When MIL fell out of bed, we moved her to a hospital bed - lower to the ground, so not as far to fall. BIL wanted to put foam pads next to the bed, but fortunately staff at the AL overruled him (trip risk). She has fallen out a few times since, but at least the distance to the floor was minimized.
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LOL - I hear the same justification for not getting hearing aids. But in reality, nothing makes ya look old like not following conversation… asking people to repeat. (Now this lesson of watching older people has had an impact on me. At my last physical the PCP and I decided it would not be a bad idea to get referral to audiologist… at least get baseline hearing tests done.)
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I told my mom ‘you know what makes you look old? Being in a wheelchair after a fall because you were too stubborn to use a cane or a walker”.
That seemed to do the trick. That– plus letting her pick out a cute bag to put in the top basket of the walker and we matched it with hot pink tennis balls and streamers.
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Great conversations. I won’t repeat my experiences with my parents. But, I do have a comment on the self driving supervised car. We traded in our 2018 Tesla 3 for a new 2026 Tesla 3. All I can say is wow. We just took a trip from Colorado to Texas and back through Santa Fe. It did have some issues reading the construction speed limits and we took over the driving at that time. It was able to see 360 around the car to do passing and reverse parking better than we could. I’m not a fan of driving but I drive half the time on long trips. It felt like when you have a teen learning to drive and they are getting good at it but you still have to pay full attention to what they are doing. It made the driving seem less tiring and more relaxing.
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When my mother first used the walker after a hospital stay with pneumonia, I also put the pink balls on her walker. When she went to a rollator due to needing a place to sit her portable oxygen unit, I order this, which she loves. Why does she love it-everyone made a fuss about how beautiful it was at her IL! My mother is all about people complimenting her on her wardrobe.
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When it’s distinctive, it’s also easier for them to pick out their device among the row of similar devices. I remember at my folks CCRC, they’d line up everyone’s walkers & rollators. Many looked VERY similar.
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Totally. In fact, my husband would tell his mom, “You know what makes you look old, Mom? Squinting your eyes like Mr Magoo trying to read the menu from far away because you’re too stubborn to wear your glasses. Or holding onto the wall as you walk down the hall because you’re too proud to use a cane. Or us always having to shout at you because you can’t hear us and you’re always saying, “EH?! WHAT?” Sure, that doesn’t make you look old.” 
He had a lot more liberty than I did to be frank & up front with her. 
When I’m old and getting feeble mobility wise, I 100% am going to use a cane. I’m going to buy multiple canes, in fact, to use with different outfits. If I need a walker, I’m going to bling it out. Age with dignity and have fun with it in the meantime. When my kids tell me down the road that I should get my hearing checked, I’m going to an audiologist to get checked out for hearing aids.
It’ll be like leveling up in the video game. It happens to everybody eventually.
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OMG, I love this!
The problem with Tesla’s FSD Supervised is that research has found that when a self-driving car asks for the human driver to take over, it needs to do so with an 8-10 second lead time for the human to do so safely. Current FSD Supervised may fail and require human driver take over immediately, even though it is good enough (on HW4 vehicles) that required take over events are rare. But would you want the person with declining driving skills be in the driver seat when the car requires the human driver to take over?
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When I broke my fibula, I needed & used a cane, after crutches, while it healed. I bought 2—a standard cane & a folding on for an international trip. Fortunately I never needed to use the folding cane (had healed) but was glad to have it “just in case.” Tried to give my folks the canes when I no longer needed them but they were too stubborn.
Mom would have a painful grip on whatever family member was walking with her. The PT/OT finally was able to convince her it was time to use a walker.
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After my mother fell in a public building and took multiple people to get her up (including a police officer who happened to be there) I told her I was never taking her anywhere again unless she used her walker. I was furious (thankfully she was wearing a big fluffy parka and wasn’t hurt). She used the walker after that. I think she was taken aback how angry I was plus I think the fall scared her.
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There were several times when my mom and I were walking around the block and suddenly she couldn’t walk any more. Fortunately, I was close enough to home I could call H and he was able to rush over with a chair because if she sat on the curb it would be tough getting her back up. Another time a neighbor came over and loaned a walker so we could wheel mom back home. It took some time to convince her to use a walker.
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Something cute…. A friend recently mentioned that she is often “technical help” for teaching her mother on computer/cellphone. (Tis probably a good thing, ensures proper security etc.) She laughed about saying, “when I complain… she reminds me that, “don’t forget, I am the one who taught YOU how to use a spoon”.
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It’s stories like this that make me pay attention to all the exercises that frequently pop up in my algorithm on strengthening your quads and glutes so you can age safely!
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We had absolutely no clue what to get MIL for her birthday. This is just the thing to brighten her PT sessions! I just ordered one - thanks.
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I hope she likes it! Mom’s rollator was blue, and she loves turquoise and pink, so the butterfly pattern was perfect for her! With so many choices, there should be a pattern to suit everyone.
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Sort of like the stroller parking at Disneyland. You had to tie balloons to yours so you could tell it from all the others especially because the moved them while you were on the ride.
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I added a luggage tag as well as large sign on inside of seat that it was mom’s and her room # & my phone. Hers was never misplaced.
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No, it requires being alert and making fast decisions.
My mom is very cautious. She is probably more careful than me. She lives in an elevator apartment. She did fall once when pushing a cart on a sidewalk. She injured her arm and has been very careful since then. She trades stocks, but I get notifications on every trade. So far she is doing better than me in managing her portfolio. She gets around by bus and uber. She shops every 2 weeks with her cleaning lady.
I am lucky that my mom will listen to me, not a lot of pushbacks from her.
It’s not fun getting old.
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