 

I got sick of the last five cough drops in a bag being ruined the next fall when I needed them. Sometimes it was 20 cough drops I had to toss. No, it is impossible to get the paper off. Once, I was desperate and put the sticky drop with residue of paper in my mouth and kept taking it out to pick bits of paper out of my mouth and off the drop! Early the next day, I did go out and buy more. 

Now, I take the whole unopened bag and stuff it into a quart Ball canning jar with a used canning lid and ring. The plastic lids are not air-tight or waterproof. Dropping in an oxygen absorber might work, too. No, that would dry them out too much. Two bags will fit into a quart jar. Now that there are fewer drops, three bags might fit.

Tommy worked so much today; I was worrying about wearing him out. He watered, carried in three cases of 24-pack water, repotted my yellow pansy into the bunny planter, peeled the last two carrots and the rest of the potatoes, moved all the dishes from left hand side of sink so I could wash color from my hair, put all dirty utensils on a pan for me over the dishwasher, emptied garbage twice into outdoor can, dragged the outdoor can to the road, and other stuff I cannot remember. It seemed he was up and busy all day. Some of these chores I had told him days ago I wanted him to do them, but he decided to do them all today. 

Planting the pansies was something I planned to do until I have been so ill. I do not need the air, pollen, the dust, anything to make me sick again. I told him why I needed him to do the gardening...lol. 

I sort of slept well last night and slept for almost 7 hours. I awoke in dire need of the inhaler and other meds and have overcome the desire for a nap all day. 

Wednesday was a day of deep blue skies and fluffy clouds. Thursday was very pleasant, around 80 and low humidity. I could handle many days like this. Trees are starting to shed a few leaves. Some are turning a paler shade of green, almost imperceptible. 

Thursday night, I baked two bscb, two carrots, and a puny bit of potatoes. The reason I baked only two bscb is because that is what was in the package I thawed. Tommy had zucchini with his meal. We have as leftovers--1 bscb, two tiny pieces of potato, squash, and zucchini. 

Does the Autumn air affect your breathing, asthma, or allergies? 

Have you had a hard time finding cough drops? Have you ever had cough drops get sticky? 

Lady Who Fell

Sunday, we went for a bit of a drive. I wanted to drive past where I thought the woman who fell lived. She was on the front porch, sitting, and waved when we stopped. The woman who came looking for her was mowing and continued. We yelled and another woman who was working in the yard came to us. She was struggling to walk. 

The woman who came to talk was her daughter and has CP. The one  who came to the woman after she fell was the best friend of daughter who just moved there. The other daughter who we have not seen lived there, too. So, it appears there was a house full of women. 

Her daughter said she was pretty well banged up. The elderly lady told her, "I guess I can't walk my dog any more. I suggested she just walk it around the yard. It's too bad a fall and the danger of another will now prevent her from getting out and walking. 

Even though I did not get my full sleep last night, after going out and to the grocery store, I did get a nap to fill out my quota. The dishes are washing and we washed out the lids to the glass bowls/container, the ones that snap on all four sides. The turkey is in the sink, nine pound one, to go into the oven in a minute.  I probably won't roast another turkey or breast until some time next week. 

So, that is my Sunday, mostly.

A Bad Fall

 Someone asked in comments how I am feeling today. I sort of feel better. Mostly, I am through with the antibiotic that makes me feel so crummy, so now I only have to deal with the sore throat and malaise from not being able to breathe. I have meds and inhalers for those. 

I did not take a nap yesterday. Today, I will because I only slept 4.5 hours last night and the night before, not enough. But, yesterday I did not want to take a nap at 7 pm when it hit me that I needed a nap. 

Today's goals are getting Tommy to take clothes to the washing machine. He doesn't mind but forgets. All the hanging and folding can be a bit much for me. Plus, I have another turkey to put in the oven. We are really enjoying the turkey breast, so much that I want one each week. Really, at the rate I bought these it would be cheap protein for the two of us. Those two things will occupy the whole day, off and on. 

