Barb vs the treadmill

Mom - I apologize ! But the truth has to be told !!!


A few months ago we all got some stressful news about my mother ........ she had been walking on a treadmill and turned to say something to someone and her foot stepped off of the treadmill, causing injury to the one that remained on the treadmill. It was as we say , a "freak" accident. She was paying attention to what she was doing, using the machine properly, wearing the appropriate footwear. It is not like she walked into the room , spotted the thing ( treadmill ) and with reckless abandon hopped on and pressed START .......... then just, well started. I mean who would do that ? Definitely not someone who had never been on a treadmill. But I digress ..... I must first explain a few things. My mom is 71 years old, ( sorry mom .... again .... the truth has to be told ) she is fit and fun loving and knows how to live life to the fullest . She spends 6 months of the year in Florida where she walks daily for several miles. ( the operative word being WALKS ) So when we heard she sustained a "compression fracture of the tibial plateau " we were shocked. How was it possible that my 71 year old mom , who walks daily for several miles could step on a treadmill, take a few steps and suddenly be in emergency room with an injury usually reserved for athletes. I mean one does not see compression fractures in 71 year old women very often. ( at least that is what I have read ....having no medical degree myself...... although I often reassure my friends in a confident tone "I have seen it done on Grey's Anatomy so often I am absolutely sure that I could perform a fairly flawless intebation " ) Her time spent in the cast was a nightmare. All daily tasks were performed with bitterness and despair. After 8 long weeks, the physio began ..... my father subbing in as the physiotherapist until they got back to Canada. To say that he is a task master is to say that I am patient. Now that she is back home and has had even more x-rays, she has been assured that she will continue to get better and better but that the knee will never be the same. Wow that was one costly WALK on a treadmill !
Last night my parents came for dinner. We laughed and talked and mom did pretty well without her cane. She took tentative steps across the room - dodging the 14 week old puppy and 3 cats . After plying her with a few glasses of wine we got around to talking about the day she injured herself. I just could not understand how it happened and needed to go over the details. ( my husband said that if I was a super hero I would be called "The Questionator " ) I quickly tried to re-enact the whole thing. My mom directing me and my dad chiming in when needed. With CSI like skill I quickly spotted gaping holes in her story. What was she not telling me? Finally she cracked under the pressure........" Well Heather , I didn't actually tell you the whole story " At this point I braced myself. For all those who know me and have been there to witness the carnage of one of my "situations" you will at this point in the story be thinking ..... that the apple does not fall far from the tree. My mother confessed that she was not walking. My 71 year old mother decided that when they got a shiny new treadmill at the workout facility where they reside in Florida, that she would take the opportunity to give running a shot. Yep ..... why not ? Truth be told ( and we are telling the truth here ) it was apparently more of a "jog" That shiny new piece of equipment was not ready for "barb the runner" or even " barb the jogger" and it shot her off with what was most certainly the reckless abandon mentioned earlier. Mom likes to try new things. She likes to embrace life. It has been a quiet 10 weeks. When I saw her handle my living room sans cane I got a little frightened ....... "she's back !"