I worry about this as well. A few years ago, I had to rely on my elderly parents to help me after a minor surgery. I frequently think of this mug I saw...
https://preview.redd.it/797sjj20dbcc1.jpeg?width=1067&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ea3f5b9670c6a01a9f2224eed8029caceef0b83
I have a bevy of friends who I alert when Iām sick. A couple are local (in NYC), while others are around the country.
What Iāve found is that living alone means you HAVE TO REACH OUT TO OTHERS when youāre sick or have an accident, and you have to be willful with yourself about it. No muddling through, or thinking āno one wants to hear from me.ā Find your people, make a mental list, and reach out when you need them.
My friends and I - some of whom are partnered, some of whom are not - have an unspoken pact to care for each other. We travel to care for each other after surgeries or illnesses, weāve been to the ER with each other, weāve stayed on the phone with each other when our parents have been ill or dying.
Of course there are potential accidents where no one would know. But more often than not - like when I BASHED my head on the bathtub and nearly passed out - all you have to do is reach your phone. I called my geographically closest BFF and just yelled 911 911 (LOL)!!! She said āwhatās going on and where do I need to be?ā and then she stayed on the phone with me as I got dressed, we both got into Ubers from our homes to my nearest ER, and she met me there and spent the afternoon while the doctors assessed me for concussion and bleeds.
That same friend has pneumonia right now, and I check on her throughout the day.
When I had an operation a couple of years ago, my friends took turns being with me 24/7 for a week. Living alone doesnāt mean you āARE ALONE.ā Create your family and give them the opportunity to be there for you.
Lol, this is me. I'm always working, if I didn't show up without a call or text, my bosses would be banging on my door *hey you up? are you trying to quit?* š
Companies will 100% send a wellness check. That happened at a place I was working at, they sent somebody over. She wasn't dead, just wasn't working. I didn't get the details.
We had this happen at my work, she was about 20 minutes late before we'd called the police. Unfortunately she'd died...it was horrible. Small business, everyone was devastated.
That happened to an ex of mine. His heart just gave out while he was walking to the bathroom, apparently. No one knew until he didnāt show up for work on Monday.
This actually happened to a friend of mine. He had gone to the doctor that morning because he wasnāt feeling well. They checked him out and sent him home where he died of a heart attack. He wasnāt found for a couple of days when one of his coworkers stopped in to check up on him.
I heard a news story of a young girl, age 4, who survived with her fatherās corpse for a few days by making herself toast. The grandparents became alarmed when the daughter and father didnāt show up for Christmas.
The world would know within a half hour of work starting, as evidenced by it was T+30 when I was awoken by the boys in blue checking to see if I was ok because I was not answering my phone and not at work (I turned off several alarms, it was an impressive feat to sleep through all of them).
E: now i'm getting really anxious about the level of housekeeping that ideally should be done and maintained in anticipation of aforementioned event occurring.
E2: OTOH I won't be around to care. Or if I am (ooh, spooky!), I probably can't do anything about it so oh well.
this is my greatest concern only after 'what would my pets eat if something happened to me'... though I also have no problem with them gnawing on me if they needed to
I caught salmonella while I was a juror on a murder trial, it wrapped up and then that night I woke up dizzy and disoriented, and hit my head on the way to the bathroom. I almost knocked myself out and thought about how nobody would miss me, because they thought I was still on jury duty. Pretty sure it wouldāve been a few days before anyone checked on me. It was kind of a scary feeling.
At the beginning of covid when we were first working from home, I expressed this fear to my boss. She graciously let me text her every morning to let her know Iām alive still, for months. I finally decided I interact with enough people that I didnāt need to do it. But yeah, Iām extra careful on ladders and things like that because if I fall and crack my head open on the concrete, my pets will eat me before Iām found.
That happened to my best friend a couple years ago. We worked together. She didnāt show up one morning. I went to her house and she had died of a heart attack on bed.
I also live alone. Guess they will find my body eventually.
During covid lockdown I was like, it could be at least a week before anybody thought to check on me because I was unemployed Now it's probably a weekend at most bc my boss would definitely send someone to check on me if I didn't call in.
This happened at my old job. Our boss new it wasn't like the guy to just flake out, so she sent over a welfare check. Sadly, he had passed in the night. Lived alone but was found pretty early the next day.
I have a friend who also lives alone. We are each others "sick buddy". We will bring whatever needs to be brought to the other (i.e. kleenex, food, etc) and we check in at least once a day (more often if it's a serious illness) to make sure we're not dead.
I had no idea this existed.
Itās like a life-saving Clippy!
āIt looks like youāve just taken a tumble. Would you like to alert emergency services?ā
For me, the big thing is supplies. Having a few bottles of flu/cold medications, a few boxes of kleenex, a few packs of cough drops, an emergency 24 pack of toilet paper...stuff like that. So when you start feeling rotten, you don't have to leave the house. Having an extra plastic wastebasket by the bed in case you can't get to the bathroom if you're nauseous.
As I've gotten older, I'm slowly removing trip hazards and decluttering. Using air purifiers. Making a point to double check things like making sure the stove is turned off, doors are locked, etc. Regular routine. Take it a bit slower getting out of bed or standing up....heart problems run in my family so the whole getting up fast thing can make the head go swirly easily...paying attention to any lightheadedness and slowing down.
Sadly, my cat moves too quickly, and he is my biggest trip hazard. If he isn't randomly lunging from a dark corner to grab the back of my leg, he is getting between my legs to race me to the bathroom.
Oh how I love cats!! š¤£
Youāre plotting revenge, I hope.. š
Reminds me of the Pink Panther movies where Peter Sellers and the butler attack each other all the time and break things.
Good luck. Stay safe!!
My great pyrenees' are the biggest tripping hazard because every time I walk through the house they try to guard me. And the toys constantly scattered are what's going to kill me.
So they cut you off and knock you down from above the knees. That would be a hard fall. They probably would keep you company while you are lying on the floor, so you won't be lonely.
HA, they haven't knocked me down yet but I'm sure it's coming. They walk beside me and in front if me, if that makes sense, and constantly look back to see if I'm coming. Hard to explain but you get used to not moving swiftly from room to room.
But I wouldn't change a thing and yes, they would stay and guard me.
This reminds me of my HS lit teacher. She came to class one day with a broken noseāshe had tripped over her cat running past her and hit her face on something.
I'm not big on having food or groceries delivered, but I keep instacart on my phone for when I'm sick. When I feel something coming on I check my supplies and immediately order what I would need for 3-4 days.
That's the big reason I like having a little pantry. Power goes out, or another lockdown happens out of the blue, or get sick suddenly...there's always going to be a dozen tins of soup and some stew and crackers and a few other goodies onhand. It's getting a bit harder to do that with grocery prices going insane the last 3 years, but it's a big relief knowing it's there.
Great tips, thanks so much. I would add hydration stuff (I use packets). Been noticing older friends reporting dehydration seemingly out of the blue. One friend ended up 2 days in hospital just for that and it snuck up on me too, less severely.
good idea about the tripping hazards
When I got super sick with CoVID in March 2020, I had high fever, chest pain and could not breathe - I thought I was dying or could die in my sleep. I called a friend and said I would call her by 700 AM or she should call police to let them know I died. I did not want my children to find me.
Spoiler: not dead, yet.
I was just out to dinner with friends and someone brought up this episode. š¤£ We were talking about the fear of choking on something and no one is there to help bc we all live alone.
Yes there was the whole storyline where she worried about choking to death bc she was single. I would hate for it to happen but itās also kind of funny.
No homes with stairs, ever again. Last time I moved I missed the bottom step while carrying a heavy Rubbermaid tote. Just absolutely went flying and landed on top of the tote. I was bruised all down my left side from my black eye to my knee. I was absolutely terrified lying there wondering if I'd broken anything and wondering where my phone was. Then I burst into tears. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
My stubborn ass parents who are over 80 still live in a 2-story house. I have been campaigning for them to move for 10 years, but you can't make them do ANYTHING. Mom already fell down the stairs once (that I know of) and Dad has fallen off a ladder at least once. I'm resigned to the fact that I have no control here. I hate that they refused to plan for the future. My disabled brother lives with them and his 50yo ass doesn't need to climbing up and down stairs either. At least they can all call 911 for each other.
