ALL THAT JAZZ: The day my mother fractured her hip
About two months ago, my mother experienced a fall at home. She tripped over a small step as she entered the house and landed on her right hip.
Everyone, including my mom underestimated the repercussion from the fall, thinking it was nothing more than a muscle sprain.
But after a while she was unable to move her legs, let alone stand up. For every minor movement, she complained of great pain. It was time to rush her to the emergency room.
An x-ray showed a hairline fracture in the thigh bone of her hip joint. This called for an operation to place two surgical screws, in hopes that it will stabilize her bones again.
The day my mother fractured her hip was the start of a new chapter for my family and I. The possibilities that could come were endless because when an elderly experiences a fall, it could lead to other serious health problems.
In the first six weeks of her recovery process, she required assistance to perform daily tasks like walking, dressing, bathing, eating and going to the toilet. It required a team effort as a family to ensure a smooth recovery process for her.
My siblings and I made our own arrangements, taking turns to care for our beloved mom to the best of our abilities.
But it was not without challenges as we have other commitments of our own to balance with like meeting the demands of our respective day jobs.
Though it challenged us emotionally and physically, at the back of our minds we knew it was harder for our mom.
Just 12 hours before she took a fall, she was happily grooving to her feet at her weekly dance class and now she’s learning how to walk again and regain the level of functionality and confidence she enjoyed before.
The injury was an unfortunate event, but I am a person who likes to view things from a bigger perspective and I believe that every cloud has a silver lining.
For me, it was God’s way of telling her to slow down and rest after all these years of running the household, making sure her kids and husband eat homecooked meals everyday.
In other ways, it taught us how fragile life is. I grew up thinking my parents would be healthy and active forever because it always seemed that way.
But as I was too busy becoming an adult myself, I guess I lost sight of the fact that my parents are growing old too.
Now, she has shown vast improvement in her recovery, becoming more independent in completing daily tasks. Slowly but surely, she will be back on her feet without the help of a walking stick.
Maybe then, I’ll get to enjoy her cooking again.
ALL THAT JAZZ column is written by Syahirah Mokhtazar, Head of Lifestyle at Sinar Daily.
