Posted on 10/22/2011 4:28:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
ping
If you want to believe the affluent Ms. Chavez couldn’t install a ramp, go right ahead. It’s easier than moving. I’d sooner do either than consign my mother to a nursing home.
There’s an old saying in Europe, about the dog having innumerable reasons to assault its own mother (or words to that effect).
Yeah, long term care policies are very good. My sister has one. They usually recommend you get one by the time you’re 50...problem is with diseases like MS, you’re often diagnosed much younger than 50 and once diagnosed, or even being tested because of neuro problems, you won’t qualify for coverage.
It would make a killer mini-series.
I’ve been wondering for ages why more homes are not designed with this sort of thing in mind. If you’ve found/built the home you mean to die in why not make some architectural provision for this sort of thing?
In those damn McMansions there is certainly space for an elevator. I notice the front door is usually up a flight of narrow brick steps but the garage door entrance is easy enough. Even if one thinks one is gonna live forever one might make provision for that busted leg or two.
Even disabilities aside, you would think it obvious to make access easier and front doors wider with furniture moving in mind.
Thanks for that, too, Big_Harry. My own town (DFW area) has a really great Senior Center that has lots of activities. He’s hung out up there one day so far and didn’t really like it much. Lots of folks there, however. He isn’t from here, and it will take a while for him to get accustomed to it and meet new people, but I have faith that when he gets in the routine, he’ll eventually look forward to it.
I’ll check out some of the other resources, also. It’s just like having another kid around for me. My 3 kids are very far apart in age and I’m in my 50s. I’ve been raising kids my entire adult life. ;-) My husband and I do get out sometimes, tho. Dad can be left alone at home for an evening or a day. No more driving, though.
It sounds like you have it under control. Enjoy your dad while you can.
*hat tip* Sir...
Thank you for your kindness.
There is an older saying "No amount of reality will convince the lunatic"
Have a lovely evening ma'am.
But bathrooms are the worse. We often have to gut and rebuild. There is no way to get a wheelchair into your average bathroom which means that you have to get one of those "potty chairs". Talk about being stripped of your dignity.
I think there is a market for homes that are built to be handicapped friendly. And I think it is going to grow.
I’ve often wondered if handicap-friendly design and contracting was a profitable specialty.
I’m sorry to hear that. I know that MS is a nasty disease. My cousin’s son was diagnosed with MS about 2 years after he finished college and it is really debilitating.
I hope and pray for a good breakthrough in the treatment of MS soon.
As for Chavez (presuming you aren't!), she kept her mother until it became inconvenient to do so. Mom with mobility, acceptable. Mom with not so much mobility -- adios.
But of course she doesn't say, Mother, you're more bother than you're worth to me. She says, Mother, you'd be trapped here. I set you free!
It’s hard to find a residential elevator under $10k, or even a dumbwaiter (which for all other purposes is much better!) but the expense is not too outrageous, considering the alternatives.
People put on additions for teens these days, for home theater, for man caves and lap pools and so forth. They say it enhances the home value, which often is simply untrue. But then they balk about making it more accommodating to the elderly.
The elevator is problematic, anyway. You need to run it by code enforcement, and there are different systems to choose from, and installers limited to a handful. But any decent contractor can make an addition on very little footprint, widen some doors, add a ramp. An accessible shower, a laundry sink with jets, a toilet — not a budget killer, and way cheaper than Shady Pines.
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