Mom's New Ride

Brenda's got some new wheels. No flashy rims, no spinners, but now she can roll. Good thing too, because otherwise she would fall.

She is now using a walker in the house full time. This is a big step, or a bunch of little rolling steps, anyway.

The walker became necessary as of Monday. She was having a lot of liver pain, and Hospice upped her meds. She said her legs felt wobbly, like they were going to buckle beneath her. Time for the walker.

I know this could mentally be hard for her. I think she's worried it makes her look like an old lady. But the reality is she feels much more stable and so do I.

I tried to push it one step further today. We were in the living room watching another marathon session of reality TV cooking shows, and I wanted to get out of the house.

"Can I put you in the wheelchair and we'll go around the block," I asked.

"No," she said. For now, me pushing her in the wheelchair is pushing it.

The walker used to belong to my grandmother. It has tennis balls stuck on the bottom of both of the back legs. It makes the ride much smoother. I told mom we could pimp her walker. When I explained what that meant she smiled.

I'm thinking some purple tennis balls with sparkles.