My husband uses a cane or a walker around the house. He can't really walk more than a couple of feet without the walker (I thought). Today we were watching the old German film of Die Driegoshenoper - the Threepenny opera. He took a dislike to it (though he'd said he wanted to see it), and went and sat down in the kitchen. That's always risky, to leave him there alone; he'll decide any time of day is time for some food so he'll set himself up for breakfast at 4 pm or pour sherry at 10 am... but there was a documentary on the film, and the play it was made from and its success in the US, so I stayed in to watch that.
I thought things were quiet, and went looking for him. He'd gotten out the back door, cane alone, somehow down three steps with no handrail, and onto the damp sidewalk covered in maple-tree droppings, very slippery. He apparently had gotten a little ways and then decided he needed to return, so I managed to get him back in without protest. Well, now I know to lock the back door with the deadbolt when he's wandering! He was very tired tonight.
You have no idea the feeling of fright you feel when they escape the first time! And then you get the keyed deadbolts and you feel secure again, with the knowledge that they are not going to get lost, or fall down, or get hurt when you aren't around to make it better.
briegull, I'm so glad your husband's adventure had a happy ending!
Even keyless deadbolts would not stop my father-in-law. He somehow found a way to escape on my brother-in-law after my mother-in-law died. Even with alarms, by the time my BIL got dressed he could be a mile down the road. Funny - when he got in the VA unit, he stopped for the most part.
NO escapes today, but this morning I asked him what he had taught at Rice. He could not remember. I think we're stepping down a level,although we did listen today to a very interesting interview with Terry Gross - worth listening to if you can listen to streaming audio: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104154403
here's the blurb: Jill Bolte Taylor was in her late 30s when a blood vessel exploded in her brain.
The irony? Taylor is a neurological researcher.
While a stroke typically leaves devastating effects in the body — and oftentimes leads to death — Taylor has made a complete recovery. She says the experience provided unexpected wisdom.
Her bestselling memoir My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey will be published in paperback this month.