this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2024
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Oh jeez. Just spoke to (78yo) mum and she had another fall. Last one was 2 weeks ago going down 2 stairs. She's just not stable on her feet and her vision is poor. Main thing I'm worried about are hip and head injuries.
I'm going to have to convince her to wear a fall detection device which will be a difficult convo. I succeeded convincing her to give up driving (when I'm looking) but it just feels like I'm robbing independence / making her feel old.
Please have her get a full check up. Falls are a symptom of something else going on 99% of the time. My mum reluctantly agreed to wear a Live Life alarm around 18 months ago, and she wears it daily. I can check her location, and when she fell while out at a bbq Saturday night it alerted me and my brother. We had a quick chat with her through the pendant, and all was good. My MIL on the other hand refuses to wear hers, and spent a night outside after a fall. ETA: if she's accessed My Aged Care, she might be able to get one for no cost through a program called GEAT to Go.
Gawd that's awful.
And thank you kindly I'm going to look into that.
I can't tell you how shit it made all of us feel. Ultimately it is and was her choice, but I'm on her ass every day now to wear it. We don't care about the false alarms (they do happen) but I'd rather 400 of them than that phone call from her neighbours again.
At least my mum has the brains to wear it and she even said it gives her security and the ability to get out and about, and all she has to do is push a button for help.
I’m sorry to hear. It’s often a difficult conversation that doesn’t always end the way you want it to.
You’re also trying to protect her from having a horrible accident without a means for someone to get to her in time as well.
I hope things go ok for you.
Thank you. I think I'm just going to try and reduce tripping hazards when I see them and work out how to do that conversation.
You might find this resource helpful: Falls Prevention
If she isn’t already using My Aged Care, get that process started as soon as possible.
Thank you for that, that's a great suggestion.
Hope it goes ok..I know how hard it can be, as I went through this with my mum and OH did with his, too. MOL (mother-out-law) had emergency services break in one time when she collapsed and was unresponsive. Lucky the cleaner found her in time.
It was also very lucky that neither of them injured anyone (or themselves) by driving when no longer competent.