My wife and I were taking our road trip to New Orleans. We were in a hotel. I was in the shower. I looked up at the shower head. Next thing I knew I was sitting on my butt and flailing my arms. It was all pretty fast. My wife ran into the bathroom and asked me if I was all right. Yes. Did I fall or did I slip? I don't know.. I knew that it was something that never happened before. The Fall . I felt vulnerable. Like I had just taken another step into The Land of Parkinson's. I replayed The Event in my head.. Slip or fall? I suppose that a good attorney would go for The Slip. Once again my Parkinson's logic kicked in.. I guess I'd rather slip than fall. The Glass is half full and time marches on..
Written by
Joealt
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference... i have posted this several times today as i think it is a hopeful thing to feel ... p.s i too fall a lot
I hope you weren't hurt, other than your pride. Back in 2010 while on a trip to Ireland, we asked the hotel staff to put a mat on the bottom of the tub. For our 80 years old mother. The next morning I stepped into the shower and to my surprise, my face hit the wall and it didn't stop until my belly was on the bottom of the tub. Apparently the cleaners pulled up the mat and when they finished cleaning hte tub they just place the mat on the bottom of the tub with the suction side up. Lots and lots of blood from my nose, but no real injury. That was my first Parkinson's fall. I am now extremely careful in the bathroom.Also in crowds, any time I have to bend over, even when I have to turn fast. Lesson learned.
I can echo HomeinVa's comments. I was falling a lot. I have a walk-in shower w/sliding doors. I was outside the shower and bent over to pick up a towel... next thing I knew my forehead & nose were scraping over the aluminum door track... yet another trip to the ER. However, as rch21 stated, going to PT has helped a lot. I now never try to pick hings up off the floor unless I'm holding on to furniture, a counter, walker (in locked position), or similar. I also use a "reacher" pick up "wand" and that has proved very, very helpful. One of the things they taught me in PT is that I tend to turn around very fast and that's when I often get dizzy or fall.
Thank goodness you didn't fall through the glass doors. We have a shower curtain; however, we are moving to a new home in two months. We will be looking at it on Saturday and while I would much rather have shower doors, I'm concerned about my husband falling through them. If the bathrooms have shower doors, I will just have to pray extra hard. We will install grip bars in the shower regardless of the type of opening.
Thumbpick is right. Prior to diagnosis I had so many falls, my body was bruised and battered, had a laceration on my forehead and to my backside which still has a scar. It was so bad that if I moved my head from left to right or right to left I would fall, also if I turned too quickly or let go of the wall.
I also know that I cannot bend over at the waist. Sometimes I can slowly lower myself into a squatting position but I have to come back up slowly holding on to something for support. It has become an automatic response that I drop something and my kids come running to pick it up off of the floor.
Also, be careful when you look up and then lower your head, that can also make me dizzy and disoriented.
I am thankful that I have not had major injuries, the worst so far is a broken pinky and knock on wood, that was about 6 months ago.
pror to diagnosis with psp i fell out of my chiar and fractured my ankle
badly and now have a plate in it
but hte diagnosis only came after many more fallls / no signifiicant lonogterm injuries thankgoodness/downward gaze restiricted/ handwirting completely illegiible / typing duslexic/ inzbilitiy ot coordiniate muy handsarms land leg s/ speech garbled an dquieter etc etc
and teh ffalls have increased = with stress)
Help from the physio re queuring techniques is very good if i can remember
I fell two weeks ago.....broke my Platella (kneecap). It was late in the evening as my husband and I were traveling home, by car, from my son's place in Va.
I was stepping onto a high curb and didn't quite make it.
The good news is that I broke it "vertically", which meant all I needed was an immobilization cast. ( One of those with the "velcro" and metal brace.)....I had to wear it 24/7...only taking it off to shower. (I had enough trouble trying to sleep...Jeesh!)
Anyway today, two weeks later, I was able to stop wearing the brace. :o)
My husband had several falls Saturday night. He tried to get up from his chair and fell face down on the floor. He gradually rolled over, but was unable to get up. I couldn't get him in a sitting position. He refused to let me get our son from his bedroom to help. After about 20 minutes of him rolling around on the floor, he decided to let me ask Brad to help get him up. Got him up and in the bed. About 30 minutes later, I let the dog out and was waiting for him to come back. All of a sudden I heard a loud thud from the bedroom and there he was again on the floor. He said he was trying to get up to help me look for the dog. (I was never looking for the dog...just waiting for him to get back). He again refused to let Brad come help him. However, this time it only took 10 minutes of stubborness for him to let me get Brad. The next day, both of his elbows and knees were skinned and the right knew is swollen. Didn't help that our bedroom is ceramic tile. When I first started going to Parkinson's seminars, I learned that the falling is the beginning of Stage 3 and could gradually get worse.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
my first ever poem…..
Just had my first \"save\"...
It’s Not All Dopamine: Possible Mechanisms and Interventions for Falls in PD
I saw my first neuro after over five years
