Dear LPG.

I know that I am talking for quite a few Lewisham Pensioners as the years go by, and when I say that I have just learned a home truth which is likely to affect quite a few before they know it, I am not talking about anything which is a secret.   It is more a case of something that catches up with us as we get older though it never really occurs until we arrive. 

I have lived in my present home for some ten years now and have always thought the stairs to be one of its most striking features.  When I first arrived I used to run up and down them with ease many times each day, but as we all know, one of the most common medical problems that older people suffer from is blood pressure and I am no exception when it comes to that ailment.  Another thing that often becomes a problem is walking any real distance and my legs have started limiting how far I can walk, even with a frame these days.

For a long time, all it meant was that I walked to destinations much more slowly and had to take one blood pressure tablet each day, but a couple of weeks ago I started having problems with my balance and one of those trips up the stairs nearly ended in a fall. My GP has told me that I should avoid the stairs and my very attentive son, who lives with me, has been very good to me by bringing my meals up to my bedroom while the problem exists. 

As the years have gone by, my ascents and descents have become slower but I am hoping that this dizziness is a temporary situation but I had a hospital appointment yesterday and the ambulance crew did the best they could although the stretcher they used to lift me down caused a moment or two of anxiety as they negotiated the spiralled section.

When I got to the bottom of that journey, I looked up at the staircase that I so love and thought of how easy it was to use when I first moved in and how difficult getting up and down is now. 

HB, Lee