Why Do I Have to Buy a Walker-Alternative Walker

A few days ago a relative of mine called me. She was in severe pain from a pulled muscle.

Since she refuses to go to a doctor (not that I blame her, I dislike doctors as well), she had decided to tough it out on her. But, she was in real trouble, with the muscles cramping and locking up. Because she was unable to drive or even walk for more than 2 or 3 feet, she asked me to buy her some pain pills and come help her for a few hours.

When I got there she looked terrible. She hadn't eaten for a couple of days and had had several accidents on the way to the toilet.

I gave her the Alieve, fed her and cleaned house.

In an hour she was looking better and THEN I chewed her out for not calling me sooner.

We were brainstorming how to relieve her pain while walking to the bathroom, when I suggested that she needed a walker to help stabilize herself. We got on the phones and asked several people for an unused walker. No luck.

I tested several of her rolling chairs but they rolled too easily and just were not safe to use as a walker. To buy a walker from a mail order outfit would take several days to a week to arrive and she needed a walker now! You can't rent walkers around here without a doctor's order. She needed to restrict her walking to allow the pulled muscle to recover. She would only need the walker for ten days maybe two weeks.

I did not want to leave her alone, but I had prior obligations. When I got home she called me.

"Why do I have to buy a walker?" she asked me. "How about an alternative walker?"

I was busy saying, "Huh???"

She started laughing, the rolling chairs were not safe enough to stabilize her while walking, but she could sit in one, 'walk' her feet and easily move her whole body, stress and pain free. The only thing she needed to be careful of was getting into the rolling chair and getting out of it.

I had left her extra food and now she is able to move freely and safely, to take care of herself until she heals up from the pulled muscle.

I will check in on her, but she is already improved, mentally and physically, just by finding a way to move.

If for some reason you can not find a solution in a conventional way, look at the problem in its simpliest terms.