I was just about to write about something else when my phone rang. It was a client. Her mother had just died, rather unexpectedly, after having fallen and broken her hip a week or two back. (The woman who lives across the street from us also recently lost her mother in a fall). The only silver lining of course is that my client's mom did not die a protracted death from cancer with a lot of pain. That seems to be the really big exit ramp for lots of folks. (I had thought that actuarially cancer as a cause of death actually declines for octa- and nonagenarians -- but a quick perusal of the interweb indicates that's wrong. It appears to get worse).
Falling, while not an altogether preventable risk, is one that is quasi-manageable if people focus on core strength and balance. I'm glad that my mom has focused on this stuff to the best of her ability. Her dancing is, I think, pretty key. In my mind's eye I see elderly Chinese people doing Tai Chi in parks first thing in the morning and that seems like a best practice.
I realize that this post started off sounding empathetic and human and quickly degenerated into clinical analytics. It's late in the morning by now and I kind of need to get better organized for the professional day. Not that I wasn't already doing that when my phone rang.
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