After going accident free for quite a while my dad fell a couple of times recently, both a few days apart. In the two months before the first fall he'd been mentioning random back pain that he'd never had before. I was paying close attention to the pain to determine if anything needed to be done, and he would usually tell me he had no pain and that it comes and goes. After the falls the pain seemed to worsen so I took him to see a doctor. Xrays revealed mild compression (fracture) in his L4 (vertebra). Definitely painful. Interestingly, the doctor he saw, an associate of my dad's primary MD, did not prescribe any new meds. Flash forward (Hoffs/Drawlar for LOST fans) 3 days. My dad was sliding off the bed and he was in serious pain when I tried to move him so I called an ambulance and took him to ER. Once the paramedics got him on the gurney, probably taking certain pressure off his back, my dad seemed to feel better. Since he'd just had an xray, the ER doc just sent us home with an Rx for Vicodin. He didn't even examine my dad. Interesting. Maybe because he seemed to be ok right then.
At 99 it is amazing my dad is as well as he has been. Up to this point he has had very little pain and no major disabilities. He'll be 100 in August. The new back trouble changes things somewhat, and gives me some things to think about. Though he's able to walk for the moment and his pain is under control, at any time his status could change. It would not take much now for him to lose his ability to walk, and if that happens he will be beyond my ability to care for him by myself, much like what happened with my mom. I realize now that I have to accelerate my efforts even more to prepare for this change. I need a good plan, maybe even plans B and C, for what to do for my dad and myself when the time comes. I've been working already toward this, because there's no way to predict when anything will happen, you can only prepare as well as possible, but with the new injury there seems to be more urgency. It's scary, it's scary doing this all alone...how do I know what will work? But I think things will go smoothly...at least I'll be more prepared than if I was just ignorant of the whole situation. I'm not sure exactly everything that I need to do, but I have ideas. I know it's a ducks and row kind of thing.