Last night, we had turkey, sweet potatoes, and kale. I had gravy on my meat. That was scrumptious. It came from a jar and now I don't know what brand. That kale is gone and I won't be serving sweet potatoes until Thanksgiving. 

When we took a drive yesterday through a neighborhood. I was looking across a creek/ditch in this neighborhood at an ambulance and a fire truck when Tommy exclaimed, "Oh, that woman fell!" I looked up and saw a small woman on the ground. We pulled up and I got out to help her up. Her face was covered with blood. It was scary looking. She had her glasses in her hand and they were covered with blood, too. She was holding a leash and had a white dog, some sort of small dog. 

She had managed to get onto one knee after I reached her. I gave her a wad/stack of fast food napkins so she could wipe her face. As little strength as I have, I managed to help her up. She was very distraught, and I don't blame her. Tommy said her dog was under his car. The dog was very frightened. She would not come out for her owner. I figured she was afraid of me, so I retreated to the back of the car little by little. As soon as I was fully behind the car, the dog came out to her owner who grabbed her leash. 

Thankfully, traffic stopped in both directions and drivers were not impatient since we were in the lane going in the opposite direction. We had the whole road blocked. Someone who saw me struggling to walk and trying to help this woman got out to help. But, the woman was on her feet and I was cleaning blood. She insisted on walking, so we told her to walk in the street instead of the grass where she fell. We told her we would stay behind her so no one would run over her. 

As I got into the car, I saw a younger woman coming and not taking a walk. So, she got to her and held onto her. I have no idea if this other woman was a neighbor or relative, daughter I think. 

This woman who fell was walking off the road but right on the margin where road and grass meet. She said she stepped onto something that made her fall. Leaves obviously obscured whatever made her stumble. She fell onto the asphalt face first. She had a two-inch cut above her right eyebrow and another one-inch cut under her right eyebrow. It looked awful. I wonder if she has a huge bruise today. 

I tried not to get any blood on me, but doubt I was completely successful. I had gloves in the car thanks to Covid. Residential areas need sidewalks, but the South is not known for being walkable. I doubt this woman will ever be allowed to take a walk again. 

Tommy uses his clean travel pillow all the time. He still switches it off for the dirty dog bone pillow. I mentioned washing it two years ago and he yelled about it forever. I mentioned washing it the other day and he just looked at me and made noises of assent. So, I need to get out the lingerie bag for him to wash it. 

Okay, it is still about 9 am. I have waited an hour and can eat. All I want to eat is turkey! But, I will get a boiled egg instead. 

Picture This

 I was walking past groceries on the floor and sort of did not give myself enough room. Picture loopy airplane wing arms that morph into helicopter rotor and then back to airplane wings arms. All this time, food must be balanced. 

My body was moving in a swaying Jeannie-like motion. But, it was not so alluring or cute. I had no bottle into which to escape. 

This all went on way too long. I thought both of Tommy's TVs were toast. Remember, he has the little one sitting in front of the large one. If I crash into the front one, the back one will go down like a domino. Finally, I regained my equilibrium and did not spill the food I was carrying. Tommy said he thought, "Oh no. Where is she going to fall, and how are we going to get her up?" I say to call 911.

Since I slept 2 hours last night, I was woozy from needing sleep. It has nothing to do with ears or equilibrium. 

Today was a very good day! Tomorrow I will relate the good things of today. 

Wish me to sleep.

I Fell

 But, it was not that simple. One moment I was sound asleep and then decided to turn over. The next moment I was falling, falling, and falling with a splat. Thankfully, it was carpet over a wood floor. My right elbow and right knee still hurts. 

I screamed as I fell or yelped, not sure. But, Tommy heard me and I could hear him thumping down the hallway. He said he could hear me moaning. I don't remember moaning, but my scream did wake me up.

When I fell, i took the top sheet and comforter off the bed. So, I was all wrapped up and had the plastic tube in my nose and was wrapped in that. Well, at least my neck and arm had it entangled. 

