At three in the morning the route is dark, and the thing that catches her is often not the floor. It is the line lying across it. A phone charger running from the wall to the nightstand, a power strip tucked under the bed, the hose of a machine she uses to sleep, or a tube that reaches from equipment to her chair can all sit exactly where a foot lands on the way to the bathroom.
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.
What to do first, at the bed
Before you change anything, sit on the edge of the bed with the lamp on and follow each cord with your eyes. Start at the wall outlet and trace the line to wherever it ends. Note every place a line crosses the floor between the bed and the bathroom door, and every place it runs along the floor near the path she takes.
Then stand where she stands. Get up slowly, the way she does, and walk the route with your feet instead of your eyes. Notice when your shoe touches a cord. That touch is the one she will not see in time.
Walk the six stops in order
Go through the six stops from the bed to the toilet, one at a time. At each stop, look for four things. Is a line lying on the floor, or is it lifted off the path? Does it cross a threshold, such as the doorway or the edge of the bathroom floor? Is a plug or a power strip sitting on the floor where a foot could land? Is a cord running under a rug edge or a mat? Write down each one you find, even the ones that look harmless.
Pay close attention to where she reaches. If she grabs the nightstand, the lamp cord or charger should not hang down where her hand or her foot will go. A line that is long enough to reach the floor from the top of a table is a line that will end up on the floor.
What to change, and what to leave alone
Most of the fixes are simple. Move the outlet or the charger to the side of the bed away from the path. Run cords along a wall and secure them with clips at the baseboard, not across the middle of the floor. Shorten a cord only if it is long enough to be safe to shorten. Do not tape a cord flat across the route, because tape edges lift and the cord underneath then becomes a loose trip. Do not run a cord under a rug on the path.
If a line belongs to medical equipment, do not reroute, shorten, or disconnect it on your own. Ask the doctor or the equipment supplier what length is set and whether the unit can be moved closer to the bed or the bathroom. Those are questions for them to answer, not something to settle at night with a pair of scissors.
What to write down
Keep a short page near the lamp or in the same place as her other night notes. For each of the six stops, write down what runs across it, who owns the line, and whether it was moved. For any medical line, write down the length that was set, who set it, and the question you asked about it.
Then note the day you checked, and set a reminder to check again whenever something changes. A new charger, a new lamp, a moved chair, or a new piece of equipment each means the route has changed, and the lines need to be walked again from the bed.