i do things in stages and i am in a flat ranch house the stages idea is a good one so is a second railing and i have not seen if u answered if you are using aids. I too hemmed and hawwed at using the cane, a number of months back and some here may remember, it has caught me a few times when my knees have said hey we are taking a quick twenty second break for no reason, use of aids is a lot easier to deal with then broken bones