Falling…Again!

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Falling…Again!

Last week I announced that I had retired from work, which made me feel great (even though I loved my job and everyone I worked with).  But I noted that since retiring, I’ve been dealing with two medical issues:  I got sick with Covid, and I fell and landed on my left knee, seriously injuring the cartilage under my kneecap.  I’ve been getting physical therapy for my knee since*, and this Wednesday I will see an orthopedist.

That sounds like it should be the end of the story, but it isn’t.  I fell a second time, this time landing on my right knee.  The injury wasn’t as severe, but I can’t get down on both knees if, say, I want to retrieve something under the bed.  It’s too painful.

I’ve reported elsewhere the danger falls pose for people with Parkinson’s disease.  Here’s the list of worries again; with text cut-and-pasted from “Falls and Freezing of Gait in Parkinson’s Disease:  A Review of Two Interconnected, Episodic Phenomena”, but bolding mine:

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Balance is typically preserved early in the course of idiopathic PD, and falls are rare during the first few years after disease onset.  However, eventually most patients will sustain recurrent falls.

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Most falls in PD are intrinsic in nature, that is, they are caused primarily by the underlying balance disorder and not by an obvious environmental cause such as collision or loose rug on the floor.

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The mobility problems related to falls…have a devasting impact on the patients’ lives…Hip fractures are perhaps the most feared consequence of falls, as these are associated with a high morbidity and mortality in PD and commonly lead to nursing home admission.  Within 10 years after diagnosis of the disease, approximately 25% of patients will have developed a hip fracture. 

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A common, yet frequently overlooked, consequence is a fear of future falls, which can be incapacitating in its own right as it leads to restriction of daily activities…Not surprisingly, falls in PD are often associated with depression. 

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What can I add to this, now that I’ve suffered more than a dozen falls in the past year or so?  Here are some observations:

• All of my falls occur at home. When I leave the house and am walking in wide open spaces, I have no problem with my feet.  It’s only inside my house that my feet freeze as I’m walking and I pitch forward, face down.
• When I approach doorways at home or walk from a wide-open space, like the living room, towards a narrow hallway, my feet freeze into a festinating gait, where it feels like someone tied my shoelaces together and then said, “Hurry up!” And I fall.
• If I’m carrying something in my hands (like a plate with sandwiches), I’m more likely to lose touch with my feet and legs. Typically, this means that if I fall, what I’m carrying goes flying.  If it’s a plate it breaks into a hundred pieces.
• The physical therapy is helping. I’m now paying more attention to my feet, and I make sure to take big, long strides.

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I’m excited by what I’m learning from the therapist, but also worried about falling again and, say, fracturing a hip.  That’s not what retirement is supposed to be about!

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* What does the physical therapist do for me?  First, she presses down on different parts of my knee as well as the few inches on my leg below the knee and above.  She asks me where the pain is (everywhere!), then does an amazing job massaging that part of my leg.  Second, she engages me in a variety of exercises that make me concentrate on my feet and how I’m using them.  I’m now more aware at home and elsewhere of how I lift each foot and take the next step forward.