I'm baaaack...
 

... From a five week absense owing to a health emergency. (My dad's, not mine.)

He's on the road to recovery now, but it was a really bumpy road. It was all hands on deck in the family looking after both my folks.

Pretty good genes on my dad's side...

My granddad lived to 96, ate sensibly, exercised regularly, drank in moderation, and was in fantastic health when his hip spontaneously broke one day. He was in the hospital for a short while... when a blood clot got him (stroke). Not an unheard-of thing after breaking a big bone.

My dad's 86, also a reasonably sensible eater / drinker, but not very active compared to Granddad. Maybe not coincidentally, his crisis was also bone-related: spontaneous compression fracture in his spine & paralyzing pain.

Note to self: stay active (I'm more like my granddad... that trait must have skipped a generation). Get enough calcium & vitamin D. Do more weight-bearing exercise.

Note #2 to self: Dad can't ride in the MPGiata anymore! Too low, too harsh on the old bones. Truth is, he hasn't been in it for a couple of years, and he can no longer get in/out of it anyway (on his own).

Good to hear dad is ok. Back pain is the absolute worst, and if it doesn't get better can spiral the rest of health down the drain.

If it was you that fixed the back end, thanks.

I had back problems starting with my career in construction, and knee problems from computer software (climbing stairs in a concrete stairwell).

Since no one wants me to work anymore, it's all better (excepting my neck. :eek:). I can go onto and off my knees very slowly, and if it's over a block, I ride my bike instead of walking on uneven ground.

My dad's back problems are from multiple causes, simmering for years before the latest issue.

But he self-inflicted some of it by jumping over a chain link fence in his mid-60's and decidedly NOT sticking the landing ... multiple fractures including 1 vertebra.

(Server ran out of disk space. Hosting company should have been auto notified about it ASAP but wasn't. Talking to them...)

I met a lot of people over 70y.o. who had hip fractures, yet most of the time it was due to falling inside the bathroom at home. But anyway, how is your father going?

Although I didn't experience anything untoward, thanks for the explanation.

You could entertain a bone density test to see if you may have later problems. If you have some years remaining, you can increase density by multiple schemes not involving doctors and expen$ive drugs.

So... I guess the "I'm baaaack" announcement was premature.

My dad fell and broke his hip just a couple of days after he got out of the hospital (when I started the thread).

The docs fixed the break, and he's been in physio since. Not progressing as fast as last time. Slow but steady improvement.

And my mom has a chronic health problem that has worsened.

Needless to say, all us kids have been busy. It sharpens the focus of what's important in life at the moment. I haven't duct taped a single piece of coroplast to a car in many months!

Did he get a prosthetic hip joint?

No, the break was at the top of the femur, but far enough below the "ball", so they put a rod & screws in it.

I'm not looking forward to being forced to sharpen focus. Grandmother is in a care home now, meanwhile the home built for her in the 70's is rotting away unoccupied (along with 3 trucks, and 2 cars).