Posted on 04/18/2005 10:21:25 AM PDT by kingattax
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) -- A 75-year-old woman who lay trapped in her bathtub for five days toasted her rescue with a cola and a cigarette. Jane Fromal suffered slight dehydration even though she said she ran tap water to drink during the ordeal.
Doctors said they would keep her at the hospital for a few days to make sure her muscles were working right.
Fromal drew a bath Saturday afternoon to nurse a sore tailbone.
"I thought I'd get in the tub and soak," she said Thursday as she rested at Riverside Regional Medical Center. "I didn't know I was going to soak for five days."
She tried to lift herself up a number of times but was unable to do so. Her elbows and forearms were left raw and sore.
Fromal didn't sleep much during the five days. "How can you sleep in a bathtub?"
She finally got help when a neighbor's grandson noticed newspapers piling up in her driveway and insisted his grandmother call Fromal's family.
Shaun Foley, 21, tried banging on her doors and windows and noticed that her mailbox was stuffed.
James Mountjoy, Fromal's grandson-in-law, burst through a locked storm door. Family members found her in the bathroom off her upstairs bedroom on Wednesday evening.
After donning a warm robe, being lifted to safety and drinking a little water, Fromal didn't ask for food. She wanted one of her Parliament 100s and a Coke.
It wasn't the first time Fromal, who has a little trouble with her legs, has been stuck in the bathtub. A few weeks ago she lay in the tub all day.
Fromal's family plans to add railings and a tub chair in her bathroom
I imagine all that water put her butt out.
It's part of the career syndrome; children grow up and leave. They call regularly for weeks, months and even years, then one day they busily pass it by; one day leads to weeks, months and even years of simple unintended neglect.
She didn't even want to bathe, she only wanted to soak her tired and sore behind.
Thanks for today's laugh! loved the pic with the virgins.
I suspect that it was a combination of weight and lack of muscle that did it - probably a heavy person.
LOL. Ok, I'll try to remember that....
My dad had a shower with a seat installed, when they redid the bath. It was really nice, all one piece, and very comfortable for him.
Another inexpensive idea is to put a small stool with non-skid legs in the tub, it's easier to get up from a chair than from a flat tub bottom.
I'm slim, but with RA, I'm looking at a seat in the tub. Joints don't work that great sometimes.
I know. I should be more considerate and post some kind of warning like the eye covers or something.....
This definitely calls for one of those signalling devices and maybe a handy button or pull cord by the bathtub as well. Railings and seats would help, but if she's alone that much she also needs to be able to call for help in an emergency.
I think George Burns told her all about it.
I had a neighbor who fainted in the shower. She was found days later, water running all over her house. She was elderly, sick, and died of a brain tumor in the hospital a few weeks later. Smoker.
So sad.
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It happens a lot unfortunately. And people put the blame on the children, but for the longest time, my mother resisted the idea of leaving her home, so we did our best to try to have whatever was necessary to keep her independent for as long as possible. It did get to the point where she needed full-time care, and since neither my brother nor I were in a position to care for her full-time, we had no choice but to put her in a nursing home. It was a good place, but it wasn't home. Still, she got the best care as one can get in a setting like that, and my brother and I didn't just put her there and forget about her. We visited all the time and took her out whenever we could.
One of the things we did get for our mother while she was still in her own home was one of those life alert type things -- where you push a button to summon help if you fall down. Of course, that doesn't help when you're unconscious, but if it can be activated, it is a lifesaver.
I guess she didn't party too much in her younger days. LOL
The perverted linguist is in a quandary, etiquette has him stifling a chuckle...
Sorry about your mom, but the pickin's slim these days for a bit of lightheartedness.
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This is what happens when I try to work and chat at the same time. Who said I could multi-task? LOL
No offense taken.
I suspect that it was a combination of weight and lack of muscle that did it - probably a heavy person.
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Well you can speculate if you wish, but the article doesn't say that. And I know from personal experience with my mother (and as you can see from the experiences of those who posted here) that one doesn't have to be overweight to be unable to get in and out of the tub. Mom was a small person -- not even 5 feet and less than 100 pounds soaking wet.
The surprising thing is how often elderly people get stuck in situations similar to this, sometimes with fatal results. A good friend of mine, who was in his 80's at the time, died about two years ago as a result of getting stranded outside his house for about 12 hours before he was rescued. About the same time a 79 year old cousin of mine went out at night to arrange covers over some of her plants, fell, and was stranded for about six hours before being rescued. That put her in the hospital and undergoing rehabilitation for about six weeks. This kind of thing is no laughing matter.
Wickedly funny!
She was probably grossly overweight - especially since the article doesn't say. In the lamestram media, lard asses aren't labeled as fat when their condition might have contributed to whatever the problem they've had, race is never mentioned when blacks commit crimes, etc.
She was probably grossly overweight - especially since the article doesn't say. In the lamestram media, lard asses aren't labeled as fat when their condition might have contributed to whatever the problem they've had, race is never mentioned when blacks commit crimes, etc.
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You might be a redneck if....
Here's one for ya, this lady celebrated her rescue w/ a soda pop and a cigarette!
jm
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