My poor father has lost the feeling in most of his legs below the knees. When his doctor does one of those reflex tests with the little hammer on his knees, there is absolutely no reaction. The fortunate part of this is that Papa is still walking around. The not so fortunate part of this is that his feet and legs don't register balance very well since the nerves are not sending signals as they should. The result is Papa falls forward if he stands for any time at all. When he tries to walk, he eventually starts to walk faster till almost running, which he can't do anymore. Then he will fall. He has compensated on some days with a cane. But that only balances one side and has concerned me as he has gotten worse with regard to his potential of falling.
I found a great walker. It is actually called a 'rollator' by the company that produces it. I've shared the picture with Papa who stated he was not ready for that item yet. The phrase 'pride goeth before the fall' would be most applicable here.
When we saw Dr. Weckman for his last regular check up, we discussed Papa's fall in February. Dr. Weckman told him to go nowhere without the cane. I explained my walker reasoning and the one I through he should have. Dr. Weckman concurred and heartily supported getting one for Papa. Papa still said, "I don't need that."
I finally determined I would just order the walker. Then I would present it to Papa. Knowing how Papa works, he would probably like it once he had it and then eventually it would have been his idea to get one. That is fine. Just want to keep him walking and doing that safely.
I ordered the walker. It came to my home. Claude and I put it together last Wednesday morning. When I went in to Georgetown, I took the walker in to Papa.
I first took in his laundry and put it away. Then I went back out to my car and got the walker. I strolled in and told Papa I brought him his new Jeep. He was a little stunned and I'm not real sure he appreciated the Jeep analogy. But I laughed it off and told him I thought I would look for a horn like they put on bikes for him to add to his 'new ride'. He did chuckle at this idea.
After he looked at it a bit, he said, "I've been thinking it might be time to get something like this. How much did it cost?" We discussed the cost and I showed him how it worked. I left it in the doorway to his little storage closet inside his apartment. This left it accessible to him and yet not in the way so he would trip over it.
Friday I took him fresh bananas and visited for a bit. Then I noticed the walker was not in his living room by his chair. I asked him about that. He said, "I thought I should get a little practice inside first." Great idea Papa!! He is very happy with it.
His chair is broken again and Claude came over after his meeting to check on it. While Claude was wrestling his chair, I had Papa pose for a couple of pictures with his 'new ride'.
He is really happy with his new toy. Now we have to go for a walk outside with it but it has been a little chilly for that kind of adventure. We'll keep him on his feet a little longer. Yeah!!
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