September 10, 2021
Dear Everyone:
About a year and a half ago, I was seeing my
cardiologist for a routine checkup on the gizmo in my chest.
At the time, I pointed out to the cardiologist that my feet and
ankles were getting a little bit puffy.
This is important as edema is one of the symptoms of heart
failure, the reason I have a gizmo in my chest.
Having already prescribed a diuretic (“water
pills”), as this is one of the first things a cardiologist does, he
referred me to a vascular surgeon.
A vascular surgeon doesn’t even look at a patient until after an
ultrasound has been done.
So, I underwent the ultrasound before actually seeing the vascular
surgeon. At the time, he
pronounced that the veins in my legs were doing just fine.
No problem there.
He recommended wearing compression stockings
and losing weight. Losing
weight is another thing that all doctors recommend, unless you’re
underweight, in which case, they recommend gaining weight. As if either
is automatically the easiest thing in the world to do.
The vascular surgeon also told me to keep my
legs elevated. Again, easy
to say, not so easy to do.
I did try.
I bought an ottoman to put in front of my chair so I could put my
feet up. Only problem:
I couldn’t have a table with the computer on top of it in front
of the chair. The ottoman
got in the way. Another
problem: When I put my feet
up on the ottoman, there was a gap between it and the chair.
My knees tended to “fall” into the gap, overextending the joints.
Also, with my feet up, there was a tendency to put a lot of
strain on my lower back, which has problems of its own.
In fact, this is one reason I don’t absolutely “love” the
reclining seats at a lot of modern theaters.
Ultimately, I gave the ottoman to “Jeannie” and haven’t seen it
since.
What I needed, theoretically, was one of those
reclining chairs, but one that fit me rather than the nearest
professional basketball player.
I started doing some research online.
I discovered that recliners come in two basic models.
One kind raises the feet while sending the back down so that the
person is either sitting up without elevating the legs, or lying on
one’s back staring at the ceiling.
But there’s another kind of recliner, one that has “continuous”,
(also known as “universal”) reclining.
This is one where the legs and back are independent.
This is what I wanted.
I started looking into possible sources.
Amazon, naturally.
You can get just about anything from Amazon.
Only one thing held me back:
The words “easy to assemble”.
I was not interested in putting something that massive together
by myself.
In the meantime, All Hell Broke Loose when
Something Declared War on my lower left leg.
I was in no shape to look for recliners, much less contemplate
assembling one.
Months later, I was once again considering the
pros and cons of getting a recliner.
The pros were winning.
In the meantime, I discovered that my favorite
medical supply store not only sells recliners, they have a vast
collection of choices to consider.
In fact, a good part of their store is devoted to displaying
recliners.
I pointed out to the sales rep that I needed
one for short people. She
immediately introduced me to her personal favorite:
A reclining lift chair especially designed for the “under five
feet” crowd.
Not only does it have a shorter seat pan, it
also has a lumbar section that extends at the push of a button to fully
support my lower back.
Another button raises the legs with no “gap” behind the knees, while a
different button lowers the legs back down to the floor.
Keep holding the button down, and the chair begins to stand up,
taking you with it.
At the time, I told the sales rep that I would
have to consult with “Jeannie” before making such a serious purchase.
After all, she’s my personal shopping assistant and would feel
left out if I bought the thing on the spot.
When I spoke with “Jeannie” that evening, she
immediately ordered me to “go for it”, without even seeing what color it
was. The next day I went
back to the store and checked on a couple of things.
First, did it come “fully assembled” or would I
need to hire someone to put it together for me?
No problem. I was
looking at the actual chair.
Apparently, each time they sell a chair, they pull another one out of
stock and start putting it together to show on the floor.
And I already liked the color.
Second, how wide was it?
The chair in my living room was an “overstuffed” one that
measured about 45 inches across.
The recliner was about 33 inches wide.
That meant I would be gaining a foot in space along the wall,
although the recliner has to extend further into the room to allow for
it to “recline” all the way back to almost flat.
Needless to say, it’s been in my living room
for about a week now. One of
my better “impulse buys”.
And I do like the ability to elevate my legs anytime I feel like it.
I even use the “lift” feature when I remember to do it.
Did I happen to mention it was on sale?
I saved about $300!
All told, a win-win.
Love, as always,
Pete
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