20/04/2026
A seniors health tip
Please read and take note...
A 30 seconds perseverance that makes the difference..
Excerpt from Qiu Zhang's Facebook
Reposted:
A Geriatrician's Heartfelt Words:
In old age, if a person is bedridden for a long time and their children only say "take it slow," it's often the beginning of the most dangerous situation.
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"It's easy for an elderly person to lie down, but difficult to stand up.
Many times, it's not the illness that kills them, but the bed."
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A firsthand account from a geriatrics department director with 27 years of experience:
*My name is Song Yuanming, and I'm 54 years old.*
I've worked in the geriatrics department of a top-tier hospital in the provincial capital for 27 years.
I've treated over 16,000 patients and written over 2,400 critical condition notices.
Today, I won't use medical jargon, but only three ward stories I've personally witnessed.
Each one is worth sharing with your parents.
*The first story* happened in the autumn of 2019.
The patient was an 81-year-old retired teacher surnamed *Sun,* suffering from a femoral neck fracture.
The surgery was successful, and on the third day post-surgery, the doctor asked him to get out of bed and practice walking with a walker.
His son disagreed.
"My dad's so old, he just had surgery. What if he falls again? Take it slow, let him rest and recover."
I've heard that phrase, "take it slow," at least 500 times.
Every time I hear it, a chill runs down my spine.
Because I know that for someone over 80, those three words, "take it slow," are often a signpost to an abyss.
Mr. Sun listened to his son and settled down to rest.
On the seventh day, he started coughing.
On the twelfth day, he had a fever of 38.7 degrees Celsius, and a CT scan of his lungs showed hypostatic pneumonia.
On the eighteenth day, he was transferred to the ICU.
On the twenty-third day, he passed away.
The cause of death wasn't a fracture, nor was it a surgical complication.
It was—pneumonia caused by lying down.
His bones had already healed. But his lungs were damaged by that bed.
*The second story* is about a 78-year-old stroke patient, surnamed *Li.*
He was admitted to the hospital in January 2021 with left-sided hemiplegia.
After 10 days of acute treatment, his condition stabilized.
I told his daughter, "The most crucial thing now is rehabilitation training, the earlier the better. He needs to sit up at least twice a day, 30 minutes each time. Stand if he can, walk if he can."
His daughter was very filial—she hired a live-in caregiver with a monthly salary of 6500 yuan to care for him 24 hours a day.
Feeding, bathing, turning him over, changing his diapers—everything was arranged perfectly.
But there was one thing she didn't do—she didn't let her father move.
She was afraid he would get tired, afraid he would be in pain, afraid he would fall.
Every time the caregiver tried to help the old man sit up, she would say, "Don't force him, let him rest."
Three months later, Mr. Li's right leg also became immobile.
It wasn't another stroke; it was muscle atrophy.
Prolonged bed rest caused muscle loss at a rate of 1.5% to 3% per week.
In three months, the muscle mass in his right leg decreased by nearly 40%.
From hemiplegia to total paralysis.
From "there's still hope of standing up" to "I'll never stand up again."
He lived for another 14 months.
During those 14 months, he developed three bedsores.
The largest one was on his sacrum and coccyx, an ulcer the size of a fist, deep enough to expose the bone.
When changing his dressings, he bit down on a towel, tears streaming from his eyes into his ears.
His daughter cried every time she saw him, and every time she finished crying, she said the same thing:
"Dad, let's take it slow."
"Take it slow"—this is the gentlest cruelty of Chinese children.
*The third story* is the one I most want to tell.
The patient's surname is *Zhao,* 83 years old, and he underwent hip replacement surgery in 2023.
His son is an engineer, someone who works with data and logic.
On the first day after surgery, he came to me with a notebook: "Dr. Song, could you please create a rehabilitation plan for me, specifying what to do each day, how many sets, and for how long?"
I wrote him a 7-day rehabilitation plan—
Day 1 Post-Surgery: Ankle pump exercises in bed, 20 times per hour.
Day 2 Post-Surgery: Leg raises in bed, 10 repetitions per set, 4 sets per day.