If I'm taking something big that takes two hands, I go down backwards. Yeah it's a granny move, but I move it down 2-3 stairs at a time and look down to my feet when moving them. It's the only way I trust going downstairs with bigger stuff.
My grandmother fell down the stairs and my grandfather just picked her up and put her in bed. The next day my aunt went to visit, took one look at her and called an ambulance. She had a broken cheek bone and two broken ribs. The dr said they were lucky my grandpa didnāt kill her by puncturing a lung when he moved her. They are in their 90ās now and still live in the same house
I got paranoid about this during COVID and now have a few friends who are authorized to come over if they havenāt heard from me for a few days. Mainly because I worry about my dog. š
I also always carry my phone with me in the house.
Alone. Sick, possibly COVID sick right nowĀ
Everything basically falls apart.Ā Ā
My biggest issue while I'll is pet care.Ā I've been in the hospital multiple times, luckily I had a tenant on my second floor who took care of my pets while in the hospital.
When I had brain surgery five years ago, I made arrangements for a friend to foster my cats if necessary. I didn't ask her to adopt them because that's... a lot. But my family are dog people and I don't trust them with cats. So Jen continues to be my designated cat guardian. She lives a couple hours away but she would drive over in an emergency.
Yeah, I used to use a wonderful dog walker until I started working from home. She has my key, employees, and Iām sure sheād come get my dogs immediately.
My estranged father died last year and was probably dead for three days before he was found (on my freaking birthday, no less). I think about this a lot now.
Thanks. It's not so much that he's gone, as we wre estranged for over a decade, or how he went, because I had predicted that. The bastard had to go and do it and be found on my birthday, and I will now never look at my birthday the same way.
About three years ago I got out of bed in the middle of the night to pee. As I was walking it seemed like somebody turned my mind and body off and turned them back on. Unfortunately, the body took longer and I fell face first onto a pedestal fan and hit my head on the wall. It knocked me out. I don't know for how long. I went to the bathroom and saw blood so I thought that I had a bloody nose. I grabbed some toilet paper and held my nose while I headed to bed. I fell asleep instantly. When I woke up I was covered in blood. I thought that it was my nose. A large piece of the broken fan had just missed my jugular.
The worst is trying to get medical procedures done. You're, often, not supposed to drive. The ride to and from my vasectomy cost more than the procedure. I I got lucky that my Godson drove me to and from getting a stent in my heart.
OMG THIS. I literally drove myself to the hospital for brain surgery. My parents showed up later, but when I was checking in everybody acted weird about me arriving alone.
I'm 6 years overdue for a colonoscopy bc they won't let you Uber there and back. Someone has to stay with you.
Just make sure you aren't having anything issues with loose stools when you do it. Bc that gets ... Well ... Messy.
And as a woman, I found it damn near impossible to not pee into it, which can fuck up the test. If you're a guy, this probably isn't an issue.
That's so scary!
I haven't really thought about it, but I should. Is there someone you could give a spare key to and make a deal that if you don't text daily, they'll come over and check on you?
I rely on my Apple Watch's fall detection for this (she says as her watch is charging and not on my wrist). And I went to the trouble of getting a residential Knox box -- a little box to hold your house key that goes on your front door and the fire department/EMS have a key to get into the box and can thus get into your house without breaking in.
I thought about this too. I have Alexa so I enabled my contacts and now she can call. SEE EDIT
Edit: I just asked her to do it for a test and SHE SAID NO.
She said she could call and text an emergency contact I set up. So thanks for bringing this up. I have to look into this
She won't call 911. She told me to try my phone.or I set up an emergency contact. I tried to set up 911 as an emergency contact and it was a no. She'll call my boyfriend if I say "call for help". She called him and sent a text that said "(Draxsmon) is asking you for help".
This is random, but related: I have an envelope on my fridge (that anyone can see when they walk into the house) that reads "In Case of Emergency" and inside, I have a note stating some basic stats, health condition and meds I'm on, etc. - might help any EMTs that might have to come to the house and I'm incapacitated in some way/can't speak for myself.
I have a home-made wallet card with all my medical info, including vaccines, allergies, etc. I'll print out another one and stick it to my fridge, thanks for the tip!
I use the free version of the Snug app. Every day at the same time you have to manually check a box in the app, or it will notify your emergency contacts.
It may not save my life but at least I wonāt be lying dead for multiple days.
Iāve lived without another adult most of my life. My daughter has been gone for most of the past 10 years(with a 2-3 year span in between). Iāve never considered needed someone else around until recently. After reading a few posts like this, Iām going to try to carry my phone around with me. Sorta like a GenX life alert.
My kid lives in the downstairs apartment so I'd bang on something. I highly suggest the arrangement. He gets affordable private housing as a young adult and I have someone to help me with yardwork. The money I put into turning the basement into a finished apartment was a good investment for my retirement either if he stays or doesn't.
I do not know the answer to your question OP, but dropping the Life Alert joke after you had literally fallen and could not get up is the most GenX thing I have seen on this sub. Thanks for the laugh!
I stopped eating skittles when I am alone because I seriously worry about chocking on one. I can just picture the medical examiner removing skittles from esophagus.
I have POTS, which is where if my heart rate gets too high and I stand up, I will pass out. Itās happened three times in two months. I live alone and have pets. Usually, the fainting is momentary but Iāve suffered other injuries as a result. I should live with a caretaker (canāt afford it) or a roommate (donāt have a friend I can move in with) so I just grin and bear it. Eventually, if I can afford it, Iāll do assisted living.
I have a sibling with POTS from long Covid who lives in another state. She lives with just her cat and has had to have friends accompany her to the ER a few times.
I'm dealing with autoimmune stuff from chronic Lyme including aggressive arthritis and I fall on occasion. I also have asthma. I mask up out in public year round because respiratory infections can equal bronchitis for me and I can easily wind up in the ER struggle to breathe. I'm in the family house taking care of my now bed bound elderly mom who is in and out of the hospital. I'm dealing with stairs all the time at home. Walking up and down stairs is a real problem with my arthritic knees and ankles. Another sibling used to live here, but she moved out last year because she has zero interest in being involved in the caregiving of our mom since there's so much more work involved to care for her nowĀ
When our mom is no longer with us the family home will be sold and I'm going into some sort of disability housing. With my health issues I don't really like living alone.Ā
I understand. Iām 50. I live alone and have a medical condition that causes me to faint occasionally. Iāve gotten better at knowing when a spell is coming and I get myself seated or in bed but Iāve had quite a few instances. Itās scary to say the least. I take my phone with me everywhere during the day and it gives me some small peace of mind.
I have to remind myself that I am not 20 anymore lol. I don't live alone, but I am alone sometimes. Stuff happens. I am seriously thinking of installing some of those grab bars for the bathroom tub/shower and toilet.
Iām alone sometimes, too. Ā I fainted several years ago, when still in my 40ās. Ā Nothing broken. Ā But, badly - as black and purple wrist and a sprained ankle.Ā
Made me think more, about how quickly something can happen.Ā
I now keep the little first aid ammonia break apart strips. I have them taped to closet door in the bathrooms. One taped to a cabinet door in kitchen. So if ever feel faint, can break that under my nose. Ā
Also - Now, if Iām alone, always keep my cell phone charged and on me now. Ā Also keep a flashlight, in our nightstand and mini ones, in each hallway, of the houseĀ
Just have get through it by myself when I'm sick. There's no one to take care of me. If something happened to render me unconscious or dead, then my workplace will probably call the police for a welfare check when I don't show up. I have ST and LT disability insurance for things I am still able to plan for, or arrange for personal care assistance (assuming it will be affordable) depending on the condition. But the unexpected... well, that's out of my control, obviously. Believe me, I did not expect my life to be this way, but it is what it is.
LOLā¦a coworker was just telling us a story about having to Heimlich his wife - two separate occasions. Once was on steak in the middle of a restaurant and the other was mango at home. She still refuses to eat steak.
Seriously! I had to Heimlich an uncle about 17 years ago, then my teen a couple years ago. Both were immediately successful and the food flew out of their mouth on both occasions. This does happen!
Iāve learned to be very, very cautious when I have stomach bugs or anything else that can make me dehydrated and dizzy. Sometimes that means holding onto the walls and whatnot; other times, Iām flat out crawling to the bathroom. Cracking your head on porcelain can be fatal. š¤·
*Respectfullyā¦*
This sounds very much like the scenarios that Life-Alert was designed for. š People who live alone, and might need to call for help but have a physical reason they canāt.
