I learned a lesson yesterday, on how challenging caring for our elders are. My 91 year old friend and I had a lovely visit with my therapy dog and we just finished making plans to go out next week to celebrate our recent birthdays which are a week apart.
I had just helped her move from a wheel chair to a walker and she was fine, and still standing. I was moving the wheelchair out of the hallway when I heard her say, ‘I can’t unlock the break.’ In the exact moment that I turned to help her, she lost her balance and down she went, landing on me, which took both of us to the floor. Things went from fine to trouble, in less than a second.
We pressed her button and help came. It took 3 med-techs to get her up. What if she was living alone and lost her balance?
The lesson learned is that it only takes a second.
