My mother fell again last week. This is her fourth fall in the last few years. Given the condition of her bones with fractures through all her vertebrae, she sustained very minor damage. She lost her balance in the garden and fell on the concrete garden path. She has bruises and scratches and her arm is very sore but she broke no bones.
According to Gillian Sanson’s book, “The Myth of Osteoporosis”, it is not the condition of your bones but the particular circumstances of the fall that influences your rate of fracture. I have definitely seen that play out in my mother’s case. Her first fall was on the library steps. She tripped up the step and fell forward, her arm hit the edge of a step and fractured. It was such a small fall really.
The second fall was in her bedroom at night when she fell backwards on her hunched back. It took a year to get over the pain from that. The third was in a parking garage where she missed seeing the small step down and fell forward. She fell hard on concrete but sustained no injuries.
Now this fall involved very painful bruises on her arm and knee, but bruises heal. According to the fear-mongering going on around Osteoporosis nowadays she should have sustained a hip fracture each time she fell and would be marked for death. She is 87 now and still gardening and sewing, and walking daily with her rolling walker. Her quality of life is high compared to most women her age. Her picture is on the left on the front page of the site.
I have done all I can to help her prevent falls and be mindful of her movements in space. But when she gets excited she forgets she is old and unstable and she whizzes around like the young woman she is in her mind. That’s when she goes flying. I sometimes get annoyed with her for her carelessness but I have to get over it. She is a bright, living, dancing Spirit who happens to be living inside a body that is getting more and more restricted. But she’s not giving up, not my mum! And I’m grateful.
Blessings,
Pam