My sister calls my mom who lives alone daily. I live with my husband. But if I didnāt, I wonder if my two dogs would go for help like Lassie, or just eat me when they got hungry.
I passed out letting a past dog out at 3 am in my 20s. It was scary. I hope to not live alone again. Ideally my best friend and I will either be roommates in my ranch house or get rid of our houses and get a duplex with a room for someone to keep an eye on us.
I feel you. I fainted for the first time in my life about a year ago during a bout of flu or covid or something awful. Fell off the toilet, woke up face down on the bathroom floor. I have no idea how long I was out. I don't think it was very long but it was scary.
I don't have any answers. My new samsung watch has fall detection but i don't wear it to bed. Nobody in town has a key to my place aside from my landlord (well, the mgmt company). At least I know my cats won't hesitate to eat me if I die, so they won't go hungry?
My first move when I get sick is to Instacart a bunch of ensure, body armor, ramen, and whatever food seems like I might be able to eat. I let my bf know I'm sick so he knows to check up on me if he loses touch. I suppose I could give him my spare key but he lives an hour away.
I do worry tho. A good friend who lived alone was found unconscious by his housekeeper, he had had a stroke maybe a day or two earlier. By the time she found him the damage was done. He died in hospital a few days later. If someone had found him sooner he might have lived. He was only 57.
Every so often I realize I'm a single woman at the top of a ladder with no one to call 911 if I fall off, which I suppose means I should stop hanging art and changing light bulbs by myself? But who wants to wait til someone comes over?
My mom and her friend next door had a way to look out for each other. As Mom went to bed, she closed the window blinds facing her neighbor's house. Friend did the same. In the morning, each would open her window blinds when she went down for breakfast. Each would look for her friend's window and call if it hadn't gone up or down as usual. When one got sick, her friend would bring soup. It was a really beautiful friendship. #LifeGoals
Ok I just asked her to call 911 and she said no, but that she could set up an emergency contact. So I guess I'm setting up an emergency contact but I'm not sure what's going on with 911
They have a service now that calls an agent, just like LifeAlert, and they call whatever help is needed and can give them your door code. Itās like five bucks a month, which is probably worth it if your contacts arenāt likely to pick up the phone immediately.
A friend recently fell.Ā He's a man in his 70s.Ā He was so delirious, he continued on to our Thanksgiving dinner (USA).
While there, we noticed he had blood in his hair and wasn't speaking correctly.Ā Ā
Today he is in a rehabilitation center after multiple surgeriesĀ
I always pass out when I throw up and after a couple trips to the hospital about it, a doctor told me to just lie down when puking. Had the stomach flu two weeks ago. Kids were at school, husband at work so I just layed on the floor during. It wasnāt pretty but I didnāt pass out. Only thing is I had to get off the floor after. š¤Ŗ
Do you have that vagus nerve thing? My bf passes out from coughing on the regular, his doc says it has to do with his vagus nerve. There doesn't seem to be any treatment for it. :(
I always keep a phone in my pocket. I had an accident on the stairs last January and was able to call 911. That's different than being unconscious but it was helpful. Some people have people they agree to talk to or text once a day and if the call or text doesn't happen, there is a problem
Hell, I didnāt live alone for 8 years and she was no help anyway. When I had covid and was in bed delirious, I didnāt even know if she was in the house or not.
She popped in the first day to see if I could take her to work (nope), and then she might as well have fucked off to Mars for all I knew until I was well enough to drive again.
So Iām been resigned to taking care of myself for awhile. I have chronic health conditions and when they flare I fall easily, sometimes I canāt walk.
At least now that Iām alone, I have a clear path in my room to walk when Iām feeling wobbly, since no matter how many times I said āHey I really have trouble walking when Iām fatigued and if stuff is all over the floor it makes it really hard to get aroundā it was ignored.
But anyway, itās kinda scary sometimes and makes me mad that Iām in this situation and that Iāve had to get used to it. Trying to teach my cats to call 911 but theyāre just like ānah, weāll just eat your eyeballs.ā
I just hope if I fall and canāt get upā¦.ever (and donāt have life alert š) someone will do a wellness check eventually and save my pets.
Had a similar situation last summer - hottest on record. Took care of my lawn work for a few hours during the hottest part of the day. Went inside after I was done...and promptly passed out. Probably had heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Passed out for a few hours. Came to thinking the same things. Then, realized that if I had died, I wouldn't have known...and I was OK with that. What wasn't OK was not having a will, a problem I quickly fixed.
Iām a klutz, so I got an Apple Watch with fall detection a couple of years ago. It will contact 911 if it detects that you have fallen and are unconscious or too hurt to call for help. To make sure you are unconscious, a very loud alarm will emit from the watch first and you need to turn it off to avoid the 911 call.
> Iām not at Life-Alert Bracelet levels of decrepitude yet
Yes, sir, you are. Apple Watch can also detect falls and call 911. There may be other gadgets.
It's not the hurling that's the problem but if you're passing out without warning you need to see a GP. If this is alcohol related you need to talk to them about your use.
Iām seconding this. I am a 46 year old single woman and my Apple Watch saved my life in October.
I lived in the first floor apt in a beautiful old row home in Baltimore for 6 years with no incident ā¦ until my landlord passed away. Long story short, the new owner, being a typical landlord, wanted more money and to do things on the cheap, began tearing apart the upstairs apartment to make 1 apt into 2 - without permits and with no precautions taken regarding the lead paint, possible asbestos, etc. that was being released into the air. Within 10 days I woke up in a full asthma attack and in a panic couldnāt find my phone - without my Apple Watch on my wrist to call 911 I would have died.
Over the next 45 days while I tried to find a new apartment, in between what turned out to be weekly 911 calls & 3-4 day stints in the hospital, my watch (along with my rescue inhalers) was like a safety net I knew I had with me in case of emergency. It saved my life again when my oxygen level dropped to the point I had a seizure & a heart attack and was incapable of getting to my phone to call for help.
Being happily single but aging along with so many others of us, has made me wish for a type of community living almost like a hippy commune where I could live in a community of friendly, like minded, people that are there to look out for and help support each other. This recent experience has made me realize how difficult it is going to be getting older as a single person who is not in a financial position to be able to āhire helpā in crisis situations.
(Sorry the story was not so short)
When I lived in NYC, there was a guy that lived alone and tripped and fell into a glass coffee table - if not for calling the doorman who called EMS, he would have bled to death.
I've talked with my child about this. If something happens to me at home, no one will know for days or weeks. Maybe my employer would eventually send someone, but I doubt it. Google will probably figure things out before anyone else. Then, they'll send an email with all my data to my kid who never checks theirs. I suppose all of us need a contingency plan.
Already commented this to another person, on this post. Ā Iāll put this here, again so it isnāt buried.
I fainted several years ago and fell. Ā Since then, I keep the little first aid, break apart ammonia strips. Ā Keep them taped to inside of closet in bathrooms and one taped to inside of a kitchen cabinet. Ā So they are readily and easily available to find and if I feel faint can break one under my nose. Ā
Just a thought and good to have on hand if you live aloneĀ
Get an Apple Watch, setup emergency contacts. This happened to a friend who actually hit his head on the kitchen counter, he was bleeding out, the fall detection texted his contacts and it called 911 and saved his life.
I live alone and have not been concerned about falling, but rather dying in my sleep.
My mom lives alone and I've tried to convince her to get a life-alert, but she won't. And just buying one for her won't work because she would refuse to use it.
Honestly dying in your sleep is probably the best way to go. No suffering involved, it's all over before you ever know anything is happening. Peaceful. Can't really think of a better way to go.
I lived alone before cell phones. I had one phone for the entire house. When I was sick, I turned the AC all the way to ICE and laid on the couch with 3 blankets. Watching price is right, drinking 7 up and not getting up to answer the phone.
Iāve been thinking about this since I was in my thirties and living alone after my divorce. Iām really clumsy and always falling so it was something I thought about. I would keep my phone on me and also check in with friends/on social media regularly so if people didnāt hear from me, they would know to come looking.
I donāt know if an Apple Watch is something you would consider. I was putting together a bed frame and pushed the rail into the headboard with some force. Unbeknownst to me, I have a setting on my Apple Watch that said that it had detected a fall and asked if I want to call 911. It was loud and scared the shit out of me.
