The table next to her bed is the first stop on the route, and it is often the one that ends up in the wrong place. A table that sits too far back, too low or behind the lamp cord can turn a simple reach into a stretch. Moving it sounds like a weekend chore. Whether you should do it yourself depends on a few plain checks you can make before anyone lifts anything.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Check the table before you touch it

Empty every drawer completely. Then look at the base. Note whether it has legs that unscrew, a back panel that might come loose, or wheels that will catch on carpet. Measure its height and its width, and measure the doorway it has to pass through if it is leaving the room. Write these numbers down before you start.

Check the floor and the path

Walk the path the table will take. Look for a threshold, a rug edge, a cord, or a step. Any of these changes a one-person lift into a two-person job, and some of them make a slide across the floor the wrong choice altogether. Test the new spot by setting a strip of painter's tape on the floor where the table will sit, then have her sit on the bed and reach. Her hand should find the top of the table without leaning or twisting.

Decide who lifts

A family member can usually move a light, empty table with no stairs and no threshold. Pay two people, or ask a local company to do it, if the table is heavy even empty, has to be taken apart, must cross a threshold or step, or would need to be dragged across carpet. Do not try to be the hero on the lift. If the job needs a second person and you are the only one in the house, the job needs a second person.

Where to find help

If you decide to hire, Local help after a fall, St. Louis lists where to start in our area. Ask whoever comes out whether they will move the table to the exact spot you marked, not just into the room.

What to write down

  • The table's height, width and depth, and the narrowest doorway it must pass.
  • The marked spot and the reach test you did from the bed.
  • Whether the move was done by family or by hired help, and who did it.
  • Any cord, rug or threshold you moved or fixed so the new spot stays clear.

Keep these notes with the rest of the route plan. The next time someone rearranges the room, the notes will tell them where the table is meant to be and why.