It finally happened, my friend, and ninety-four year old neighbor, fell… and hasn’t walked again.

It didn’t have to be that way. His loving family was startled by how much he complained about his leg hurting. He never complains. It was a deep bruise and would need time to heal.

The family and the doctor, however, immediately flipped him from being someone in his home who had a housekeeper, physical therapist twice and week and a nurse check-in once a week ,to being a man told “not to try and get up because you’ll fall again.” He has literally been pushed down in his chair.

Overnight his bed was switched to a hospital, his walker was switched to a wheelchair and 24/7 caretakers added to the day.

He looked at me early in this process and said, “I guess they just want me to sit here, get old, rot and die.”

His 24/7 caretakers and I know he could have walked again. Not now. It’s been too many weeks and now morphine has been added “so he’s never in pain.”

My family has had the conversations about medical power of attorney, end of life procedures, wills, etc. Now we have had the conversation about the “just before” stage when my husband and I can and want to push ourselves as much as we can to keep moving and functioning.

I told them, let me crawl if I can’t walk.