Day 3 Post-Surgery: Standing with a walker, 2 minutes each time, 3 times a day.
Day 5 Post-Surgery: Walking with a walker, 10 steps each time, 4 times a day.
Day 7 Post-Surgery: The goal is to walk to the ward door and back—approximately 8 meters one way.
Was Mr. Zhao in pain?
Yes.
On the third day, when he stood up, his forehead was covered in sweat, and his lips were white from biting them.
His son stood beside him, neither saying "Take it slow" nor "Stop practicing."
He said one sentence—
"Dad, just stand there for 30 seconds, just 30 seconds. I'll time you."
Then he took out his phone and started the stopwatch.
30 seconds.
The old man gritted his teeth and held on.
Those 30 seconds were more effective than any medicine.
On the 14th day after surgery, Mr. Zhao walked out of his ward on his own.
His steps were slow, his back slightly hunched, his left hand holding onto a walker, his right hand gently supported by his son.
The nurses in the corridor spontaneously applauded.
He smiled, revealing a set of slightly crooked teeth.
The 83-year-old man smiled like a child who had just learned to walk.
He was the best-recovering of the 184 elderly fracture patients I treated that year.
On the day of his discharge, his son held my hand and said, "Dr. Song, thank you for that rehabilitation plan."
I said, "You should thank yourself. You were the one who pressed the stopwatch for those 30 seconds."
In my 27 years, I've seen too many comparisons like this—
Same age, same surgery, same physical condition.
Some elderly people walked out of the hospital on their own after three weeks.
Some elderly people never stood up again after three months.
What's the difference?
It's not the medication, not the doctors, not how much money was spent.
It's the people around them—whether they say "take it slow" or "stand for another 30 seconds."
I want to use my 27 years of medical experience to tell you five truths.
*First:* Once an elderly person is bedridden for more than two weeks, the rate of muscle loss is five times that of a normal person. Lying down isn't recuperating; it's ruining a person.
*Second:* The 72-hour window is golden. Whether an elderly person can start moving around within 72 hours after surgery or illness directly determines whether they can ultimately stand up.
*Third:* Hypostatic pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis, and bedsores—these three things kill more bedridden elderly people than their primary diseases. They aren't illnesses, but rather products of prolonged bed rest.
*Fourth:* What children perceive as "filial piety"—keeping the elderly from moving, from getting tired, and doing everything for them—is often the gentlest form of murder.
*Fifth:* True filial piety isn't about letting parents lie comfortably, but about "ruthlessly" helping them stand up.
Someone asked me, "Director Song, you've worked in geriatrics for 27 years, what are you most afraid of?"
I'm not afraid of patients with severe conditions.
Severe cases have their own treatments.
What I fear most is family members saying those three words at the bedside—"Take it slow."
Because that often means they've given up on getting the elderly person to stand up, without even realizing it.
"Take it slow" isn't love; it's avoidance.
Avoiding the pain of rehabilitation, avoiding the trouble of training, avoiding the responsibility of "what if they fall?"
And the price of this avoidance is the entire dignity of an elderly person for the rest of their life. I'm 54 years old this year.
I WILL GROW OLD TOO
I've already told my wife and son—
"If one day I'm lying in a hospital bed, don't tell me to 'take it slow.'"
"Set a schedule for me, set an alarm, help me up, force me to walk."
"If the pain becomes unbearable and I want to give up, take out your phones and start a stopwatch—"
"Say : Dad, just 30 more seconds!"
Finally, I want to share this with everyone who will eventually face their parents' aging:
May your parents never need that bed.
But if one day they have to lie down, please remember—
Don't say "take it slow," say "I'll help you stand up."
Those 30 seconds of perseverance might be the difference between whether they can walk to the toilet on their own for the rest of their lives.
And every day they can walk to the toilet on their own is a senior's last, most precious golden age.
Please cherish it.
Please take action.
Please don't wait until it's too late.
Take care ....
Health maintenance is better than cure...
Remember we are here when you need some support on your health journey....
www.tasgracesanctuary.org 🙏💖
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