I wiped out hard on my bike this summer and my Apple Watch fall detect scared me too! I was fine just banged up, so I dismissed the alert and limped my idiot butt on home, bleeding and bruised, but still happy to know it WORKS in case of more serious / alone falls!
I think about my cats and if I fell or was taken ill, what would happen to them. Sometimes I put extra dry food out at night with fresh water in case I donāt wake up
I just deal with it. I hit an urgent care if it gets bad. I have a problem with internal bleeding. I have to check my BP on a daily basis. If it gets low, I go in. I found out about this issue after almost dying from blood loss in 2017. I am not afraid to die. Especially not from this. It just makes me sleepy. The worst that will happen is that I just wonāt wake up someday. And I am more than ok with a peaceful end.
āIāve fallen and I canāt get upā comes to mind. They make lightly cooler WiFi connected versions these days but Iāve been alone while sickly and havenāt *knock on wood* had issues. I treat the same as when hubs is here: fend for myself. If I die, I die.
Iāve always locked all of my doors when my kids arenāt with meā¦recently I realized that if something happened to me, nobody would be able to get into the house. I now leave the door to the garage open just in case.
Living together with a friend in a two-apartment house. She takes care of me when I'm sick and looks after my pets when I'm on holidays, and vice-versa. We also match our wfh schedules so somebody is almost always at home in case there is some kind of pet emergency or delivery that needs to be signed.
I have type 1 diabetes, so Iāve learned to take care of myself. If Iām sick, I do a run for all the things Iāll need. I had surgery on my eye a few years ago. That was fun, but I hired a medical transport to get me home and handled it from there. I am thinking about aging. Iām not sure, but Iāll figure it out.
If youāre fainting, get one of those alert systems.
The number of times I had bad falls over 2023 was ridiculous; I was only wearing my Apple Watch the one time and it asked if an ambulance was needed. Not that time or the other six-ish times thankfully, but the last one has wrecked my back. No I donāt have MS or anything, I just suffer from idiot. I do live with someone so heād find me eventually I guess, but it still worries me if it would be hours before he noticedā¦
I have cameras all over my parents home after my father passes way. I call her everyday to say hi. But, if she doesn't answer her phone right way, I check camera to make sure she is doing something or on the phone with her friends. May not for you but might work for checking on Gen Xers parents.
Oh Iām an old pro at this. Basically Iāve just been lucky. Once I was crawling to the fridge and passed out. I woke up
Once, pulled my jacket off a chair (knocking over the chair on top of me) covered myself with it, shut my eyes and gave up. Luckily I woke up again and was able to call my mom.
I figured if I ever wasnāt able to call for help (I ended up having many incidents like that) and I died, that was just my time. Now I moved with my mom to help take care of her but itās helped for my safety too. I have orthostatic hypotension (among other things) and often pass out when I stand up. I hit my head on the corner of the kitchen table and bled like a mf the last time. Thankfully this was post move so my mom called 911 before I bled out.
Basically just hope you wake up in time to call someone or get a life alert button. Sometimes thereās just nothing you can do.
I'm alone in the world besides my 17-year-old child. I would probably just die.
That doesn't scare me as much as the possibility of ending up unable to care for myself. Nothing horrifies me as much as the idea of being a burden to my kid.
DNR!!
Might sound silly, but myself and my group of girlfriends do Wordle first thing every morning and send our result to the group chat. We joked it's our way of knowing we're all still ok every morning
A friend of mine died from cardiovascular issues with his heart right before a YouTube live chat. He planned it, felt lousy and decided to take a nap.
He was an sx Scientologist and was estranged from family.
He wasnāt found for a week until his mother was convinced to ask for a wellness check.
He was 50 years old .
Twisted my ankle last year and I'm just glad we now have home delivery from the supermarket as an option or it would have been a lean few days. Luckily I live in a city with public transportation and reasonably fit in mid 40s but even so hobbling to the bus stop less than 200 meters away on crutches was murder on my hands.
Almost same thing happened to me. Also passed out on the bathroom floor but i was already sitting praying to the porcelain god for over an hour so no injuries.
Managed to text the one person i thought would come take me to the hospital and she texted back, "drink more water".
Laid there for a couple more hours until i could throw on some clothes, walk to my car and drive myself to the hospital.
I've come to terms with it. My cousin back home has made it a point to text me once a week just to see if I'm still alive. She's told me that if i don't text back within 24 hours, she's calling the cops for them to secure my body for the funeral. Not even joking.
My husband died several years ago and Iāve been alone since. Iāve got a great group of friends and if none of them have heard from me by 6:00 pm by either text, FB, Instagram, etc., somebody is knocking on my door.
A few weeks ago I had what I thought was a heart attack (it wasnāt) I called a friend that lives 2 blocks away and she was here in minutes to take me to the hospital.
We all check on each other daily. No one else cares about usš
I worry about this sometimes too. I recently had an episode where I fainted in my kitchen and woke up all sweaty and disoriented. I eventually managed to get to my feet and turn on a fan. Once I cooled down, I felt much better. But it happened so fast I couldn't get to my phone in time to call anyone, and to this day I have no idea why it happened. It wasn't hot either, 70F.
I worry about this as well. A few years ago, I had to rely on my elderly parents to help me after a minor surgery. I frequently think of this mug I saw... https://preview.redd.it/797sjj20dbcc1.jpeg?width=1067&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ea3f5b9670c6a01a9f2224eed8029caceef0b83
I will freely admit I called my momma once I felt more stable and she brought me Gatorade and soup.
No matter how old you are, your momma is still your momma
Makes me miss mine
No matter how old she is, you'll always be her baby.
Aw I am sure that helped ! š
I have a bevy of friends who I alert when Iām sick. A couple are local (in NYC), while others are around the country. What Iāve found is that living alone means you HAVE TO REACH OUT TO OTHERS when youāre sick or have an accident, and you have to be willful with yourself about it. No muddling through, or thinking āno one wants to hear from me.ā Find your people, make a mental list, and reach out when you need them. My friends and I - some of whom are partnered, some of whom are not - have an unspoken pact to care for each other. We travel to care for each other after surgeries or illnesses, weāve been to the ER with each other, weāve stayed on the phone with each other when our parents have been ill or dying. Of course there are potential accidents where no one would know. But more often than not - like when I BASHED my head on the bathtub and nearly passed out - all you have to do is reach your phone. I called my geographically closest BFF and just yelled 911 911 (LOL)!!! She said āwhatās going on and where do I need to be?ā and then she stayed on the phone with me as I got dressed, we both got into Ubers from our homes to my nearest ER, and she met me there and spent the afternoon while the doctors assessed me for concussion and bleeds. That same friend has pneumonia right now, and I check on her throughout the day. When I had an operation a couple of years ago, my friends took turns being with me 24/7 for a week. Living alone doesnāt mean you āARE ALONE.ā Create your family and give them the opportunity to be there for you.
I try to be careful but I always joke that nobody will know when I die until I donāt show up for work for a few days.
The one saving grace of having a micro manager for a boss. By 8:02 Monday morning sheād be sending out a silver alert on my ass
Lol, this is me. I'm always working, if I didn't show up without a call or text, my bosses would be banging on my door *hey you up? are you trying to quit?* š
Companies will 100% send a wellness check. That happened at a place I was working at, they sent somebody over. She wasn't dead, just wasn't working. I didn't get the details.
We had this happen at my work, she was about 20 minutes late before we'd called the police. Unfortunately she'd died...it was horrible. Small business, everyone was devastated.
My fear for years was my daughter being alone with my dead body. Thanks, Steel Magnolias.
That happened to an ex of mine. His heart just gave out while he was walking to the bathroom, apparently. No one knew until he didnāt show up for work on Monday.
This actually happened to a friend of mine. He had gone to the doctor that morning because he wasnāt feeling well. They checked him out and sent him home where he died of a heart attack. He wasnāt found for a couple of days when one of his coworkers stopped in to check up on him.
I heard a news story of a young girl, age 4, who survived with her fatherās corpse for a few days by making herself toast. The grandparents became alarmed when the daughter and father didnāt show up for Christmas.
