One Fall(ing) Day

Recently,  hubby and I were both on the way to the post office to another building on campus when this fall incident happened. It was so sudden that I could not even catch up to block his way. We did not realize that he skipped a step until it was too late and there was no handrail that he could at least reach out to keep him from falling quickly so he lost his balance --- four steps going down. He hit his face (left side) hard on the concrete ground. At first, he could not get up because of the impact and he got confused about what transpired but bystanders helped us. Security personnel came along and the first responders were immediately there to give him first aid. He was assisted inside the nearest building where they let him sit in a corner, because he was too weak to carry himself, to assess his condition. He obtained abrasions on his left forehead, left cheek, the bridge of his nose, and his left nostril. He also had abrasions on both his knees. Other than that, he's fine with no broken limbs. 

My hubby has been diagnosed with low vision among other health issues and the latest is early dementia which is why when the first responders were trying to assess his mental state, he was not able to answer some of their questions correctly like the date and time. They thought his confusion might be due to a concussion because of the fall. However, I assured them that he has memory lapses. He can only remember the long-term but not the recent ones. He was still able to give his name, birth date and even his SSN correctly but other than that, it was mostly me who responded to their questions about the incident. 

Going home, he was fine but he said he was exhausted. The only medication given to him was a painkiller pill and a pack of ice for his forehead which was starting to swell. He slept all through the night and was up the following day to go to work with me again, our daily weekday routine. That morning, he was telling me that he had bruises and lost his tooth (and broke one into pieces) but he could not recall how it happened. He was also looking for his eyeglasses which were scraped from the sudden fall. I summarized what happened but he said he has a faint memory of it. I reassured him it's ok and what's important is that he is up and about! His swollen forehead has subsided, too. What's also consoling is, he still has a good appetite despite missing a few implants. 

A few days later, we had to replace his pair of eyeglasses. His dental appointment has been scheduled. His mental state is stable and he's still the same guy with a sense of humor. All throughout the ordeal, he did not complain of any pain of which I'm thankful for. From time to time, he looks for his missing teeth and missing eyeglasses. I would tell him about the incident briefly and then he eventually forgets everything. He's now feeling (and looking) much better but he avoids to go anywhere else, except in my office, when we're on campus.