Mom has been more or less confined to the first floor of her 3 story house since she fell in April, injuring a shoulder. She relies heavily on her upper body strength to get her up and down stairs to her second floor bedroom and (full) bathroom. So, with an injured arm she has been unable to manage the steps.We did intervene last month and convinced her to put in a chair lift that would take her most of the way up the front stairs. The problem with the chair lift is that it is elevated higher at the bottom of the stairs than at the top of the stairs. Since she has really lousy knees she needs the extra height to get out of a seated position and to get upright. She doesn't have what she needs to push herself up out of the seat or to pull herself out of the seat. Thus she can go from the first floor to the landing and LOOK at the second floor she just can't get out of the chair to get there. She has ordered what I call an ejector seat that she can put in the lift chair to help her get out of it. I hope it comes soon. She said she ordered it a week to ten days ago, so I would expect it at any time. The ejector part raises slowly in the way that her lift chair does and should give her the "push" to be able to get off at the landing. I wonder whether or not we should put a railing on the top part of the stairs for her to hold onto to help stabilize herself.
So, stuck on the first floor, mom is actually moving around more. She has her "nest" in the living room. Her lift chair is surrounded by her various and sundry objects, mainly books, because that's where she's sleeping these days. She has rather enjoyed being in the living room more and was commenting about all the objects and artwork in there. She has pottery from my sister's pottery shop, art prints from my other sister and the odd objet d'art from me (talentless me), and my brothers to remind her of her children. Most of the art in the room was done by artists she knows. There is a picture of our dad, painted by a former co-worker of his and friend, that hangs on one wall, so they chat from time-to-time. I think it's been a good change of scenery for her. She also mentioned she's weaning herself off of television. Given the selection of what's on most channels, that's probably a good thing. I should do the same myself. Oh, if I could only wean myself off of my favorite reality shows. Sigh. Gimme some Amazing Race and Survivor and I'm a happy camper (so to speak).
Mom has removed the chair at her table in the back room and now motors herself in there with her seated walker, then uses that to sit at the table. So, she's out and about in the house more. She has two twenty-something grandsons in the house to keep an eye out on her and she has lots of neighbors and friends who call and drop by.
Mom is also sleeping better. Because she moves into the living room in the late afternoon or early evening to rest in her lift chair and elevate her legs she ends up nodding off earlier so her schedule is better. She's going to bed earlier and getting up earlier in the morning. No more sleeping in until noon. Of course as a retired 80-almost-81-year-old she can (and does) do what she damned well pleases. But, it's nice to know I can try to call her before noon and get her awake and alert.
So, good visit overall. Mom also sounds better than she has for a while. Looks like she's lost some weight. Her breathing sounds good and I think her cardioversion has held, so her irrgular hearbeat doesn't seem to be an issue at the time being.
I also hit a good weekend weather wise. It was nice and cool yesterday and I plan to be gone before the day heats up too much today. Mom tells me my oldest brother and his bride will be in next weekend. I will probably be back in early fall to visit and maybe to dig up her daylillies that she wants split. This is not a good time, but fall is perfect.
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