My husband had a fall yesterday. It had been several months since his last fall and this one caught me off guard. He was getting up from a stool in our kitchen/dining area when he said his right leg gave out and down he went. He bumped his shoulder against our dining table and landed on his hip. I wasn’t in the room with him, having just left after we finished an afternoon snack. I heard the thump and thought he had knocked the stool down. The stool was fine, it was my husband who was on the floor. 

Rushing in, I immediately reached out to help him up and then stopped myself. I actually had to say the words, “No, I can’t help you up. I can help you roll over though”, which gave me the opportunity to rethink what I was doing. It also gave him a chance to evaluate the situation and figure out what needed to come next. I then went ahead and helped him get on his hands and knees and from there he was able to pull himself to a standing position. If that hadn’t worked, calling 911 was my next step.

Things have been going quite well for the past couple of months. My husband has even been helping out with the odd chore, something I thought was impossible for us. We’ve been having better conversations and even planned an overnight trip later this month to celebrate our anniversary. Is it any wonder that just when I had let things go a bit and was taking some breathing space for myself, Parkinson’s had to rear its ugly head and remind us that it is still very much in charge?