As a nurse, I’ve seen it more times than I can remember. An older person, usually a woman, who was strong, active and on the ball, falls. The fall causes a broken hip. During the hospitalization, the woman starts to go downhill, memory and mental function may start dropping, physical issues that didn’t exist before begin to pop up and the woman becomes a shell of what she once was. Sadly, death isn’t unusual.
Why is that? Does this really happen or is it just anecdotal – an impression we have of what happens because of what we’ve seen?
Sadly, it is …read more

Whether you are an Obama supporter or not, I think that this news has to be a bit sad for many. Barack Obama has been making  history and could be the first African-American president of the United States, but his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who broke her hip not too long ago, died of cancer today – one day before that historic election.
It’s known that a broken hip in seniors can speed up a disease process, like that of cancer. The pain and disability can cause the most independent of seniors to become weak and frail.
I can only hope that she …read more