“This is supposed to be the time of my life – the nest is empty; but now Mom needs me.”

Exhausted from the long weekend, my husband and I just wanted to sleep in, but at 7 AM we were awakened by talking next door at Mom’s. At first I just thought Mom was talking to herself but then my phone rang. It was Lifeline calling to say they detected a fall at my mom’s and there was no response when they tried to reach her, so they called 911 to respond. YIKES!

I jumped out of bed as sirens were blaring outside coming down our street…. uh oh! Grabbed the key and ran into Mom’s house. There she was sitting on her kitchen floor bleeding from a cut on her head. She was conscious but looked a little disoriented – she had fallen asleep and slipped off her bench and hit the floor – again! (We are definitely getting rid of that bench). I let the paramedics in while my husband tended to Mom…. and then the day began!

So the paramedics checked Mom out – put some ice on her head, took her vitals and suggested she go to the hospital just to be sure. Mom seemed pretty cool about that (she actually doesn’t mind being in hospitals – likes having people around I guess) but she wanted us to take her instead of going in the ambulance. The paramedics were OK with that since she was coherent and all, so we got Mom ready and off we went.

Traffic was horrible – rush hour and all, but we got to the hospital and got Mom checked in. Her head was bleeding sporadically and her blood pressure was high, but all in all Mom was doing quite well. She was taken to a room to see a doctor…. and there we sat. Three hours later we finally got out of there – Mom with a bandage on her head and feeling great. All she talked about was how hungry she was and how she wanted to go eat – yup, she must be fine!

So we grabbed some food and got Mom settled back into her house, and then she took a well deserved long nap. I wish my husband and I could have done the same, but work got in the way for us. Oh well, hopefully we’ll have a better sleep tonight. Honestly, knowing that Mom has her Lifeline is a godsend, and having the AutoAlert option is the way to go – it vibrates if Mom hits the floor! In my opinion – definitely worth the money!

What I Learned: Implementing safety measures is important – no matter the cost.