New chair woes (long)

For the background on this, see my "recliner chair" post from 9/13/23. @SDianeL, thank you for posting the link to the Haverty's chair. I also took @harshedbuzz 's suggestion to speak with an OT friend, who among other advice said NOT to purchase anything mom hadn't actually sat in. So we went to Haverty's and found that her feet wouldn't touch the ground when she sat - seat was too deep. But a similar chair fit great. We had her practice operating the buttons to raise and lower the feet. I knew she'd need coaching, but it seemed doable.

Fast forward to yesterday. New chair was delivered and old one removed. She seemed to like sitting in it but could not understand the button at all. Step by step coaching and it's clear that she doesn't even grasp WHY she needs to press this button. I left the footrest down for safety since when it was up, she had no clue how to get it down even a minute after being shown or told.

I went back today. One of the med t9echs told me that she has been sitting on the edge of the bed (that she never sleeps on, just uses for a storage shelf) instead of in the chair. Sure enough, that's where I found her. I convinced her to sit in the chair again, but the "button practice" went even worse than yesterday.

I knew this would be an adjustment, but she seems truly incapable of using the chair controls, even though it's just a toggle switch. This probably means that she is sleeping with her feet on the floor, since I am afraid to leave her with the footrest up. She would probably try to climb out the side with the footrest up - the very reason I switched her from a manual to a motorized chair.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

If I had any lingering doubts that she needs to move to MC, this week has ended that fantasy. Too much to tell here, but it's time. 😔