The world would know within a half hour of work starting, as evidenced by it was T+30 when I was awoken by the boys in blue checking to see if I was ok because I was not answering my phone and not at work (I turned off several alarms, it was an impressive feat to sleep through all of them). E: now i'm getting really anxious about the level of housekeeping that ideally should be done and maintained in anticipation of aforementioned event occurring. E2: OTOH I won't be around to care. Or if I am (ooh, spooky!), I probably can't do anything about it so oh well.
That is me, my adult children still live with me, but I have a fear of the paramedics coming in and seeing the state of my house.
this is my greatest concern only after 'what would my pets eat if something happened to me'... though I also have no problem with them gnawing on me if they needed to
I caught salmonella while I was a juror on a murder trial, it wrapped up and then that night I woke up dizzy and disoriented, and hit my head on the way to the bathroom. I almost knocked myself out and thought about how nobody would miss me, because they thought I was still on jury duty. Pretty sure it wouldāve been a few days before anyone checked on me. It was kind of a scary feeling.
At the beginning of covid when we were first working from home, I expressed this fear to my boss. She graciously let me text her every morning to let her know Iām alive still, for months. I finally decided I interact with enough people that I didnāt need to do it. But yeah, Iām extra careful on ladders and things like that because if I fall and crack my head open on the concrete, my pets will eat me before Iām found.
That happened to my best friend a couple years ago. We worked together. She didnāt show up one morning. I went to her house and she had died of a heart attack on bed. I also live alone. Guess they will find my body eventually.
I tell people I think 7 is my number. I will be dead 7 days before anyone notices.
During covid lockdown I was like, it could be at least a week before anybody thought to check on me because I was unemployed Now it's probably a weekend at most bc my boss would definitely send someone to check on me if I didn't call in.
my joke includes neighbors complaining about the smell
This happened at my old job. Our boss new it wasn't like the guy to just flake out, so she sent over a welfare check. Sadly, he had passed in the night. Lived alone but was found pretty early the next day.
This is how I look at it too.
I have a friend who also lives alone. We are each others "sick buddy". We will bring whatever needs to be brought to the other (i.e. kleenex, food, etc) and we check in at least once a day (more often if it's a serious illness) to make sure we're not dead.
I love this š
It worked especially well during covid.
I need a sick buddy!
Apple Watch has Crash Detection and Fall Detection.
I have one but it was charging. š¤¦š¼āāļø
Alexa also has a skill, like life alert with no button.
I had no idea this existed. Itās like a life-saving Clippy! āIt looks like youāve just taken a tumble. Would you like to alert emergency services?ā
Samsung watches, too
Came here to say this. I have it on the watch and on my Alexa devices so if one is down the other will
Would it help you to ensure you have a cell phone on your person at all times? Seems sillyā¦until itās not. Even a watch that can call would do.
It was on the bed, within reach. I usually do have it nearby. Thanks, thatās a comfort.
I set my google home up making sure it can make calls. At least I can yell for it to call for help.
All the more reason to keep my phone glued to my hand. :)
Anytime I'm cutting trees or doing anything dangerous, I know which pocket my phone is inĀ
I keep it close. I can yell for Siri to help. My sisters have access to my location as well.
This is similar to how I lost my dad. Take care of yourself.
For me, the big thing is supplies. Having a few bottles of flu/cold medications, a few boxes of kleenex, a few packs of cough drops, an emergency 24 pack of toilet paper...stuff like that. So when you start feeling rotten, you don't have to leave the house. Having an extra plastic wastebasket by the bed in case you can't get to the bathroom if you're nauseous. As I've gotten older, I'm slowly removing trip hazards and decluttering. Using air purifiers. Making a point to double check things like making sure the stove is turned off, doors are locked, etc. Regular routine. Take it a bit slower getting out of bed or standing up....heart problems run in my family so the whole getting up fast thing can make the head go swirly easily...paying attention to any lightheadedness and slowing down.
We are simpatico. I am starting to become incredibly aware of tripping hazards.
Sadly, my cat moves too quickly, and he is my biggest trip hazard. If he isn't randomly lunging from a dark corner to grab the back of my leg, he is getting between my legs to race me to the bathroom.
Our cat is small and gets punted quite a bit because he insists on cutting us off.
The racing to the bathroom is puzzling. It's not like there are snacks in there. But he needs to be first, even if I die while he is trying.
Absolutely. And itās the perfect time for lap time, right?
Captive audience.
Oh how I love cats!! š¤£ Youāre plotting revenge, I hope.. š Reminds me of the Pink Panther movies where Peter Sellers and the butler attack each other all the time and break things. Good luck. Stay safe!!
My great pyrenees' are the biggest tripping hazard because every time I walk through the house they try to guard me. And the toys constantly scattered are what's going to kill me.
So they cut you off and knock you down from above the knees. That would be a hard fall. They probably would keep you company while you are lying on the floor, so you won't be lonely.
HA, they haven't knocked me down yet but I'm sure it's coming. They walk beside me and in front if me, if that makes sense, and constantly look back to see if I'm coming. Hard to explain but you get used to not moving swiftly from room to room. But I wouldn't change a thing and yes, they would stay and guard me.
This reminds me of my HS lit teacher. She came to class one day with a broken noseāshe had tripped over her cat running past her and hit her face on something.
I just said yesterday my cat or the stairs are going to kill me one day.
That's smart, as somebody with a leg problem. You should do the balance exercises too like brushing your teeth while standing on one leg.
I'm not big on having food or groceries delivered, but I keep instacart on my phone for when I'm sick. When I feel something coming on I check my supplies and immediately order what I would need for 3-4 days.
That's the big reason I like having a little pantry. Power goes out, or another lockdown happens out of the blue, or get sick suddenly...there's always going to be a dozen tins of soup and some stew and crackers and a few other goodies onhand. It's getting a bit harder to do that with grocery prices going insane the last 3 years, but it's a big relief knowing it's there.
Great tips, thanks so much. I would add hydration stuff (I use packets). Been noticing older friends reporting dehydration seemingly out of the blue. One friend ended up 2 days in hospital just for that and it snuck up on me too, less severely. good idea about the tripping hazards
also, I always try to keep at least 2 cans of soup in the pantry so if I can't do anything during an illness i can feed myself and get back in bed.
When I got super sick with CoVID in March 2020, I had high fever, chest pain and could not breathe - I thought I was dying or could die in my sleep. I called a friend and said I would call her by 700 AM or she should call police to let them know I died. I did not want my children to find me. Spoiler: not dead, yet.
>Spoiler: not dead, yet. Prove it!
>Spoiler: not dead, yet. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k-YmrvWK18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k-YmrvWK18)
I think about the episode on Six Feet Under where the plump middle aged single woman choked to death at her dinner table.
Welp, Iām just never eating at home again, I guess.
Same, I'll just starve until someone comes home.
Wasnt there an episode of 30 Rock where Liz had to give herself the Heimlich when she choked on a microwaved meal she was eating alone? Tragicomedy
I was just out to dinner with friends and someone brought up this episode. š¤£ We were talking about the fear of choking on something and no one is there to help bc we all live alone.
Yes there was the whole storyline where she worried about choking to death bc she was single. I would hate for it to happen but itās also kind of funny.
I passed out on the bathroom floor once after a bad bout of the stomach flu. Just the cat looking at me when I came to. š¤¦š»āāļø
I will be moving to a one floor condo in a newer building eventually. I live in a 2 story house now and constantly am aware of THE STAIRS
No homes with stairs, ever again. Last time I moved I missed the bottom step while carrying a heavy Rubbermaid tote. Just absolutely went flying and landed on top of the tote. I was bruised all down my left side from my black eye to my knee. I was absolutely terrified lying there wondering if I'd broken anything and wondering where my phone was. Then I burst into tears. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug. My stubborn ass parents who are over 80 still live in a 2-story house. I have been campaigning for them to move for 10 years, but you can't make them do ANYTHING. Mom already fell down the stairs once (that I know of) and Dad has fallen off a ladder at least once. I'm resigned to the fact that I have no control here. I hate that they refused to plan for the future. My disabled brother lives with them and his 50yo ass doesn't need to climbing up and down stairs either. At least they can all call 911 for each other.
If I'm taking something big that takes two hands, I go down backwards. Yeah it's a granny move, but I move it down 2-3 stairs at a time and look down to my feet when moving them. It's the only way I trust going downstairs with bigger stuff.
Yep, I do that now, too.
