Category: disability

A little surprise for us all

So, after showing my husband that I could take 4 steps forward and back without my AFO brace, I felt both encouraged and curious as to how many steps I was able to take, and the only way to answer that question was to take me out of the condo to the railing in the hallway and try it. The answer is more than 4 steps. How many more?  You’ll have to watch the video below to find out.

If you read yesterday’s post, you know that my mid-term goal was to make it to the end of the railing. I fully expected to have to send the cameraman to bring the wheelchair to me by that point if I could get that far. Imagine my surprise at feeling strong enough to try to make it back to the wheelchair and then completing the trip back. I’m absolutely thrilled to know that I was strong enough to do my initial goal and then even MORE.  Now I’m resting because my left leg and butt cheek are quite tired, and I was pretty winded at the finish . I’ve told the hubby that we’re going to do this walk every day now until the leg is strong enough to cross the hallway and come back the other side. That’s the next goal, and it should take more time than this one did for sure.

Added to my resume yesterday

On the heels of my recently found balance, I was feeling fairly confident, so yesterday morning, I thought I’d try something out while my husband was in the shower. So I bravely, if nervously, went to the little hallway that connects the living room to the main bathroom and parked the wheelchair . Then, using the handrail that hubby put in, I pulled myself up and tried to walk a few steps without my AFO. Guess what?! I actually walked 4 steps forward and 4 steps back to the wheelchair … twice!  Granted, it wasn’t graceful, but I didn’t feel like I was losing my balance, and it wasn’t wobbly.  Then, when my mom came over, I did it again to show her! She was just as happy as I was. I haven’t told or shown the hubby yet, but I am excited to do so after he reads this post.

You are tied for second to hear the news. There will be video posted tomorrow, hopefully.

I’m so happy, I could jump for joy, but there’s no way I’m risking injury before hubby sees this!!

It’s the big things

What’s your definition of romantic?

Romance when you’re disabled means having someone who will change your diaper with a smile on his face .Someone who will clean your dentures. Someone who will cook for you, because you can’t cook for yourself. Someone who will keep the house clean because you can’t. And someone who doesn’t complain about doing those things because they love you.

Never do this to anyone using an electric wheelchair

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I enjoyed a matinee performance of swan lake from the wheelchair section of the theater, which is the back row, by the doors. As is our usual practice, we started to leave just as the audience began applauding. I was using my portable electric wheelchair and was already into the aisle when the usher opened the doors of the still darkened theater. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a woman was in front of me, and unfortunately, I bumped into her with my wheelchair . She said sorry twice, and I said, ” You should be.”

This isn’t about me being in the wrong. It’s about the fact that you should NEVER think that you can just quickly get in front of a power wheelchair user. Every power wheelchair is different, and the user may not be able to stop as quickly as you may think.  Luckily for the woman I bumped into, I have good reflexes. But I don’t have great eyesight,which should be obvious by my glasses.

This woman was lucky that I was in my portable chair that weighs 60 pounds and not a chair weighing over 200 pounds, or I could have done some real damage instead of some mild bruising.

Before this incident happened, I used to joke with my husband to speed up when I would follow him in my wheelchair ,that he’d end up in my lap if he wasn’t careful. But that’s not the worst thing that can happen if you stop suddenly in front of me, or if you just want to quickly get in front of me. And I’m okay with it. Because people need to learn to NEVER DO IT.

Every day, I MUST unplug or something mysterious will happen  

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

I have to take the topic of unplug literally here because you see, I’m a power wheelchair user. Every morning, after my second trip to the bathroom, my husband charges my wheelchair for a couple of hours. The weird thing is that it must be plugged into the wall and then the chair. Otherwise, the battery will wear down faster or something that I don’t quite understand. I know when it’s time to unplug when it’s time for my third visit to the aforementioned bathroom, which seems to be the only place that I get to go unless I’m very lucky and I have tickets to a local theater for a special occasion, or my mother is taking care of me for the day and it happens to be good weather. On those days, I get to go outside .  Before that third visit to the little girls’ room ,my husband has to unplug my wheelchair first from the wall and then from the wheelchair. I wish someone could explain why that is to me.

