Keeping the Elderly Safe
In Don’t Drop the Baby, Dr. Lauren Kane is a geriatrician who makes house calls to care for the elderly. We want to keep everyone safe, so here are 5 tips to prevent falls – they’re easy and worth the effort. The first time my mother-in-law visited our home, I walked a few feet ahead of her scooping up the throw rugs in her path. She must have wondered what the heck I was doing. Haha
- Remove all throw rugs and small obstacles from hallways and floors.
- Don’t store anything in low cabinets that would necessitate bending over. It’s easy to lose your balance or have a dizzy spell if you bend over suddenly. It’s important to move slowly from lying to sitting and from sitting to standing to give your blood pressure time to adjust.
- Use a cane or walker, which has been appropriately sized for your height, strength, and mobility issue.
- Make sure hearing aids and glasses prescriptions are up to date. Take pills as prescribed.
- Exercise! Exercises for strength and balance are really important at any age –stretch calf muscles and shoulders, do knee bends to keep up the strength in your quadriceps/thighs so you can get up from a chair, lift weights (even light weights) to maintain forearm strength and flexibility – you need it to wipe your bum and wash your hair – and maintain your balance by standing on one leg at a time. Hold onto something initially until you can the hang of it.
Don’t Drop the Baby ~ Dr. Brogan Corkie is happily semi-retired from medicine and now has time for other hobbies. Her passion for food is second only to her skill at matchmaking!
Ross Skye, owner of BabyCare, a high-end line of baby merchandise, is injured in an accident, and Brogan uses her cooking, medical – and matchmaking – skills to help him out. Dr. Lauren Kane is taking care of her nephew for two weeks, and Brogan agrees to babysit while Lauren is at work.
Two years ago, Ross and Lauren dated. At that time, Lauren wanted kids, but Ross wasn’t keen. Now the tables have turned, and Ross is trying to convince Lauren that they’d make an awesome parenting team. Brogan suggests they test drive parenthood by looking after a simulated baby for a week – a computerized version that eats, sleeps, wets, and cries. Ross and Lauren experience the “joy” of having a newborn firsthand, and the bar is set pretty low. Their first goal is: don’t drop the baby. The second goal is to find out if their love for each other will survive the test of…parenting.
Don’t Drop the Baby is only 99cents – a bargooooon! Here’s the buy link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0847SFBFV
Enjoy an excerpt ~
Her phone rang and she picked it up eagerly when she saw her daughter’s name on the call display. “Hi love, how are you?”
“On a scale of one to ten, I’d have to say ten.”
Brogan smiled. When the kids were teenagers, they’d roll their eyes when Brogan switched hats from mom to doctor and asked them to rate their pain or mood on a scale of one to ten. Later on it became a running family joke and everything from the weather to vegetables to their opinion of their sibling’s date was fair game.
“How are things with you, Mom? How’s the retirement test going?”
“Also a ten out of ten. I’ve slipped into my new career like a fish to water. I couldn’t be happier.”
“Nice. I’m sure a lot of patients are missing you, but you’ve earned the break. Are you managing to keep busy?”
“Yes. My freezer was overflowing, but I’ve got my very first customer.”
“Good gracious. Someone’s paying you to cook?”
“Mae honey, have a little faith. Some people enjoy my cooking.”
Mae laughed. “I guess the bright side is you can treat them if something goes wrong. Not many chefs can boast that.”
Brogan chuckled reluctantly. “The advantage of keeping my license up.”
“What are you catering?”
“I’m the in-house chef for a young man.”
Silence. “Excuse me?”
“Jess’s nephew was in an accident and fractured his arm and leg. I’m getting his meals and keeping an eye on him.”
“Jess’s nephew? You’re telling me that you’re living with multi-millionaire Ross Skye, CEO of BabyCare, who recently walked away from the crash of his private helicopter with a broken arm and leg?”
Brogan frowned. “Helicopter? I didn’t realize. I’d assumed it was his car. But either way, yes.” She paused. “Although I highly doubt he walked away from it.”
“He’s an experienced pilot. Apparently there was some mechanical problem, and his skill saved him. The crash was pretty spectacular. It was caught on video and plastered all over social media. He’s lucky to be alive.”
That might explain the trouble sleeping.
“He could afford the best of the best,” Mae continued. “How did you get involved?”
Brogan pursed her lips and tried to overlook the insult. “Jess asked me to drop off a few meals for his freezer, and I offered to help.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Does he know you’re a doctor? Has he asked you to prescribe something illegal for him? Narcotics? Benzos?”
Brogan sighed audibly. “Relax, Mae. I do know what I’m doing.”
“The fact that you’re staying at his house seems a little sketchy. A one out of ten, Mom,” Mae said with a grunt. “Does Finn know about this?”
“Something tells me he will shortly,” Brogan said wryly. “I appreciate your concern, but there’s no need for it. I’m having fun.”
“That’s what concerns me!”
Brogan laughed. “I love you, dear. Say hello to Lori for me and don’t worry.”
Mae sighed. “Love you, Mom. Be careful.”
Brogan smiled and hung up the phone. Kids – can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.
Cozy up with a fun sweet romantic comedy! Get your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0847SFBFV