23 August 2020
Joyce called this morning, which was a surprise in itself. I usually call her. So I suspected something was up. Actually, something was down. Joyce.
In 2003, about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal falls. About 460,000 of them required hospitalization.
Joyce isn't unique in having fallen after being admitted to the hospital, but it is just like her.
After I talked to her yesterday, she said, she got up to take a walk, heading for the walker. But she became dizzy and fell on her knees to the floor. She couldn't get herself up, so she laid there calling for help.
The staff got her back to bed where a doctor examined her and told her she was OK. Nothing broken.
But both knees are bruised and her elbow is sore. So they got her an ice pack for the elbow.
And a wrist strap warning she's a "Fall Risk."
The doctor told her to call for assistance when she wants to get up. That's what they're there for.
The dizziness made me wonder about the anesthesia again but, on second thought, I think I'll ask the next doctor I talk to about her blood pressures. It was very low after her first surgery, delaying her in the recovery room.
But wait, on third thought, I realized I can just ask Joyce. So I called her back.
They did check her blood pressure last night. "It's in normal range now," she told me.
She thought she just got up too fast. That would do it.