General Chat

I tripped on the main road near home, a passing ambulance with no patient on board (on its way back to the ambulance station) saw it happen and pulled over.

I couldn't use my left arm so I got loaded into the ambulance and within ten minutes of falling I was in A&E.

Must be something of a record for quick service !

The arm had only soft tissue damage with a little long-term weakness.

While I was still working I needed to go to another building and on the way I fell over and because the police saw me and came out to see that I was ok and call the company ambulance to look me over, I was perfectly fine and only pride hurt, they checked my footwear, the flagstones etc all of this took 2 or 3 days but it was just an accident no ones fault.

It may be common among a lot of people now, Brian, but 50 years ago it was new to me! Two double doses seemed frightening at the time.

But I valued her advice.

The first double dose laid the groundwork and the second double dose was the icing on the cake, so to speak. :-D

It's quite common to double up on the first dose of medication to build up the concentration then the subsequent (single) doses just maintain the level.

You made me laugh, Sylvia, when you wrote about your parents-in-law. Very cavalier, lol.

It reminded me of a long-gone friend, a nurse, who, many years ago, told me to double up on the first one or doses of tablets I had for tonsillitis. I queried it and she told me it wouldn't kill me. I valued her advice so I did and it worked.

I'd have torn a strip of my kids if they'd done that! :-| :-0

Thank you all.

Linda .......... I doubt we'll starve, but thank you for the thought. We have so many roast of meat (pork, beef, ham) that I think we could manage on those for many weeks. Fresh fruit and veggies might be a problem!!

CornishSusie ........ that made me laugh!!!

JoyL ..... that's a good thought about the shoes. I have worn comfort shoes for years, but they are lace -ups with deep shoe beds as I have to wear special insoles. Not too nice looking especially if you want to be "dressy", but what-the-heck .............. I walk better and more safely!

OH, like most men, wears decent shoes, his are always Clarks brogue-type/

Re the reduction in efficacy of drugs.

I honestly don't think that it is due to becoming accustomed to a drug in his case, because he has always done it through our whole marriage, whether it ha been Tylenol, Aspirin or a simple cough medicine. Plus he does it even after the first dose. He also doesn't really take note of the time that he took a dose, and refuses to keep a written record, as I do.

I actually blame his parents!!!

They were pharmacists, and very concerned that people should take medications, especially prescribed ones, regularly and carefully. But within their own family, they did tend to say something along of the lines of "well, you could take another one now. The drug company's instructions are always very much on the safety side."

Of course, they didn't have to deal with a lot of addictive type of drugs that we now have ............... they retired in the 1980s after almost 50 years.

Sylvia, reading of the painkillers your OH is taking and the reducing effectivity he is experiencing reminded me of the time I was laid up for six or so weeks with a twisted sciatic nerve. Every move was agony and, for some reason, even food made me feel nauseous.

The first painkiller I was prescribed offered no respite at all so the doc prescribed Tramadol which was when I discovered how easily youngsters who take Trammies (its colloquial term) can become addicted. Like your OH, I found that the effects were wearing off quicker and I was desperate for the next tablet before it was due.

After almost a week, I contacted the doc again and asked him for something else. He wanted to give me co-codamol but I told him I thought that, too, would be quite addictive so in the end he prescribed two separate items - Codeine and Paracetamol. - saying that as the pain eased, I could regulate the two myself to a time when I could do without the Codeine and only take the Paracetamol.

I also saw a physiotherapist who told me to continue with the stretching exercises I have always done for more years than I care to remember as well as giving me a couple of other exercises. All agonising but necessary, as I knew, and done with a lot of moaning and groaning.

Your OH has my sympathy.

Definition of antibiotics - a miracle drug which enables a woman with pneumonia to nurse a man with a cold. Sorry Sylvia - don't really mean to be unsympathetic as a fall does really shake you up so hope he gets better soon..

It's a shock when you fall, Sylvia. I felt for your OH when I read your post. It seems that he is still in one piece so that is good.

I wrote on here a couple of years ago how, within a year, I fell twice - the second being beyond my control.

I tripped on a kerb one Friday morning at our local shopping centre, sprawled, and the damage was a grazed knee and I put my tooth through my lip so the bleeding looked worse than it was. I rang the dentist immediately and was there in an hour or so as an emergency patient. Everything was Ok, thank goodness.

