Falling

Falling When Old

   Old people fall. My father, in his eighties, fell and broke a hip. (I was not living in New York, where my parents were at home in a Second Avenue apartment.) My father was hospitalized and passed away not long after arriving there. It was either a stroke or a heart attack. My mother and I agreed that there was no point to authorizing an autopsy to determine which was the cause  of death.
   Now, nearly half a century later, 

   I am old—at the age of 90; and I fall. Several times in the last couple of years. One fall led to a visit to the hospital and an excessive number of x-rays that found a couple of cracked ribs. The other times yielded a variety of scrapes and wrenches, but thankfully no trips to the hospital.

   But why do old people fall?  I am sure there is an answer on the internet, but I have not sought that out. 

   Why do I fall? I have no ready answer. For one of those episodes alcohol may have been a contributing cause. But that was distinctly not the case for others and certainly not for a recent instant that left a number of unwanted marks on me, some quite painful.

    I now move along very carefully and lately use a cane even in the house; a walker is next, now standing by. This is not an hysterical worry; I feel mighty insecure just walking along on a clear flat surface. Nor does there seem to be anything wrong with the muscles of my legs, When suitably accompanied, I can stride forward at a quite decent pace.

   So what accounts for the distinct strong sense of wobbliness that I now feel just going from my room to the bathroom a few feet down the hall? My mind is functioning more or less as it has all these years and my leg muscles seem in good shape.

  What I have so far withheld is that there has been a certain numbness in my feet(cause unknown), though that seems to have no effect on mobility. In short, I cannot find in me a cause of the distinct wobbliness that characterizes my walking. Ideas anybody?