Happiness Is …

She probably won’t be doing yardwork any time soon.

December 21st, 2022 – Post #61

My mom has had a marked decline in mobility this week. When she tries to bear weight, her right leg waivers like the Jell-O she’s been eating lately.

It’s also getting harder for her to discern when she is and isn’t upright, when we try to stand her up.

She and I nearly wound up in a heap today when she kept pulling back, because she felt like she was falling forward. In reality, she was tilted backwards at about a sixty-degree angle, and I was struggling to convince her to lean more toward me to keep from straining my back.

Her goal seemed to be to sit down on her walker again, so she could feel safe; but she couldn’t see that that rollator had taken advantage of the slanted floors and rolled out from under her right at that second.

I may or may not have sounded like a drill sergeant in that moment, demanding that she stand up and hold onto my shoulders, because I was pretty scared myself.

We about wound up wedged into a pile in the already overly cozy bathroom, between the glass shower door and vanity. It was a pretty horrible moment; thinking we were both about to go down.

These little episodes are becoming more frequent. It’s hard to discern the balance between the need for her to keep moving and the risk of a fall.

In the aftermath of these predicaments, we’ve had some laughs; but in the midst of them, it’s been pretty stressful.

Sometimes, with all the instructions of where to put hands and feet, in order to make safe transfers, it feels like we’re playing a 3-D version of the game Twister. It’s much easier for her to stay put in one place for a while.

She did find a cozy spot on the couch today.

Some people say, “Happiness is having a dog.”

I say, “Happiness is having neighbors who let you borrow their dog for short periods of time.” (Thank you, Lynn and Chad) 😊

That picture of the fireplace seems like a good spot for reading a storybook. Find out in the next post why the one that comes to mind is, “Where the Sidewalk Ends”.

*To read more on my mom’s cancer journey from the beginning, or share it, please click below:

It’s Cancer

Jody

I'm not sure what to say here: I once got second place in a dog-look-alike-contest? I know how to fold a fitted sheet? I'm pretty much a poster child for social backwardness - at least as far as social media is concerned; but I have some stories I think I'm supposed to share and am attempting to do that here, in this space.

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