I’d say that I first started noticing a decline in my mobility ten years ago. It was a very subtle decline that I suspected was normal. Over the last two years, however, I have noticed that this decline was becoming rapid. I tend to now have very sore knees and a stiff lower back, day in and day out. I’ve even had to retire from work. This job involved a lot of standing at cash registers, and it probably contributed to the fatigue in my legs. Now that my back and knee pain is so excruciating I had to quit my job. I guess at my age it’s not untypical to retire now. I wish it was only my work life that was affected. This pain is really affecting all aspects of my life. For example, the other day I was trying to get into the bath and I couldn’t. I just couldn’t lift my leg high enough to ease myself into the tub. I basically had to let myself fall in. This was a really depressing day when I realised this was the case. I felt old and useless. My daughter recommended that I look into an easy step bathtub conversion as that’s what her husband’s parents have recently had installed. Basically, the conversion involves cutting in a point of easy access into the bathroom so I can walk into the tub rather than having to struggle while lifting my legs.
I do think this bathtub modification is a good idea and definitely a path I need to go down. For the moment, I absolutely dread bath time because I know I will spend ten minutes trying to safely get into the bath, and ten minutes trying to get myself out. At present, I’m also causing a lot of strain for myself trying to do these movements. There are a few bath modification specialists in the Sydney CBD which I plan to speak to this week to get a quote. The cost of the installation is the least of my worries though as I know this is something I need.