I used to think age was a state of mind
Working my whole life nose to the grind
Turbulent years have not been kind
Was there a specific moment life rearranged
When I began to notice change
Overtime life dreams became estranged
Began to move a little slower love not as bright
Cancer demands choices joy is out of sight
Illness take its toll
Pain can change the soul
Bulging disc back spasms knees give out
Numb feet neuropathy pain throughout
Forgetful, lost thoughts
The haves, and the have Nots
Memory once Sharp as a tack
Scatterbrain recollection now I lack
I understand why they call
Alzheimer
The long goodbye
Why, did I come into this room?
Frustrated can’t remember gloom looms
Legs give out falter unexpected falls
Yelling, screaming, crying, deaf ear calls.
On the floor flat on my back
processing where I am at
Not completely aware
How I came to be there
Mental assessment first things first
Instant flood of pain burst
Anything broken bleeding bruised
Knot on the head, lose tooth, blood oozed
I rub emollients to soften and sooth
Aspercreme BenGay, which one to choose
Triage situation urgent versus emergency
Elderly fall risk develop a contingency
Scrapes cuts occasionally a broken wrist
Off kilter slipped twist landed on the fist
Unable to get up nobody around
Floundering helplessly on the ground,
Surgeries total replacement both knees
Unable to put pressure on both of these
Not as simple as it sounds,
To pick yourself up off the ground
I can roll over
Than what?
Scoot crawl wiggle on my backside
Down the hall iPhone the goal my guide
Traverse down a few stairs a slide cried
Instant pain runs down the spine
Pray every moment for strength I’ll be fine
Solution: need a chair to pull up on
Everybody gone for how long?
Quickly learn to fend for myself
Shoot, the iPhone up high on the 3rd shelf
A horrific thought resides
Creeping seeping an emotional tide
After a fall my friend died
He hit his head on the kitchen granite table
Wounded bleeding Unconscious unstable
He could have lived the police surmise
Elderly incapacitated facts surprise
Investigation what happened evidence resides
Estimated time on kitchen floor for three days
In and out of consciousness, craze haze
He bleed to death.
On the kitchen floor
His daughters will confess
Never able to talk to him ever more
Nobody came to visit. Not a single call
Loved ones should not die from a fall
A prominent man of well to do means
Living situation wasn’t what it seems
A celebrated man of stature
Tasked in war enemy capture
A battleship under his command
Near his end, he can hardly stand
father of two his children the man they never knew his adoptive family battleship cast and crew
Perhaps each were too busy with their own
His death they will atone
So many elderly alone
All the lonely people were do they all belong
Inspired song
Eleanor Rigby
(All the lonely people) 1966
By the Beatles bulging disc
BLT Webster’s word of the day challenge
3-7-25 EMOLLIENT
AN EMOLLIENT IS SOMETHING SUCH AS A LOTION THAT SOFTENS AND SOOTHES
I am 64 and my husband is 77. We’re in a new phase of life and it’s not always pretty . My husband is falling all the time, he rolls over and falls out of bed. I had to put up a bed rail. He’s got all his faculties about him, but his numb feet makes him unsteady neuropathy. This is just a brief little picture of some of the elements we’re dealing with, but surely this is a typical picture of the elderly today. We are now in the phase when our friends are dying I pray. today is a precious gift. sometimes I worry what tomorrow
Will bring. Is today our last normal day??. what will I need to do to survive when he ‘s gone?. Tomorrow is promised to no one live today to the fullest. It could be your last day.. the worry of the unknown I don’t let it take hold, but sometimes it gets the best of me.. death will come for us. All all we can do is smile when he comes to call..