For a lady in her early 70s, I like to consider myself very active and independent. I’ve always been someone who enjoys yoga and being physically active. I think living an active lifestyle is the key to staying fit and healthy as you age. That’s not to say things haven’t become a bit more challenging as I’ve aged. Despite my attempts to be regularly active, I am noticing that I tend to have more muscle soreness and become fatigued easier.
An event two days ago left me shaken and really feeling my age. I was trying to get out of the tub and slipped and fell. It was horrible. I was stuck on the floor for at least twenty minutes until I could stand back up again. Luckily, I didn’t sustain any major injuries, but I now feel anxious whenever I need to get in or out of the bath.
I’ve been living alone since my husband passed away, but I’m lucky to have three adult children who come to visit me each week. In a passing conversation, I told them about my fall. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, but I was wrong. My kids were sent into a panic, worried about my health and safety. They started rattling off all the benefits of a bathtub cut out for elderly people. While I appreciated their concern, I couldn’t help but also feel a bit peeved that they were referring to me as elderly. A person in their seventies has never been elderly to me. I consider elderly people as eighty-five years old and above.
I knew they had my best interest at heart. So I asked, ‘how much does a bathtub remodel cost?’ Sydney is an expensive city to live in, and I assumed something like this wouldn’t be cheap. Over the next week, my kids went off and gathered various quotes. To my surprise, this modification wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be. In fact, it was actually quite affordable. I wish I had this for my late husband.