Just as stairs were starting to get hard, someone from church came over, and realized that a ramp would make it easier for mom to get into the house. The next weekend, while mom and dad were at Dana Farber for an appointment, a team of people showed up with lumber, tools and willing hands. By late afternoon, we had a beautiful ramp, which helped mom walk up to the house, and a few weeks later, for the wheelchair.
As walking has been getting harder, she has needed to start using a wheelchair more. We've been gifted with a series of wheelchairs, first from the Casillis, then from the Greeleys, then from some neighbors. This most recent wheelchair is a red motorized wheelchair. She loves how easy it makes it for her to move around the house, go down the driveway, or roll around the farmer's market. Noah created a (sort of) portable ramp so we can roll the (very heavy) chair into his car in case mom needs to roll around somewhere other than home. However, we keep reminding her to turn down the speed and watch where she is going.... it has inspired me to relearn the fiddle tune "The Flying Wheelchair" (the tune starts at 1:30 on the video).
We've also been gifted with a hospital bed that our neighbors posted on front porch forum just days before we made the decision that doing the stairs in the evening was getting too hard. Daddy has been sleeping downstairs on the couch so that he can be nearby at night in case mom needs anything.
Having everyone home has been a help too. Elizabeth is still holding down the fort, but is able to have a bit more backup now that Noah is home from England and I (Sarah) am off from teaching for the summer. With more of us around, we are able to always have someone with mom to make sure she is able to safely move in and out of her wheelchair when she needs to.
It has been hard to adjust to all of the changes, but between the new equipment and the extra people, we are figuring out how to help mom keep doing all the things she loves to do.
