Tripping more

[Harold Hubbard]

I'm 77. Fell last week, landed on my side on a pallet of batteries and miscellaneous junk. Got a pretty good bruise, and a little cut on my ribs.

 

[Russ from MN]

My Dr. warned me about using TylenolPM, says it can make you unsteady on your feet, I had been using it for a sleep aid, but hadn't notice a problem. But I needed one for pain last night, I cut my big toe with a chainsaw yesterday, took 5 stitches. We had a terrible windstorm last Friday night, winds of 106 mph, and we lost a few trees. I have been using chainsaws for over 60 years, I just got careless.

 

[thelonepatriot]

I have Parkinson's. I fall at least twice a week and have a lot of close calls. I nearly always have my cane or my 4 wheeled walker with me. I can be walking fine and then freeze up for no apparent reason. A while back I was stuck in the middle of the road in front of my house. I was there for several minutes before my wife came and helped me. Sometimes I am walking so well I will absent mindedly leave my walker or cane behind and 5 minutes later I can't walk. I have had to crawl back to my walker or cane a few times. I also lost my driver's license due to the Parkinson's. I have found that sometimes when I'm having a hard time walking I can walk backwards using my 4 wheeled walker after getting a good look behind me for trip hazards. Sometimes it just makes no sense how this Parkinson's affects me. I am grateful for a good wife who helps me out a lot.

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

Joe Walsh said it was more fun being 20 in the seventies than being 70 in the twenties

 

[showcrop]

I have Parkinson's. I fall at least twice a week and have a lot of close calls. I nearly always have my cane or my 4 wheeled walker with me. I can be walking fine and then freeze up for no apparent reason. A while back I was stuck in the middle of the road in front of my house. I was there for several minutes before my wife came and helped me. Sometimes I am walking so well I will absent mindedly leave my walker or cane behind and 5 minutes later I can't walk. I have had to crawl back to my walker or cane a few times. I also lost my driver's license due to the Parkinson's. I have found that sometimes when I'm having a hard time walking I can walk backwards using my 4 wheeled walker after getting a good look behind me for trip hazards. Sometimes it just makes no sense how this Parkinson's affects me. I am grateful for a good wife who helps me out a lot.

Good to see that you are not giving in!

 

[David from Kansas]

Eyesight, and accompanying depth perception, has a lot to do with tripping/not tripping. Since I got my eyes fixed, no more balance issues. Something for y'all to think about, if your eyes are not as they should be, or your prescription is out of date.

I have bad right eye (wet MD) for which I have been receiving treatments for the past 1 year plus. Just had an injection yesterday. Plus, my legs are getting weaker almost daily and Dr's say I have spinal stenosis which is also being treated. I agree it has a lot to do with balance, not having depth perception makes things worse. Still have 20/20 in left eye for which I am thankful.

 

[Barts Dad]

Last doctors visit I mentioned that it’s become more difficult to walk over uneven surfaces like the lawn or soccer fields, or sometimes just walking down the block to the mailboxes. Doc asked if I thought I needed a cane or a walker. I’ve got canes from when I had a bad bout with sciatica. Told him I’ll use the lawnmower in the summer and the snowblower in the winter for a walker. Just seems like my sense of balance isn’t what it used to be. Whenever we go into a store I’ll grab a cart, that seems to help. Haven’t fallen yet, knock on wood, but have tripped occasionally on throw rugs and such. Ahh…the golden years…every day is a blessing!

 

[GChief]

All you guys having troubles don't be to proud to use canes or walkers. We have dealt with that a few times with older family members. Its the same with glasses and hearing aids, I don't get the whole pride thing.

 

[thelonepatriot]

Good to see that you are not giving in!

Thanks.

 

[farmersamm]

I have bad right eye (wet MD) for which I have been receiving treatments for the past 1 year plus. Just had an injection yesterday. Plus, my legs are getting weaker almost daily and Dr's say I have spinal stenosis which is also being treated. I agree it has a lot to do with balance, not having depth perception makes things worse. Still have 20/20 in left eye for which I am thankful.

I have the Stenosis thing, or something like it. Vertebrae are offset, like a kids wooden blocks.......with no, or little, disc material left. They want to fuse a couple of the vertebrae, but I won't do it. I'll live with the pain for now. Aside from moving the stress further up the spine, if fused, I don't want to run the risk of a botched surgery. I've learned how to balance, and move differently.

I just went in for the 1 month post op visit for the second cataract removal. I still am seeing a halo in that eye, granted it's much better than prior to the surgery, but it's still there. Plus, I can't see as well with the recently "fixed' eye. No response, no explanation, and was told that I'm seeing 20/20..........WHICH I AM NOT. This includes no response to the fact that objects appear smaller in the "new" eye. I have very little faith in the medical profession.............or, let's say...........I don't think they're any different than any other kind of contractor. Some are good, some are bad...........and sometimes the good ones have a bad day. The medical profession is different.............they deny responsibility at all cost.

Surgeons are the worst. Type A personalities from the get go. Arrogant as all Hell.

I told the guy that I'm just grateful I still have my eyesight after this episode. This ended all conversation.

BTW................the treatment you're receiving for your back...............Is it physical therapy? "Strengthening the core" sort of thing?? Lemme tell ya...........if those discs are damaged, all the PT in the world isn't going to help. It's just a way for the insurance company to dodge a payout for surgery. When the bones start to crush the nerve, all the bending/flexing/yada yada yada is for naught.

What I really hate

, is that K'kins is just about as tall as I am now. Seems that I'm shrinking due to the disc decay. She'll start callin' me a little old man I guess. ROFLMAO.

Good luck with it, and I mean it. These changes are hard to accept, and they seem to come on sudden as we get older.

 

[Duner Wi]

Thanks.

Eight days ago I heard for the first time , Parkinson's disease discribed as a rural disease. Wonder if there is anything to it.?

 

[GeneMO]

I have walking sticks scattered around. Go down to the timber and cut hickory sticks. Have a few Osage Orange.

Gene