The second was when an old guy with a walker who was in front of me, missed the kerb with one leg of his walker and started to fall backwards on to me. I am still quite nimble and I managed to give him a push to keep him upright and from falling back onto me. Unfortunately, in so doing, I tripped over the errant leg of his walker and broke a finger.

The second was a complete accident.

I thought the first fall was too - my own fault for not watching where I was going ..... until, in the winter of that year, my bestie fell and broke her wrist. On one hospital visit, her consultant asked her to bring in the shoes she was wearing at the time of her fall. When she did so, he said that they were nothing better than slippers and completely unsuitable for outdoor wear.

I had worn the same brand when I had fallen, albeit it in sandal form.

They are not the cheaper low-rise flatties that barely cover your toes but shoes that are sold for foot comfortability by a well-known store. They are quite popular among more mature women whose feet are slightly wider than the norm. I think that could have been our downfall because my bestie and I have quite slim (skinny in her case) feet.

I have never bought the same brand since then but I would never have known about their unsuitability if my bestie had not taken a tumble too.

That was thoughtful of him Sylvia. I am glad that he didn’t do too much damage.I hope he will be able to drive before next week so you don’t starve

ZZzzz ........

......... no brickbats from me!!

I accused him of being "macho" this morning, in dismissing my concern that he seemed to be hurting.

I should know after 53+ years that he isn't macho at all, except I think the British upper lip comes into play every now and again ......... or he really doesn't feel pain like I do!

He did a really nice thing though this morning. The 2 men who helped him were bank employees just locking the door to the bank when they saw him fall, and ran over to help him and get paper hankies/tissues from inside to mop up some of the blood.

He bought a box of good chocolates and took it in to the bank to thank them.

Glad he is ok, I think it’s pride that gets hurt too but only with men, ducks now to avoid the flying objects being thrown at me. ;-)

Thank you all!

He's a bit sore today, but went on a short walk this morning to the bank, mail a birthday card to a nephew (10 on Monday) and to grocery store to pick up the one item that was about run out .........1% milk!

He's just gone out again, to the coffee shop.

Nothing's wrong with his legs :-D

I do have to pay attention and literally stop him from taking the painkillers when he thinks it is time. If it's only 2 hours but he thinks 4 hours have passed by, then he'll take another two.

He's always been like that, so it isn't an old age thing. But it's hard enough keeping track of my own painkillers!

Friday is our big grocery shop, and he can't drive the car .............. we checked carefully this morning, and the only things that had to be done were mail that card and get that milk. Otherwise we have enough in of everything else to last at least a week :-D

Glad he wasn't too badly hurt. Lucky his arm went down first and took the worst of the fall! Hope he feels better soon.

It's horrible falling flat on your front - I did it some years ago (on damp grass) when our previous dog rushed over into my lower legs. Got a cracked rib, which had to heal by itself! Glad your OH is OK.

Pleased to hear he was not badly hurt. Horrible when you trip like that.

Glad to hear it's not as bad as it could have been, he's very lucky.

.................

so who trips over a flagstone that is raised by about ½ inch????

OH!

He fell flat on his front, some slight grazes on his nose, a badly bruised and swollen left elbow and forearm, and some grazes on his left knee.

Somehow, none of his clothes got ripped or torn.

It happened outside our bank late on Tuesday afternoon and some of the tellers rushed out with paper hankies to mop up the blood from his face, and a couple of passers-by helped..

He walked home OK (about 10 minutes away), a bit shocked, but otherwise OK, except for the arm, which hurt a lot although he could raise it and make some movement, so no bones broken.

Wednesday was November 11 and a Stat Holiday here, so doctor's closed and he refused to to to Emergency. I gave him Tylenol 500 mg (UK paracetamol), doctored the scrapes, and he moved his arm around very gently.

He had an appointment at the doctor's at 9 am Thursday morning for his second over-80 medical to be able to continue driving, so took a taxi out there.

Doctor was the same nice one we had for our flu shots the other week, and was very good with OH ......... not only did he do the medical tests (which we have to pay for) and looked at the arm, but he also did a quick heart, chest etc check-up.

Result ............. healthy as a horse, arm not broken just badly bruised.

Prescription ............. take 2 Tylenol 500gm 3-5 times a day as needed and go back in a week if it has not improved "significantly"



He's a terrible patient though!! :-( :-P