I had a rough day yesterday, and would like to share a little and maybe let this thread act as a Public Service Announcement, of sorts.
I usually drop in and hang out with an old neighbor lady of mine, a friend of almost a decade, and one who had been in very poor health for the last several years. Her health had limited her movements greatly, so about once a week I would drop by and do some chores for her, ask if she needed me to run errands (she can no longer drive, blind in one eye).
So on Sunday I drop by her house, knock on the door, no answer. Then I called, twice, no answer. On Monday I called again and still no answer, so I went to her house, and again knocked on the door.
Again, no answer. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Years ago she handed me her "In Case of Emergency Contact List". I've never called the numbers until yesterday. The contacts eventually got ahold of her son, who immediately scrambled to her house.
After breaking into her house, my friend was soon discovered in the bath tub/shower, having collapsed, and it was determined that she was dire need of medical attention. She was trapped in the shower and unable to escape, for what we determined was about a day and a half. Ironically, in the position that collapsed, she couldn't reach the water, and is now, after the paramedics transferred her to the ICU, on death's door due to severe dehydration. Luckily she didn't break a leg or hip slipping in the shower/tub, as I had feared, since in her failing health this would have been almost certainly fatal. She couldn't reach the phone, a landline, and was too weak to yell. She simply could not extricate herself from the tub.
As you might have been expecting, she indeed lived alone, with just friends to stop by to help on occasion.
Her condition right now is touch and go in the ICU. When I saw her in the ICU last night she couldn't speak and was very obviously dehydrated, looking worse than I had ever seen her.
Guys.....Oh man, that sickening pit in my stomach and the hair standing up on my neck told me something was not right.
So here's my PSA: If you know someone in this type of condition, drop in and say hello once in a while, stay and chat, and run a few errands for them. It can't hurt to be suspicious when those phone calls and door knocks go unanswered. Listen to your gut--if it tells you something isn't right, it might not be. Let's look after our older friends when they can't do so for themselves.
Let's face facts: Someday it could be any one of us in the shower experiencing that type of hell. None of us are getting younger (I'm 38), and now I'm really dreading old age.
I'm really, really, really, dreading old age....
I usually drop in and hang out with an old neighbor lady of mine, a friend of almost a decade, and one who had been in very poor health for the last several years. Her health had limited her movements greatly, so about once a week I would drop by and do some chores for her, ask if she needed me to run errands (she can no longer drive, blind in one eye).
So on Sunday I drop by her house, knock on the door, no answer. Then I called, twice, no answer. On Monday I called again and still no answer, so I went to her house, and again knocked on the door.
Again, no answer. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Years ago she handed me her "In Case of Emergency Contact List". I've never called the numbers until yesterday. The contacts eventually got ahold of her son, who immediately scrambled to her house.
After breaking into her house, my friend was soon discovered in the bath tub/shower, having collapsed, and it was determined that she was dire need of medical attention. She was trapped in the shower and unable to escape, for what we determined was about a day and a half. Ironically, in the position that collapsed, she couldn't reach the water, and is now, after the paramedics transferred her to the ICU, on death's door due to severe dehydration. Luckily she didn't break a leg or hip slipping in the shower/tub, as I had feared, since in her failing health this would have been almost certainly fatal. She couldn't reach the phone, a landline, and was too weak to yell. She simply could not extricate herself from the tub.
As you might have been expecting, she indeed lived alone, with just friends to stop by to help on occasion.
Her condition right now is touch and go in the ICU. When I saw her in the ICU last night she couldn't speak and was very obviously dehydrated, looking worse than I had ever seen her.
Guys.....Oh man, that sickening pit in my stomach and the hair standing up on my neck told me something was not right.
So here's my PSA: If you know someone in this type of condition, drop in and say hello once in a while, stay and chat, and run a few errands for them. It can't hurt to be suspicious when those phone calls and door knocks go unanswered. Listen to your gut--if it tells you something isn't right, it might not be. Let's look after our older friends when they can't do so for themselves.
Let's face facts: Someday it could be any one of us in the shower experiencing that type of hell. None of us are getting younger (I'm 38), and now I'm really dreading old age.
I'm really, really, really, dreading old age....
