Falls

I have discussed the danger of falling for seniors, and I caution all of us who are older to be very careful. When I was talking to my brother the other day, I asked him how he was, since he sounded like he had a bit of a cold. He replied that he was fine, but then he added that he had fallen a few times and was going to talk to his doctor.

I asked him to expand and he went on to say that in the past four months he had fallen at least eight times. Now my brother is two years younger than me, and he should not be falling. I pressed him to see the doctor sooner than later, but he replied he had his physical in October so that is when he would see the doctor. I asked him again yesterday about his falling and he said that he had talked to the doctor and that the doctor thought it was a because of his four operations, to replace both hips and both knees. His doctor's advice was just "be careful". I hope my brother is careful because falling is a very serious event for seniors.

COSCO Senior Health and Wellness Institute does a seminar on the dangers of falling and we warn dog owners to be very careful, however, Ronnie over at "As Time Goes By" who is going through some medical concerns talked recently about the danger young children pose to seniors and falling. I had to think about what she said and realized that she is correct. Here is part of her story about why she thinks young children are an Elder Hazard.

"Then, just a couple of weeks ago while shopping at the Saturday farmer's market an almost identical situation took place: I was wandering the stalls when a couple of young boys, playing tag or running just for the fun of it, almost set me off balance as one of them brushed my arm in passing.

I wasn't as vulnerable that time as I had been in the hospital hallway, but it frightened me in the way that pretty much all old people are afraid of falling (as we should be at our age: one-third of Americans 65 and older fall each year. Some of them die from the fall).

These two almost-accidents are a new phenomenon for me. Before then, I had never thought of young kids as an elder hazard.

It is one thing for young people to ridicule how old people live in their homes – most of them, like me, will outgrow it. It is quite another for them to endanger the lives of old people - and you cannot help but wonder where their parents are.

In my case, I came to my newfound feelings of vulnerability via a massive surgery but in time it would have happened anyway with the normal debilities of age.

But I know that from this moment forward I will give all young children a wide berth. They are not safe for an old person to be around.

What do you think?