Rise and Recline

 Mum is in her element because she now has a rise and recline chair to play with. It was a pristine condition e-bay bargain at £140 which, given these things cost over £1000 new, was a very good find. Its previous owner has now moved, aged 100, into a nursing home. 

Anyway, this chair not only looks brand new in its cream and brown tartan fabric, it has massage and heat functions, plus two cup-holders and pockets a-plenty. There’s a handy remote control and, because mum has been told by the GP to keep her legs raised above her waist level as much as possible, it has also cured her swollen ankles in the space of 24 hours. 

‘I got up several times to wee last night,’ said Mum, reporting via FaceTime from Comfy Chair City. 

‘Well, the ankle fluid has to go somewhere, Mum,’ replied I, guessing that that is what happened. 

She is pleased with her new slim ankles, so hurrah for that. 

I don’t know if she has tried the ‘rise’ element of the chair yet. I’ve had no reports that she’s managed to ricochet herself across her living room and into the TV screen. I did wonder what the physiotherapist might have to say about the chair because if she is using it to get into standing position then she isn’t using her thigh muscles to do the same and the physio might be disapproving of that. However, if the physio could have seen the beaming light in her face when the chair arrived, he might be more forgiving. Sometimes, happiness and joy needs to trump thighs of steel, especially when one is 86 and a half years old. 

Bizarrely, mum seems most pleased with all the pockets and the cup holders. She is using the cupholders to store tissues because her coffee mug didn’t fit very well. She has her iPad and hearing aid box in one pocket, along with their chargers, and a collection of puzzle books and a novel in the other, along with the TV remote control. The fact she is reading novels again is a good sign. And for the moment, all is just right in mum’s world.