Actually, walkers are interesting contraptions. I hadn't given them much thought until Mom fell and broke her hip a few years ago. After surgery and weeks of therapy, she was sent home from the hospital with instructions to get a walker. It was then that we entered the amazing (and expensive) World of Walkers.
We thought she'd like to have a rollator, a four wheel walker with a seat and a basket. They come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes and, being the walker novices that we were, we picked a pretty one. No sooner had we bought it, than the folks from Physical Therapy, who showed up twice a week to rearrange our lives, said it wasn't safe. They said we needed an adjustable aluminum folding walker. That sounded simple enough, but since we were already suffering from walker purchasing incompetence, we let them order one for us.
Mom used that walker for only a short time before she and Dad moved into a senior living community. Suddenly she was surrounded by walkers of every make and model. She soon learned about cup holders, inside wheels and skis versus tennis balls. (Absolutely nothing to do with athletics!) We were buying and trying all kinds of new equipment.
Then during a routine doctor's visit, it was determined that Mom's walker was too low. It turns out P.T. had bought a child's walker for her. I'm sure it was an oversight. She is a rather short 99-year-old woman. Probably easily confused with a 10-year-old child.
So we needed a new walker. By now I was catching on to how this all works and so I bought one at a garage sale for $5.00. After making sure that the previous owner had only used it recovering from a broken leg and that no one had actually died in the process, I was able to convince Mom to try it out.
In the meantime, Dad also needed to use a walker and, remembering P.T's warnings, we purchased an aluminum one for him that could be extended higher than Mom's. He didn't like it and abandoned it for her original rollator. Then they learned a neighbor was selling her smaller rollator that had a compartment under the seat. (We were beginning to see that walkers are the older generation's version of sports cars. Someone always has a sleeker, newer model.)
Mom fell in love with that walker, but after buying it decided it wasn't what she wanted. Dad decided he liked it and traded the one he was using for it. The other one (hope you're keeping up here) was added to their ever-growing walker collection.
When Mom broke her pelvis and was in rehab for five weeks, they decided her walker was too tall for her. Through an incredible deal they purchased her a shorter version of my garage sale walker for only $189.00. Amazing what bargains they can get in places like that!
Mom used the shorter one for about a year or so and then, just like clockwork, during a recent doctor's visit it was determined that her shoulder pain is due to a walker that isn't tall enough. By now we have walkers like most people have seasonal clothing. Just open the closet and choose the color, length, and style you want!
Amazingly all those choices came in handy this past week when Michael hurt his foot and, you guessed it, needed a walker. Thank goodness he's never been much of a sports car enthusiast. He just grabbed the first available one and took off like a champ.
It's been a couple days, though, and I just found him going through the closet looking for another model. I wonder if they make one with racing stripes.
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| the route of many choices |
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