"Patricia Willson, 93, stares intently at her leg as her nurse unwraps layers of bandages, revealing a scar that, to Willson's elation, is nowhere near as gruesome as it had been months ago. Hunched over from a fractured back, Willson scrolls through her phone to remind her nurse what the scar had looked like. Last December, she sliced her leg open on a box. A few months later, the three-inch gash got infected."
"As she inches back to her desk once her leg is tended to, Willson stops to clear off a stack of papers. Nestled between bills and medical records on one side of the desk sits a stapled-together printout of 50 websites for finding freelance work. Tucked away on the other side is a slightly wrinkled cover letter she's been sending to companies. "I really need a job," she says under her breath. There aren't too many people her age looking for work, she acknowledges somberly."
"Willson, a mother of six, worked in payroll at companies like Pfizer before opening a home rental business in 2006, which she runs with her daughter and her son-in-law. Until four years ago, Willson was on her feet doing chores around the property; she has since become less able to perform physical tasks. "When you don't know what to do, you don't do anything," Willson says. "Things snowballed on me, and I did not foresee that things would get worse.""
Patricia Willson, 93, manages multiple health problems including a fractured back and a previously infected three-inch leg gash that is now healing. She relies on a nurse for wound care and uses her phone to document her condition. Willson previously worked in payroll and now runs a home rental business with family, but physical decline over recent years has limited her ability to perform chores. She keeps printouts of freelance job sites and a cover letter at her desk because she sometimes struggles to have extra money after paying bills. Nearly 1.4 million people over age 65 work despite disabilities.
Read at Business Insider
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