My father is now 85 years old. He has arthritis in his back and legs. He shuffles his feet when he walks. The tops of his legs are always sore. As I watch him move around in his home I see things that concern me as possible places for a fall or injury. For aging people a fall ranks up there as one of the most feared events. And for rightful reason. If it is a bad enough fall you just don't ever really recover.
One of the places that has worried me for some time is Papa's sofa. He purchased it when he moved to Kentucky in December 2005. It has a recliner on each end. He literally wore out the reclining mechanism in one end. Then he moved the sofa to another place in his living room and now uses the other end of the sofa. Now that end of the sofa is about to give way.
But even more than that, Papa has an extremely difficult time getting the foot rest to lower. I often see him put one leg on each side of that foot rest, which is still up, then struggle to get to a standing position, then with great effort left one leg over that extended foot rest to stand on the other side. Often he staggers as he does this. Yike!! I have told him over and over we need to replace the sofa and get him a chair that is just as comfortable but that works with greater ease. This falls on deaf ears, literally. I try to make him understand he has every possibility of falling when he does this and really breaking a leg or hip. I've even gone so far as to add, after the falling statement, that the fall could be the end of his mobility. Still the answer has been 'no'.
Friday morning I went into Georgetown to take Papa and Tiny to the vet so she could get her toe nails clipped. Again Papa stumbled as he got out of that sofa and tried to work around the foot rest. Again I stated my concern. After cleaning some in his apartment, I left him tired and ready for a nap.
I took my happy self to the new furniture store in Georgetown just to look at recliners. I found one that fit what I was hoping to find. I sat in it and tried all the manuevers with the button on the side. This recliner is electric and with the press of a button will slowly recline all the way to a complete laying down position. You can stop anywhere in that process that is comfortable for you at any given time. By pressing the other side of that button the chair slowly moves to a sitting position. I took a picture with my cell phone. Then I searched for an end table to go by the chair. I found a cute little one with a faux marble top. Perfect. Papa is not great at the coaster thing. I spoke with the sales man to get a few answers to questions. Then I headed back to Papa's apartment.
I made a stop at the McDonald's drive through by his home and purchased two strawberry/banana smoothies. Everything goes better with a little sugar in our family.
I got to Papa's and handed him the smoothie. He was so very happy to get it. Then I told him straight up that the smoothie was to get him in the frame of mind to listen to my proposal. I pulled out my cell phone and showed him the pictures and explained how this chair would work. I told him the cost and the particulars about it. Amazingly, he said, if you think it is right go ahead!!! I was delighted. In Papa speak that is the same as saying, "I really like that idea and can see that it is a good thing to do."
I called Georgetown Public Works and inquired about them picking up the old sofa so I understood what had to happen there. Papa and I finished our smoothies and then I headed back to the furniture store to purchase the chair and table and arrange for delivery.
They only had one left in stock of the chair. That was fine, I really only needed one. Then I sent a text to Claude to block the delivery day on his calendar. In about a week and a half Papa will be sitting in this...
Humorous side note: Andie called Friday night and I told her this story. Then we both chuckled as we believe in a few weeks Papa will be saying, "I knew I needed to get a new chair and Sandi helped me do it." He will then take ownership of the situation and that is just fine with me. I just need him to be as safe as I can make him while he maintains as much independence as he can manage. It really isn't a lot different than raising children.
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