It took me a second or two to get my wits about me and get untangled. I could not get up, no matter what I tried. Remember, I have back problems and torn rotator cuffs and injured hands and wrists. Finally, I had Tommy get me my little wooden stool from under the kitchen table. He put it beside me and I finally got my bottom on it. Then, I pulled on the closet doorknob with left hand while he let me pull on his hand with my right hand. I was up. 

Now, why did I fall? The mattress was partially hanging off the bed (about a foot), and I rolled and could not quit falling after I got my body started off the bed.  That was Friday night. On Saturday night, I was frightened to even move. 

Tommy was very worried as he stood there trying to figure out what for me or him to do. 

Sunday, I went to the doctor. I have a uti. Between the uti and another statin, I have been feeling horrible. I got an injection and my prescription is at the drugstore which closed for Sunday just before we arrived. 

I have hamburger and bscb thawed. However, I told Tommy I was not cooking. We had watched a Goldie Hawn movie, and it was 9 pm. I dug around and found a frozen chicken thigh from KFC, opened a can of green beans, and sliced a tomato. 

Have you ever rolled off the bed? 

Tuesday

I had a doctor's appointment and things to do in Cullman, so we set out in time to eat lunch at the church where we pick up the lunch. Well, that was a bust since they changed it to last Tuesday. So, we had to buy lunch. I would have packed a lunch if I had known.

We made six stops other than the doctor's appointment. At least I accomplished a few things. I used my rollator for one of the stops, the longest one. Tommy has to get out of back the Rogue, hold onto the roof rack to get to the back to get my walker out for me out and then to put it back. He never complains.

Monday evening, I got up to plug in my laptop that had come unplugged in the middle of the two part power cord. I tried to turn, had vertigo, stepped on my foot with the other foot, and thought I was going to Step on my laptop and almost hit the tv. Instead I fell with my head about 2 inches from the table on which it sits. Tommy was by me immediately, wanting to know if I was okay. I felt lucky I did not land on my knee. However, I felt beat up all day today, Tuesday. I felt thrown to the floor...lol

The reason I fell was I was trying to avoid stepping on my laptop. When I got up to plug it in, I did not want to put a knee on the laptop. So, I leaned it against the loveseat. In the meantime, it slid flat onto the floor which I noticed after I started moving. If I had not been trying not to step on the laptop, I would not have stepped on my own foot!

I went to a food bank and got a cooked and frozen slab of pork. ??? We carry a cooler in the car. There was a loaf of bread, so I do not have to purchase that. We eat little bread, and I refuse to buy it full price.

I had all presents ready for Christmas. Today, I started over purchasing things. I got two Christmas presents and need two more. My children may not get a gift this year, just the four grandchildren. If so, I am halfway there. I have two boys and two girls. I bought Christmas stamps. So, I am closer to Christmas.

We bought stuff at the store where I won the $100 worth of groceries. We both put our names in the box in hopes of winning this year. At this moment, I do not know what I bought, not much. This week, the ads will be better.

I picked up my scissors I ordered. I purchased cheap scissors for everyday that are just not going to work. I cannot get them off my hand, so back they go. Three pair were $5.98 or something like that. I thought there were two pair. So, the search goes on for everyday scissors. Somewhere, there is a pair for paper that works.

When we got home and had brought everything inside, it was about 7 pm. I told Tommy to wake me at 8 and went to bed. He woke me at 8am and I got up about 9 pm. It took me thirty seconds to go to sleep and about 30 seconds to go back to sleep. We ate dinner very late.

Last week, a package mailed to me was returned. I have n clue as to mailed it. Nothing should be mailed to my address. My PO box 1902 should be used. Better yet, mail things to 2711 Clyburne St, Hueytown, Al 35023.

There is a pink package of store ads that lands in the driveway that also has two of the inserts that are usually in the paper--Retail Me Not, Smart Source. The Sunday paper is $3, so I can look online and see it is worth buying s paper. Do you ever get coupon inserts except in the newspaper?