Recently, my husband went to England ,with his sister for a week to take their mother’s ashes to join her sister, which was his mother’s dying wish. My mother stayed with me for the week, and the weather was gorgeous the entire time, and we took advantage of it EVERY day, with strolls around the neighborhood, which really fed my energy. It was like plugging ME into the wall 😊 after a long and grumpy winter.

This is not the wheelchair that needs a daily charge

This is

How a cat toy is helping my paralyzed hand

As you know, if you’ve been reading this blog for the past 8.5 years, I have paralysis down the left side of my body. The worst of which is in my left hand,which was closed into a fist. Several months ago, thanks to some out of the box thinking, along with the muscle relaxant flexoril,which I’ve been taking for years now, I discovered a way to keep my fingers more open . It’s even allowed me to wash between the fingers.  It’s not the brace they tried in the hospital. It’s not even medical in nature. It’s something my cat Graham loves to play with more than any other toy. You see, Graham has simple taste and loves a ball to chase, but not a tennis ball or a baseball. No,Graham is addicted to small, soft balls made of foam.

My fist . The nails dig into my hand
The ball in hand, fingers more open, and then finally the hands clasped

We started buying them for him about 6 months after he came into our lives, and we have amassed around 50 of the darned things,when I decided to try stuffing one under the fingers of my hand and was surprised to find that it was firmer than it seemed, which is what gives it the magic touch,gently forcing my fingers open. It’s at the point where I have a ball in my hand constantly, even while sleeping. The only time I’m without one is during bath time.  I’m coming up on the 9 year anniversary of the stroke and am finally able to do the exercise that the physio therapist in the hospital wanted me to do on day one… both palms together with fingers interlaced, moving my wrists back and forth. It probably doesn’t seem like a big thing to anyone else, but for me it’s a HUGE improvement.

Just ask me

What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.

I like to think that the answer to this question is yes,but…

I’m happy to respond to any questions about my disability,myself, or my wheelchair, as long as you ask them directly to me and not the person I’m with. Always assume that the person who uses a wheelchair can speak for themselves, to assume otherwise, is disrespectful. Because MOST PEOPLE WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS, EVEN POWER CHAIRS CAN SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES!

Sorry, but it makes me angry 😠

Safety, security, and independence in your next power wheelchair?!

Meet Luci,a system of cameras and sensors that can keep you from falling off curbs, running into people who stop short in front of you or even help with spatial reasoning. For instance, I still suffer left side neglect from the massive stroke I had more than 8 years ago and if I had LUCI installed on my wheelchair i wouldn’t have to worry about scraping the door frames everywhere i go. If you know anyone who could use something like this ,please watch the video below for more information about this very necessary technology.

I could try it 🤔

What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

If you could GUARANTEE success, I would attempt to walk to my refrigerator, or perhaps even my toilet. Because I’m not stupid enough to take your GUARANTEE as fact and the fact that I’m permanently paralyzed down my left side. I’m sitting right here in my lift chair until I need to do those things, and then I’ll transfer to my power wheelchair.

This topic wasn’t fun for me.

Wheelchair accessible helicopters?!

I live on Vancouver Island and would love to travel to Vancouver via helicopter, if only to cut down the travel time from downtown in my city to downtown Vancouver. Currently, we have to drive 30 minutes to the airport, board a plane and fly 30 minutes, then find a cab and ride for 40 minutes to get downtown in Vancouver, which uses up more time and energy than it’s worth. If we had wheelchair accessible helicopters on Vancouver Island, we wouldn’t have to drive to the heliport because we are close. Then we just have to board the helicopter and fly for 20ish minutes and land in downtown Vancouver,wasting far less of my precious energy. I might have to make this my mission to get wheelchair accessible helicopter travel to Vancouver Island. Meanwhile, check out this video from Maui. If this man can travel via helicopter, a 130-pound woman with hemiplegia certainly can!