An Extension Cord is NOT an Assistive Device!

I made my Mom happy today...and made her cry!

The happy parts of the day...
Mom managed to make it to the living room to sit in her favorite chair and was happy watching the dogs play and talked about how cute they are. I left the room to do something, heard a thud, and rushed back into the room to see what happened. She said that she tried to get out of the chair (with the help of her walker) but fell back into it. I said I would help her and asked what she needed to do. She laughed as she replied that she couldn't remember what she was going to do so she might as well just sit there. I told her that if I could trust her to stay in her chair, I would go get her lunch at McDonalds or Wendys. (Her favorite fast food resturants.) Anyway, she didn't remember that she just fell back into her chair so I explained what happened and that because she just fell back into her chair, I could probably trust her to stay in one place for the 20 minutes it would take to go get her lunch. She thought that was funny and we both laughed. This was one of the moments when my Mom's personality managed to sparkle through all of the confusion. It was like my Mom was back for a brief time. She was still in the chair when I got back and was quite happy with her lunch.

She was also happy when I fixed her a sunday this evening. Ice cream always puts a smile on her face. The small things that I am grateful for: A smile on my Mom's face and a "with it" look in her eyes.

The NOT happy part of her (and my) day: This afternoon I checked to see that she was asleep in her chair in the family room before I went to my room to do something. I heard a noise and went to investigate. Mom was sitting on a chair at the end of the kitchen table where she never sits. She had an extension cord in her hands that she was pulling on and kind of struggling with. I asked what she was doing with it and she said that she was using it to help her get up. It was still plugged in but she certainly could not use it for stabilization while she was trying to stand up so I unplugged it. She was very angry and told me that she couldn't get up because I unplugged the cord. She also said she was going to the family room, but her intent to get there was through the wall rather than going to the door near the other end of the table. I helped her get up and balance with her walker. By that time she was crying and didn't want me to help her do anything. But, What the Hell! An extension cord is NOT an assistive device and she couldn't get to the family room through the wall.