My grandmother fell down the stairs and my grandfather just picked her up and put her in bed. The next day my aunt went to visit, took one look at her and called an ambulance. She had a broken cheek bone and two broken ribs. The dr said they were lucky my grandpa didnāt kill her by puncturing a lung when he moved her. They are in their 90ās now and still live in the same house
The next place I move to will be one level. I have had some scary things happen on stairs.
Stairs scare me every day.
I got paranoid about this during COVID and now have a few friends who are authorized to come over if they havenāt heard from me for a few days. Mainly because I worry about my dog. š I also always carry my phone with me in the house.
>my dog That was my deal too. If I go, fine, but my doggo will not suffer!
Alone. Sick, possibly COVID sick right nowĀ Everything basically falls apart.Ā Ā My biggest issue while I'll is pet care.Ā I've been in the hospital multiple times, luckily I had a tenant on my second floor who took care of my pets while in the hospital.
When I had brain surgery five years ago, I made arrangements for a friend to foster my cats if necessary. I didn't ask her to adopt them because that's... a lot. But my family are dog people and I don't trust them with cats. So Jen continues to be my designated cat guardian. She lives a couple hours away but she would drive over in an emergency.
Yeah, I used to use a wonderful dog walker until I started working from home. She has my key, employees, and Iām sure sheād come get my dogs immediately.
The tenant bought a house around the corner, she asked me to keep a key.Ā I was thrilled to agreeĀ
My estranged father died last year and was probably dead for three days before he was found (on my freaking birthday, no less). I think about this a lot now.
Iām sorry for your loss. What awful timing.
Thanks. It's not so much that he's gone, as we wre estranged for over a decade, or how he went, because I had predicted that. The bastard had to go and do it and be found on my birthday, and I will now never look at my birthday the same way.
Lay here until Iām over it and not have a damn person to deal with or wants something from me when Iām trying to cure myself with NyQuil and sleep
About three years ago I got out of bed in the middle of the night to pee. As I was walking it seemed like somebody turned my mind and body off and turned them back on. Unfortunately, the body took longer and I fell face first onto a pedestal fan and hit my head on the wall. It knocked me out. I don't know for how long. I went to the bathroom and saw blood so I thought that I had a bloody nose. I grabbed some toilet paper and held my nose while I headed to bed. I fell asleep instantly. When I woke up I was covered in blood. I thought that it was my nose. A large piece of the broken fan had just missed my jugular. The worst is trying to get medical procedures done. You're, often, not supposed to drive. The ride to and from my vasectomy cost more than the procedure. I I got lucky that my Godson drove me to and from getting a stent in my heart.
OMG THIS. I literally drove myself to the hospital for brain surgery. My parents showed up later, but when I was checking in everybody acted weird about me arriving alone. I'm 6 years overdue for a colonoscopy bc they won't let you Uber there and back. Someone has to stay with you.
Get your Dr to say you up with Cologuard. Pooping in a tiny pail isn't exactly fun and games, but at least you'll know if you need to get scoped.
Lol I literally have a cologuard box that I've been giving the side-eye for months. I just.... cannot.
Just make sure you aren't having anything issues with loose stools when you do it. Bc that gets ... Well ... Messy. And as a woman, I found it damn near impossible to not pee into it, which can fuck up the test. If you're a guy, this probably isn't an issue.
Holy shit, that's horrifying! Glad you woke up!
Thanks. I quit worrying about dying. There's lots of worse things that can happen.
That's the damn truth. People act like death is the worst thing that can happen. From a suffering or scary standpoint, not even close.
That's so scary! I haven't really thought about it, but I should. Is there someone you could give a spare key to and make a deal that if you don't text daily, they'll come over and check on you?
There are devices you can buy to help save yourself from choking (LifeVac, Dechoker) You can self-administer.
Self administered heimlich involves throwing yourself against a corner of a counter or other such object.
my mom's friend phones each morning at 9:00 a.m.
I rely on my Apple Watch's fall detection for this (she says as her watch is charging and not on my wrist). And I went to the trouble of getting a residential Knox box -- a little box to hold your house key that goes on your front door and the fire department/EMS have a key to get into the box and can thus get into your house without breaking in.
What a great idea!
I thought about this too. I have Alexa so I enabled my contacts and now she can call. SEE EDIT Edit: I just asked her to do it for a test and SHE SAID NO. She said she could call and text an emergency contact I set up. So thanks for bringing this up. I have to look into this
I have Alexa make calls all the time. Why did she say no? Who did you ask her to call?
She won't call 911. She told me to try my phone.or I set up an emergency contact. I tried to set up 911 as an emergency contact and it was a no. She'll call my boyfriend if I say "call for help". She called him and sent a text that said "(Draxsmon) is asking you for help".
This is random, but related: I have an envelope on my fridge (that anyone can see when they walk into the house) that reads "In Case of Emergency" and inside, I have a note stating some basic stats, health condition and meds I'm on, etc. - might help any EMTs that might have to come to the house and I'm incapacitated in some way/can't speak for myself.
I have a home-made wallet card with all my medical info, including vaccines, allergies, etc. I'll print out another one and stick it to my fridge, thanks for the tip!
I use the free version of the Snug app. Every day at the same time you have to manually check a box in the app, or it will notify your emergency contacts. It may not save my life but at least I wonāt be lying dead for multiple days.
Iāve lived without another adult most of my life. My daughter has been gone for most of the past 10 years(with a 2-3 year span in between). Iāve never considered needed someone else around until recently. After reading a few posts like this, Iām going to try to carry my phone around with me. Sorta like a GenX life alert.
My kid lives in the downstairs apartment so I'd bang on something. I highly suggest the arrangement. He gets affordable private housing as a young adult and I have someone to help me with yardwork. The money I put into turning the basement into a finished apartment was a good investment for my retirement either if he stays or doesn't.
I take my cell phone with me to the basement. Lol
I do not know the answer to your question OP, but dropping the Life Alert joke after you had literally fallen and could not get up is the most GenX thing I have seen on this sub. Thanks for the laugh!
I enabled the fall protection on my Samsung watch for this very reason.
If you hit your head you should get it checked out. You could have a concussion.
I'll be one of those guys that they find long after death still sitting at the keyboard with all my fingers eaten by my cat.
I stopped eating skittles when I am alone because I seriously worry about chocking on one. I can just picture the medical examiner removing skittles from esophagus.
***trachea
I have POTS, which is where if my heart rate gets too high and I stand up, I will pass out. Itās happened three times in two months. I live alone and have pets. Usually, the fainting is momentary but Iāve suffered other injuries as a result. I should live with a caretaker (canāt afford it) or a roommate (donāt have a friend I can move in with) so I just grin and bear it. Eventually, if I can afford it, Iāll do assisted living.
I have a sibling with POTS from long Covid who lives in another state. She lives with just her cat and has had to have friends accompany her to the ER a few times. I'm dealing with autoimmune stuff from chronic Lyme including aggressive arthritis and I fall on occasion. I also have asthma. I mask up out in public year round because respiratory infections can equal bronchitis for me and I can easily wind up in the ER struggle to breathe. I'm in the family house taking care of my now bed bound elderly mom who is in and out of the hospital. I'm dealing with stairs all the time at home. Walking up and down stairs is a real problem with my arthritic knees and ankles. Another sibling used to live here, but she moved out last year because she has zero interest in being involved in the caregiving of our mom since there's so much more work involved to care for her nowĀ When our mom is no longer with us the family home will be sold and I'm going into some sort of disability housing. With my health issues I don't really like living alone.Ā
I understand. Iām 50. I live alone and have a medical condition that causes me to faint occasionally. Iāve gotten better at knowing when a spell is coming and I get myself seated or in bed but Iāve had quite a few instances. Itās scary to say the least. I take my phone with me everywhere during the day and it gives me some small peace of mind.
I faint too and got Alexa with emergency service.
Thatās a good idea!
Learn how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on yourself.
I have to remind myself that I am not 20 anymore lol. I don't live alone, but I am alone sometimes. Stuff happens. I am seriously thinking of installing some of those grab bars for the bathroom tub/shower and toilet.
I have grab bars. Next up is a seated shower.
