Mr. kenju's In-home Evaluation

At 1:35 pm today, mr. kenju was brought home by two physical therapists, so they could do an evaluation of his home surroundings and also teach me how to help him when he's going up and down the stairs. It went well - better than I expected. They showed him how to negotiate the three steps into the house from the garage with the walker, watched him walk through the house to the den and his favorite chair, and watched him go into the guest room and lie down on the bed by himself. To get from there to the bathroom, he has to turn the walker sideways while going through the door, but he did well, and proved he could do it by himself as long as he doesn't get into too much of a hurry.

They let him rest a bit, and then he went up the 17 steps to the master bedroom, and down the hallway to my office, where the computer is. Then they showed me how to assist him when he is going down the stairs, and it is as much for me to remember as it is for him. They did tell not to try the stairs when I am not at home! I hope he remembers that!

I spent the morning moving the guest room furniture a little bit; the bed is on wheels so it was easier than I remembered. I thought he needed a bit more room between the bed and the dresser, and I was able to give him 8" of floor space.It is a Victorian with a 7 1/2 foot tall headboard and a lower footboard. It would be better for mr. kenju if we had a bed without a footboard in there, but I can't move it out of that room unless it is absolutely necessary. Tomorrow my son is coming to move another of our mattress sets to that bed; one that will be better for his back. He comes home on Thursday, and his out-patient therapy classes will start the following week.

We are lucky that I don't have to work this coming weekend. It will allow us to have time to get used to the routine, and also to make a few changes that the therapists suggested. I need to have these installed: stair railings from the garage into the house, a hand-held shower set, and possibly hand rails in the bathroom shower. I need to remove the throw rug in the bathroom, the bi-fold doors from the kitchen to the den and put a chair at the top of the stairs for him to rest on when he goes up. We are also going to move the deck table and chairs from the lower deck to the upper one close to the house, since there are no hand railings from one deck to another. I am so grateful that the therapists offered to come to our home for this look-see, since I wouldn't have thought of everything on my own. We also have to buy a shower chair and a thing that goes over the toilet so he will have handles to push off when he needs to get up. There are soooo many things to think about. Wish us luck on Thursday - and after!