Let's visit on the Porch II (Billings: house, live, eat)

[ElkHunter]

I have to reevaluate my tomorrow. I had an12lve pack if diet coke in the 4 wheeler. I went out to get it and I fell down. I couldn't get up. I blocked both kknees trying to get up. Timber went nuts, but a neighbor heard me hollering and came to help me up. I can't believe I was so weak and had to have help. I think its time I went elsewhere. I've hung on for a long time.

[cumminszhere]

How are you feeling now Elk? Any improvement?

Is there somebody that is helping you?

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by cumminszhere

How are you feeling now Elk? Any improvement?

Is there somebody that is helping you?

Thanks, I feel fine. I just didn't realize how weak I am from the surgery's and as a result I've lost over 100 pounds. I simply tripped and fell down,, and then didn't have the strength to get up. I tried and just couldn't do it. No, there is nobody else, I live by myself, but normally I'm fine. its just that I fell down. hahahaha. my knees look like a battle zone from trying to get up. hahahahaha. Like I said, I'm fine, just need to not fall down.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Elk, is it feasible for you to subscribe to one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" alarms? At least until you have your strength back? That way you could perhaps postpone any plans of changing your place of residence and lifestyle. Hang in there...

[hymnsinger]

I concur with Dr. Jimj! Aleve may indeed allow you to cut back on the HC's.

My story: I was injured at work by a mare that was more interested in where her baby was, than in where my feet were! She managed to break the three left toes on my right foot. During lunch, I made a visit to my doctor. she confirmed they were broken, taped them up and let me go. Before i went, i asked for an Rx for the pain. "Are you going back to work," she asked? "Then no way am I prescribing you a narcotic!" <rolling eyes> She told me that the best pain relief combination for acute pain is 800 mg Ib, 1000 mg Tylenol, and a caffeine pill. She told me initially to take the Ib and caffeine, then the Ty 2 hours later, then the Ib 4 hrs after that and keep alternating. She said that combination was as good as any mild narcotic that she could prescribe and doesn't have the side effects or draw backs that narcotics can have.

That was 30 years ago, and since then I have compounded my own pain reliever through ruptured discs, torn rotator cuff, and compressed vertebrae with no narcotic use. Even for migraines, I adjust the Ib to whatever dose the pain warrants (usually 600mg sometimes 800), then take two Ty and a caffeine pill (80mg). I'm very careful to monitor time and 1/2 life, especially with the Tylenol. When my disc was ruptured, I took 800 mg Ib and 1 caffeine pill every 8 hrs, and 2 extra strength tylenol every 4 hours. The caffeine apparently assists with the uptake of the pain reliever. ALWAYS take Ib after eating!!

I have never tried Ketoprofen (Aleve) because I don't know how safe a higher dose would be if I needed it. I feel much safer with the Ib/Tylenol combo. It has always worked for me through the severest pain.

Dr. Mom

[Montana Griz]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Elk, is it feasible for you to subscribe to one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" alarms? At least until you have your strength back? That way you could perhaps postpone any plans of changing your place of residence and lifestyle. Hang in there...

...........Hey Elk, might be a pretty good idea to look into one of "those type devices", I did............

My daughter "straightened me out" a few months ago:

We were having one of those father/daughter talks about various aspects of my life-style and every-day-living-circumstances at age 82.
Toward the end of our conversation she said:......
"You know Dad, there's a Fine line between having:... "An-Appropriate-Amount-of-Pride and Stupidity"!!!!
With that being said she sent me an E-Mail for a Product called: "GUARDIAN ALERT 911".
....(You buy it out-right....it's not one of those Monthly Payment situations....no fees.).....I got it on sale for $100.).....You do have to have a "home phone line" to make it work, and it's good for about 500 to 600 feet from the house. If you need help, you press a button, and you get connected directly to a 911 operator......if you can't talk,....they automatically get your location from the "system".

Like Elk, I live alone, can't see or hear any neighbors (closest one is about 4/10ths mile through the woods and they're not home during the day anyway), and what with living with a leaky heart valve and the Long-Term-Effects of 15 fractures many years ago (sustained as a passenger in a double-fatality, single vehicle, auto accident), I took my daughter's advice, swallowed my pride and bought one, ........and I also agreed with her about "not going up on the roof any more" to caulk around the chimney flashing.

I try and remember every time I go outside with the dog or just to walk through the woods down to the creek,.....to take with me: Cell phone, whistle, revolver and the Guardian Alert Device which clips on my Belt. I hope I never have to use it (pretty much like the House Insurance Policy we all carry.)

I have to admit..................having that device does make me feel a little more secure.

[Reziac]

Also remember that any cellphone can dial 911, even if it isn't an active phone otherwise. You can buy the world's dumbest phone at Walmart for $12.99, and it will work anywhere a Verizon phone will work. (Actually it has pretty good reception, I was surprised.)

Fell-down-can't-get-up sometimes qualifies as an emergency, such as on a winter night when they'd find your corpsicle in the morning. And we all know ElkHunter is too tough to even make into good burgers, so I think we'd best keep him inside his skin.

Hey Griz, you could put an umbrella over that chimney and not have to caulk it anymore...

I got tired of the trailer's back roof vent leaking, and now it sports a rubber feed tub. Don't leak no more!!

[ElkHunter]

Thanks everybody. Yes, I have been looking in to "life alert" type devices. I have no phone or cable out here so its tough to find a device that works with no phone line. I've found a couple, just looking fonthe better deal now.

[MTSilvertip]

That kind of stuff is scary. My mother has Parkenson's, my father is 80 and still breaks horses and takes his horse and little dog into the timber to cut logs. While an emergency notification button would work for my mother, she doesn't want one and carries a cell phone instead. My father works way out in the back country where even cell signals are tough to get. Plus there are a lot of grizzly, cougar, black bear and wolves up there so if he did go down, it's a good bet he wouldn't last until help arrived. It's a constant worry for me, and has been for several years now.
He's a lot like Elkhunter though, if you made him stop and play it safe, it would kill him, so I feel that if he does go, he goes doing what he loved so I won't stop him until I have no choice.

It came home to me last Wednesday when it happened to me. I fell off a mountain 20+ years ago and tore a bunch of groin muscles. There was no way to get anybody into where I was, so I had to hike my butt back over the mountain to get out.

Needless to say, those muscles didn't heal right and now come back to haunt me every so often. Usually they are just super sore, but once in a while the leg goes numb and collapses under me.

When I went home last week, I got out of the truck and was walking into the house when my leg collapsed and I landed on my butt in the yard. I had to lay there for 15 minutes until the feeling came back and I could get my feet under me.

If it hadn't been a nice day or if there had been snow on the ground, I could have been in trouble.

We just can't take chances anymore, not as young as we used to be.

[Reziac]

Make sure your mom's thyroid is monitored, and not just the TSH (needs a full panel to be valid). Borderline hypothyroid causes the same symptoms as early Parkinson's (and may be misdiagnosed as same), and no doubt exacerbates the real thing.

And as to "not as young as we used to be", I'll have you know I'm in my second childhood right now!