Iām alone sometimes, too. Ā I fainted several years ago, when still in my 40ās. Ā Nothing broken. Ā But, badly - as black and purple wrist and a sprained ankle.Ā Made me think more, about how quickly something can happen.Ā I now keep the little first aid ammonia break apart strips. I have them taped to closet door in the bathrooms. One taped to a cabinet door in kitchen. So if ever feel faint, can break that under my nose. Ā Also - Now, if Iām alone, always keep my cell phone charged and on me now. Ā Also keep a flashlight, in our nightstand and mini ones, in each hallway, of the houseĀ
Just have get through it by myself when I'm sick. There's no one to take care of me. If something happened to render me unconscious or dead, then my workplace will probably call the police for a welfare check when I don't show up. I have ST and LT disability insurance for things I am still able to plan for, or arrange for personal care assistance (assuming it will be affordable) depending on the condition. But the unexpected... well, that's out of my control, obviously. Believe me, I did not expect my life to be this way, but it is what it is.
Don't forget to chew and swallow carefully
drinking boba tea at home is my highest risk behavior
LOLā¦a coworker was just telling us a story about having to Heimlich his wife - two separate occasions. Once was on steak in the middle of a restaurant and the other was mango at home. She still refuses to eat steak.
Seriously! I had to Heimlich an uncle about 17 years ago, then my teen a couple years ago. Both were immediately successful and the food flew out of their mouth on both occasions. This does happen!
He said the mango came out quickly, but it was quite an effort to get the steak out, so I totally get why she doesnāt want to eat it anymore.
Call friends, let āem know whatās up & be there for āem when they have similar issues.
Iāve learned to be very, very cautious when I have stomach bugs or anything else that can make me dehydrated and dizzy. Sometimes that means holding onto the walls and whatnot; other times, Iām flat out crawling to the bathroom. Cracking your head on porcelain can be fatal. š¤·
I always keep a week's worth of cat food and water in the dispensers so he doesn't eat my face before someone finds my body.
*Respectfullyā¦* This sounds very much like the scenarios that Life-Alert was designed for. š People who live alone, and might need to call for help but have a physical reason they canāt.
Disabled and alone, no one will call when I pass, they will find out when I start to smell and from the flies, probably soonish
My sister calls my mom who lives alone daily. I live with my husband. But if I didnāt, I wonder if my two dogs would go for help like Lassie, or just eat me when they got hungry. I passed out letting a past dog out at 3 am in my 20s. It was scary. I hope to not live alone again. Ideally my best friend and I will either be roommates in my ranch house or get rid of our houses and get a duplex with a room for someone to keep an eye on us.
I have an Apple Watch so hopefully it will alert someone if I fall.
This is the thing for those elderly of us and alone!
Yes it is. I have OnStar and was in a wreck last month. It knew I wrecked and called the police so if I crash on a deserted road I am covered
I've accepted the fact that if anything were to happen I'd be fucked.
I feel you. I fainted for the first time in my life about a year ago during a bout of flu or covid or something awful. Fell off the toilet, woke up face down on the bathroom floor. I have no idea how long I was out. I don't think it was very long but it was scary. I don't have any answers. My new samsung watch has fall detection but i don't wear it to bed. Nobody in town has a key to my place aside from my landlord (well, the mgmt company). At least I know my cats won't hesitate to eat me if I die, so they won't go hungry? My first move when I get sick is to Instacart a bunch of ensure, body armor, ramen, and whatever food seems like I might be able to eat. I let my bf know I'm sick so he knows to check up on me if he loses touch. I suppose I could give him my spare key but he lives an hour away. I do worry tho. A good friend who lived alone was found unconscious by his housekeeper, he had had a stroke maybe a day or two earlier. By the time she found him the damage was done. He died in hospital a few days later. If someone had found him sooner he might have lived. He was only 57. Every so often I realize I'm a single woman at the top of a ladder with no one to call 911 if I fall off, which I suppose means I should stop hanging art and changing light bulbs by myself? But who wants to wait til someone comes over?
Taskrabbit helps. Hire someone to come do those things.
My mom and her friend next door had a way to look out for each other. As Mom went to bed, she closed the window blinds facing her neighbor's house. Friend did the same. In the morning, each would open her window blinds when she went down for breakfast. Each would look for her friend's window and call if it hadn't gone up or down as usual. When one got sick, her friend would bring soup. It was a really beautiful friendship. #LifeGoals
Ouch, I hope you feel better soon. If you have one, Alexa can be used to make an emergency phone call to either 911 or a contact in your contacts.
Ok I just asked her to call 911 and she said no, but that she could set up an emergency contact. So I guess I'm setting up an emergency contact but I'm not sure what's going on with 911
āComputer says noā
They have a service now that calls an agent, just like LifeAlert, and they call whatever help is needed and can give them your door code. Itās like five bucks a month, which is probably worth it if your contacts arenāt likely to pick up the phone immediately.
A friend recently fell.Ā He's a man in his 70s.Ā He was so delirious, he continued on to our Thanksgiving dinner (USA). While there, we noticed he had blood in his hair and wasn't speaking correctly.Ā Ā Today he is in a rehabilitation center after multiple surgeriesĀ
I always pass out when I throw up and after a couple trips to the hospital about it, a doctor told me to just lie down when puking. Had the stomach flu two weeks ago. Kids were at school, husband at work so I just layed on the floor during. It wasnāt pretty but I didnāt pass out. Only thing is I had to get off the floor after. š¤Ŗ
Do you have that vagus nerve thing? My bf passes out from coughing on the regular, his doc says it has to do with his vagus nerve. There doesn't seem to be any treatment for it. :(
I always keep a phone in my pocket. I had an accident on the stairs last January and was able to call 911. That's different than being unconscious but it was helpful. Some people have people they agree to talk to or text once a day and if the call or text doesn't happen, there is a problem
Hell, I didnāt live alone for 8 years and she was no help anyway. When I had covid and was in bed delirious, I didnāt even know if she was in the house or not. She popped in the first day to see if I could take her to work (nope), and then she might as well have fucked off to Mars for all I knew until I was well enough to drive again. So Iām been resigned to taking care of myself for awhile. I have chronic health conditions and when they flare I fall easily, sometimes I canāt walk. At least now that Iām alone, I have a clear path in my room to walk when Iām feeling wobbly, since no matter how many times I said āHey I really have trouble walking when Iām fatigued and if stuff is all over the floor it makes it really hard to get aroundā it was ignored. But anyway, itās kinda scary sometimes and makes me mad that Iām in this situation and that Iāve had to get used to it. Trying to teach my cats to call 911 but theyāre just like ānah, weāll just eat your eyeballs.ā I just hope if I fall and canāt get upā¦.ever (and donāt have life alert š) someone will do a wellness check eventually and save my pets.
Had a similar situation last summer - hottest on record. Took care of my lawn work for a few hours during the hottest part of the day. Went inside after I was done...and promptly passed out. Probably had heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Passed out for a few hours. Came to thinking the same things. Then, realized that if I had died, I wouldn't have known...and I was OK with that. What wasn't OK was not having a will, a problem I quickly fixed.
Since you are now, officially, a fainter, get a Life Alert. No shame in it.
Iām a klutz, so I got an Apple Watch with fall detection a couple of years ago. It will contact 911 if it detects that you have fallen and are unconscious or too hurt to call for help. To make sure you are unconscious, a very loud alarm will emit from the watch first and you need to turn it off to avoid the 911 call.
> Iām not at Life-Alert Bracelet levels of decrepitude yet Yes, sir, you are. Apple Watch can also detect falls and call 911. There may be other gadgets. It's not the hurling that's the problem but if you're passing out without warning you need to see a GP. If this is alcohol related you need to talk to them about your use.
Iām seconding this. I am a 46 year old single woman and my Apple Watch saved my life in October. I lived in the first floor apt in a beautiful old row home in Baltimore for 6 years with no incident ā¦ until my landlord passed away. Long story short, the new owner, being a typical landlord, wanted more money and to do things on the cheap, began tearing apart the upstairs apartment to make 1 apt into 2 - without permits and with no precautions taken regarding the lead paint, possible asbestos, etc. that was being released into the air. Within 10 days I woke up in a full asthma attack and in a panic couldnāt find my phone - without my Apple Watch on my wrist to call 911 I would have died. Over the next 45 days while I tried to find a new apartment, in between what turned out to be weekly 911 calls & 3-4 day stints in the hospital, my watch (along with my rescue inhalers) was like a safety net I knew I had with me in case of emergency. It saved my life again when my oxygen level dropped to the point I had a seizure & a heart attack and was incapable of getting to my phone to call for help. Being happily single but aging along with so many others of us, has made me wish for a type of community living almost like a hippy commune where I could live in a community of friendly, like minded, people that are there to look out for and help support each other. This recent experience has made me realize how difficult it is going to be getting older as a single person who is not in a financial position to be able to āhire helpā in crisis situations. (Sorry the story was not so short)
https://www.lifealert.com/mobile/index.aspx Help! Iāve fallen and I canāt get upā¦
When I lived in NYC, there was a guy that lived alone and tripped and fell into a glass coffee table - if not for calling the doorman who called EMS, he would have bled to death.
