Anticipating The Inevitable

It is said that old age is not for sissies; it is equally true that it is not for the unprepared.

How many people who slip through their forties, decide to remodel the house, and in doing so take no note whatsoever of the possibility that, in just a few years, the toilets in the house may be too "low," grab bars are needed in the bath, even a ramped alternative to the front or back door might make sense.

The infirmity which preceded my hip replacement and the recuperative limitations which followed it made a number of things very clear. But as I looked around the house, I saw that I had done a pretty good job of anticipating many aspects of old age and making some design adjustments.

During a major remodeling of my more than a century old farmhouse about fifteen years ago, the architect balked when I insisted on a ground floor guest bath with a walk-in shower and a sink which could deal with a wheelchair. The slightly higher toilet was a no brainer, as was the wider door for the wheelchair. I emerged victorious, and it's made quite a difference.

On the other hand, I didn't think to add hand rails to the stairs upstairs and to the basement, much less hand rails which made coming up the outside steps easier. But that's been down now, and two things are left.

Because we're redoing the upstairs bath, I'm thinking seriously about a regular bathtub with a side door - if I ever get to the point where I can't step over the edge of the tub. That's not a big deal.

My other ambition is to find some genius who can construct an aluminum dock for use in the lake during the summer; at other times it might be able to be configured as a ramp to one of the entry doors at other times.

These days there are lots of solutions to the challenges which accompany ageing. They are not all expensive - that is until you don't have them and not having them causes a problem which leads to the Emergency Room.

In this instance, when you have plenty of time, you might put "Geriatric Planning" on your schedule.