Here we go again!

Yesterday afternoon a lovely voluntary man came and collected me and took me to a small hospital in town (which works more with long term and physiotherapy care) and in I went to meet my new classmates. There were three of us who had missed last week’s session and so were all new.

There were two Occupational Therapists and one Physiotherapist and we w ere being taught exercises to target groups of muscles at a time.

Back to the ranch feeling exhausted. However took enough cauliflower cheese to provide a meal, covered it with foil and put it in the oven to serve with potatoes. I also decided that the small bottle of pink champagne would go down very well with the meal.

Macaroni cooking, potatoes on.

Macaroni cooking, potatoes cooked. Plate on to heat, potatoes drained and served on to plate, served on to plate and through to the dining area.

It was seriously good. ("historic", as David Winner would say.

Then I had a fall. No real damage, but could not get up. Eventually via NHS24 an ambulance arrived and two good men came and got me up. They sat me down in my chair while they did my obs – all fine - and we discussed my admission to hospital deciding it was not necessary. After they left I got ready for bed as I had got rather cold on the floor waiting for the ambulance duo (a Paramedic and an Emergency Medical Technician), so I put the electric blanket on. It was lovely and felt really comforting to get in to a nice warm bed.

Yesterday.....

Think Beatles.

I had a really lazy day yesterday, feeling I had earned it after such an unaccustomed late night.

I have just started Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink, author of The Reader and it promises to be another excellent read.

So, anyway, I had my evening meal. There has been some debate here over whether this is dinner, supper or tea. I tend to regard dinner as a more formal meal usually taken in the company of others and supper when I eat on my own. Lunch is a meal eaten at mid day. High tea is an old Scottish custom and involves something like fish and chips and peas with some bread and butter on the side.

So there!

So, after I had finished my meal, washed and dried the dishes and put them away, I started to prepare for bedtime.

This involves shutting down the computer, removing the three stuffed toys from my bed and putting them on my bedside stool; removing the 2 cushions from my bed and putting them on my super duper typist chair; removing the day blanket from my bed, folding it and putting it on my bedside stool.

Thus my ‘study’ is converted into my ‘bedroom’. I went through to the living room to read for a bit and then returned to my bedroom to close the curtains and take my medications It was not yet bedtime at all but I love to have everything ready and just quietly read before going to bed an hour or so later.

Then I noticed that the ‘num lock’ light on the keyboard was lit, so I hadn’t switched off the computer. So I leant across the cushions and started the ‘start, shutdown’ process when I lost my balance and fell. With that I knocked the monitor onto the floor and broke off the holder for the piece of wood that pushes to left or right for left hand or right hand use of the mouse.

So then I tried to get up.

And tried.

And tried.

And tried.

In the end I had to admit defeat and call for help; the Careline people sent for an ambulance and a lovely paramedic and technician arrived. They got me on my feet and sat me down on my chair and took my obs. Both they and I agreed that I did not require to go to hospital, but they said I should see my GP as perhaps I needed a zimmer frame. One of them even got the monitor and put it back

Then they saw my face.


I said that my GP had already referred to the County Falls Response Service, but that I had heard nothing from them. The men asked if I owned the flat and I said that my son did. Ah, apparently the Service attends only home owners.

?????

I didn't like to put wtf here, but saw that jobbingdoctor gave

wtf = what on earth.

(This reminded me of Computing for Dummies which gave

RTFM = Read The Manual)


I think that, even if I had had a zimmer it wouldn’t have stopped me falling as I would have let go to bend over. The big mistake was to bend over at all and this is a lesson that I really need to learn. I cannot bend sideways at all, especially to the left.

I had to get up in the middle of the night to take more pain killers and slept not too badly considering.

This morning I am a bit sore but very lucky to have survived another fall with no fractures. Even the computer is in full working order.

And my 2 lovely cleaners have been and picked up all the stuff that went to the floor along with the monitor and also re-hung one of the curtains which was hanging off the rail.

Oh No, Not Again!

That Cauliflower Gratin was so good, but far too much for one, so I went to get a smaller casserole dish to hold the remainder for re-heating tomorrow.

Never thought a thing about it, but had to bend down and slightly across to get the dish.

So, I lost my balance and landed on the floor.

Even at that I wasn't concerned, but I tried to get upright using both the settee and the bed, without success.

I was pretty tired and sore by this time with all the effort, so I just lay down for a bit.

In all I spent an hour trying to get upright with no sign of success.

So, I called for help using my pendant alarm.

And (as I explained that nothing was wrong with me except that I could notget upright again) an ambulance eventually arrived.

And got me upright.

One of the guys even knew of Tom Reynolds!

So, here I am, carpet burns again, but otherwise unhurt.