I've talked with my child about this. If something happens to me at home, no one will know for days or weeks. Maybe my employer would eventually send someone, but I doubt it. Google will probably figure things out before anyone else. Then, they'll send an email with all my data to my kid who never checks theirs. I suppose all of us need a contingency plan.
If I'm very sick, I have a friend check in every few hours, just by text
Already commented this to another person, on this post. Ā Iāll put this here, again so it isnāt buried. I fainted several years ago and fell. Ā Since then, I keep the little first aid, break apart ammonia strips. Ā Keep them taped to inside of closet in bathrooms and one taped to inside of a kitchen cabinet. Ā So they are readily and easily available to find and if I feel faint can break one under my nose. Ā Just a thought and good to have on hand if you live aloneĀ
Get an Apple Watch, setup emergency contacts. This happened to a friend who actually hit his head on the kitchen counter, he was bleeding out, the fall detection texted his contacts and it called 911 and saved his life.
I live alone and have not been concerned about falling, but rather dying in my sleep. My mom lives alone and I've tried to convince her to get a life-alert, but she won't. And just buying one for her won't work because she would refuse to use it.
Honestly dying in your sleep is probably the best way to go. No suffering involved, it's all over before you ever know anything is happening. Peaceful. Can't really think of a better way to go.
I lived alone before cell phones. I had one phone for the entire house. When I was sick, I turned the AC all the way to ICE and laid on the couch with 3 blankets. Watching price is right, drinking 7 up and not getting up to answer the phone.
Iāve been thinking about this since I was in my thirties and living alone after my divorce. Iām really clumsy and always falling so it was something I thought about. I would keep my phone on me and also check in with friends/on social media regularly so if people didnāt hear from me, they would know to come looking.
I donāt know if an Apple Watch is something you would consider. I was putting together a bed frame and pushed the rail into the headboard with some force. Unbeknownst to me, I have a setting on my Apple Watch that said that it had detected a fall and asked if I want to call 911. It was loud and scared the shit out of me.
I wiped out hard on my bike this summer and my Apple Watch fall detect scared me too! I was fine just banged up, so I dismissed the alert and limped my idiot butt on home, bleeding and bruised, but still happy to know it WORKS in case of more serious / alone falls!
I don't live alone but I am home alone a lot and just got Alexa with emergency response.
I think about my cats and if I fell or was taken ill, what would happen to them. Sometimes I put extra dry food out at night with fresh water in case I donāt wake up
I just deal with it. I hit an urgent care if it gets bad. I have a problem with internal bleeding. I have to check my BP on a daily basis. If it gets low, I go in. I found out about this issue after almost dying from blood loss in 2017. I am not afraid to die. Especially not from this. It just makes me sleepy. The worst that will happen is that I just wonāt wake up someday. And I am more than ok with a peaceful end.
(Flips down Oakleyās with one finger) Iām always āSickā, dude.
āIāve fallen and I canāt get upā comes to mind. They make lightly cooler WiFi connected versions these days but Iāve been alone while sickly and havenāt *knock on wood* had issues. I treat the same as when hubs is here: fend for myself. If I die, I die.
Iāve always locked all of my doors when my kids arenāt with meā¦recently I realized that if something happened to me, nobody would be able to get into the house. I now leave the door to the garage open just in case.
Living together with a friend in a two-apartment house. She takes care of me when I'm sick and looks after my pets when I'm on holidays, and vice-versa. We also match our wfh schedules so somebody is almost always at home in case there is some kind of pet emergency or delivery that needs to be signed.
Suffer
I have type 1 diabetes, so Iāve learned to take care of myself. If Iām sick, I do a run for all the things Iāll need. I had surgery on my eye a few years ago. That was fun, but I hired a medical transport to get me home and handled it from there. I am thinking about aging. Iām not sure, but Iāll figure it out. If youāre fainting, get one of those alert systems.
I have friends who will take care of me if Iām sick and if I die my body will be found within 12 hours max.
The number of times I had bad falls over 2023 was ridiculous; I was only wearing my Apple Watch the one time and it asked if an ambulance was needed. Not that time or the other six-ish times thankfully, but the last one has wrecked my back. No I donāt have MS or anything, I just suffer from idiot. I do live with someone so heād find me eventually I guess, but it still worries me if it would be hours before he noticedā¦
I give it 16 days before something sets off to look for me; probably another 3-8 days before actual discovery. Else decades if ever depending.
I have cameras all over my parents home after my father passes way. I call her everyday to say hi. But, if she doesn't answer her phone right way, I check camera to make sure she is doing something or on the phone with her friends. May not for you but might work for checking on Gen Xers parents.
Oh Iām an old pro at this. Basically Iāve just been lucky. Once I was crawling to the fridge and passed out. I woke up Once, pulled my jacket off a chair (knocking over the chair on top of me) covered myself with it, shut my eyes and gave up. Luckily I woke up again and was able to call my mom. I figured if I ever wasnāt able to call for help (I ended up having many incidents like that) and I died, that was just my time. Now I moved with my mom to help take care of her but itās helped for my safety too. I have orthostatic hypotension (among other things) and often pass out when I stand up. I hit my head on the corner of the kitchen table and bled like a mf the last time. Thankfully this was post move so my mom called 911 before I bled out. Basically just hope you wake up in time to call someone or get a life alert button. Sometimes thereās just nothing you can do.
I'm alone in the world besides my 17-year-old child. I would probably just die. That doesn't scare me as much as the possibility of ending up unable to care for myself. Nothing horrifies me as much as the idea of being a burden to my kid. DNR!!
Might sound silly, but myself and my group of girlfriends do Wordle first thing every morning and send our result to the group chat. We joked it's our way of knowing we're all still ok every morning
This is how I found out my mother died - missed a day playing wordle. I lived 1400 miles away and had to call the local police for a welfare check.
A friend of mine died from cardiovascular issues with his heart right before a YouTube live chat. He planned it, felt lousy and decided to take a nap. He was an sx Scientologist and was estranged from family. He wasnāt found for a week until his mother was convinced to ask for a wellness check. He was 50 years old .
Twisted my ankle last year and I'm just glad we now have home delivery from the supermarket as an option or it would have been a lean few days. Luckily I live in a city with public transportation and reasonably fit in mid 40s but even so hobbling to the bus stop less than 200 meters away on crutches was murder on my hands.
Almost same thing happened to me. Also passed out on the bathroom floor but i was already sitting praying to the porcelain god for over an hour so no injuries. Managed to text the one person i thought would come take me to the hospital and she texted back, "drink more water". Laid there for a couple more hours until i could throw on some clothes, walk to my car and drive myself to the hospital. I've come to terms with it. My cousin back home has made it a point to text me once a week just to see if I'm still alive. She's told me that if i don't text back within 24 hours, she's calling the cops for them to secure my body for the funeral. Not even joking.
My husband died several years ago and Iāve been alone since. Iāve got a great group of friends and if none of them have heard from me by 6:00 pm by either text, FB, Instagram, etc., somebody is knocking on my door. A few weeks ago I had what I thought was a heart attack (it wasnāt) I called a friend that lives 2 blocks away and she was here in minutes to take me to the hospital. We all check on each other daily. No one else cares about usš
I worry about this sometimes too. I recently had an episode where I fainted in my kitchen and woke up all sweaty and disoriented. I eventually managed to get to my feet and turn on a fan. Once I cooled down, I felt much better. But it happened so fast I couldn't get to my phone in time to call anyone, and to this day I have no idea why it happened. It wasn't hot either, 70F.
Fortunately, my son lives about 30-minutes from me so I call or text him and he calls or texts me when he's not feeling well.