My Accident - Part VI

When you are faced with a situation like this and you live by yourself you don’t know who or if anyone will be there for you. I was pleasantly surprised. To start things working two of my dear friends came over that Saturday and rearranged my stuff so that my walker could be used more comfortably and safely. One of my friends calls it command central. But you know it makes a lot of sense. I really appreciated their help and needed it desperately.

The refrigerator was rearranged so that the most recent foods are put behind the foods that needed to be used first. My food shelf was rearranged so that I could get things that I use daily up front and brought down closer to my reach. What a beautiful thing. In the dish drain I keep a set of silverware for easy reach, one small plate and plastic containers with lids in different sizes. I was fortunate because my friend borrowed a walker with the wheels and seat. That has been the best thing I could have since I’m non-weight bearing (meaning no weight on the bad leg). It is small enough to get around my apartment but I mostly use it in the kitchen and it makes it so easy to do tasks like the dishes (I don’t have a dish washer) to get to the refrigerator and roll back to the counter.

I don’t have counter space so I put some things in plastic grocery bags and hung them up where I could reach them easily. Because I don’t have counter space I use my ironing board for space to put my dishes and plastic ware on because it is easily accessible and that is what is needed. You don’t want to take a chance and try to reach for anything on a shelf and rise up on your toes just to lose your balance and come down on that bad leg would not be good. So think of things that you need every day and make sure they are put at a place that you can easily get them. You must get out of the way what you don’t use so that there is room for things you will be using on a daily bases.

My kitchen table was used for specifics. I had brought a lazy suzy (it is round and it swivels around) for just organizing a few things for easy reach in the food closet before I fell but now it works out great for my vitamins and a couple of boxes of herbal teas. I am able to be in the chair I use and swivel it around and get what I need. I have a bag of paper napkins and a roll of paper towels. These are things that you can easily forget when you settle down with your food. I also have plastic utensils just in case you forget something to eat with, plastic bag of toothpicks and plastic bag with salt and pepper packs.

For safety reasons make sure you take up any area rugs that are not secured down. You don’t want to slip on them. I don’t have any rugs except in my bedroom which is a wall to wall rug. But I used the socks from the hospital since they had the gripping bottoms and they worked well for me. But they wear out so before you leave the hospital ask for another pair so you can change up. One of my friends brought a couple of extra pairs at the dollar store.