Tag: disability

Just gotta keep on pushing

Many of you probably know by now that in addition to dear old Martha, I also have a wheelchair that I like to call Louise.  Although we’ve got some fond memories together, she doesn’t get to leave the house anywhere near as much as my walking frame.

My chair is a self propelling one, which means that I could sit in it and push myself around if I had to. On the occasions that Louise does get to come out and play with me though, there’s usually someone else in control of her. I’m not very good at it and I’m always scared that I’ll lose control and bump into those around me. Not good.

The other day when I went to the hospital about my callipers , I had no choice but to take care of myself. There were a couple of incidents of me bumping into a few door frames but it was mostly fine. In fact, I found it much easier than the last time I tried it, and got to where I needed to be much quicker than I ever had before so kudos to me, I guess. I still don’t have the guts to try and do it outside, or down any ramps or hills by myself but it’s a start. When I got my first chair at about 11, I attempted to take on the ramp in my local Woolworths. Not only did I hurt my hands trying to slow myself down, I also realised that I couldn’t slow down – or stop – till I reached the bottom. I never tried that one again.

I know, I know; I should, right? Practice makes perfect and all that jazz, but truth is I’m not really in it that much. There’s not really enough room for me to do it in the house  but maybe next time I’m in town I should take turns with whoever is my designated driver and say that I’ll get myself around the shops if they do the scary outdoors bit?

I’m still not sure what it was about last week that seemed easier than any other time I’ve had a go could actually be thanks to Martha. She the heaviest of any of the walking frames that I’ve had before because of her seat so  I’m starting to build some muscle for the first time in my life! This makes me very happy indeed.

Maybe I should have a couple of half an hour wheeling sessions a week as best I can in the garden , just to see what happens? Maybe it could be a good thing, for the future (you never know what might happen) and for my self confidence.

The sisters are doing it for themselves

Well, my little sister Sophie came to my aid again yesterday. I needed to wonder into town to collect one of my book reservations from the library (Joyland by Stephen King, if you’re wondering) and I’d already agreed to spend some time with Sophie while my mum ran some errands, so I suggested that we turn it into a girly shopping day. I knew she wanted to pick up some accessories for a new party dress she’s just got, plus it would give me the chance to spoil her a bit for all the stuff she does for me.

I was mostly expecting her  to say that she’d much rather have movie day because she loves the chance to choose a DVD from my collection rather than the family one, (just lately we’ve tried to watch the Addams Family Values about four times but we always keep getting interrupted), but she agreed straight away. She said she was in the mood to find something pretty for her new outfit. She even declined the offer to go and see Monsters University at the cinema afterwards, telling me that she wasn’t in a film mood. However, I wouldn’t have blamed her for backing out when I mentioned that we’d have to get the bus together.

Whenever we go out, it’s usually my folks who take care of the folding and unfolding of my walking frame Martha so today would be a first for her. She’s seen some of the challenges I’ve faced on public transport with mum around so I did wonder if she’d change her mind, but she didn’t. I showed her how to collapse Martha and put her back up again and she seemed to manage just fine. I gave her the option of staying home again, but she said she still wanted to go, so she helped me with my shoes and off we went.

I could tell that she was nervous, because she was really quiet as we waited at the stop. To tell you the truth I was equally nervous being the one responsible for the safe keeping of her mobile phone and spending money (courtesy of the Bank of Dad). Luckily when the it arrived there were no other prams/wheelchairs/walking frames so we were okay. She helped me guide Martha on safely, took her own seat and gave me a massive grin,

“Feel better now?” I asked. She nodded.

At the other end a nice gentleman helped me get off again and she took care of Martha. That was the hard part over with. I was so proud of her. If she was worried, it didn’t stop her from taking on the bus challenge with me. I tried my best to make sure she had some fun and even took her for milkshake, a very well deserved milkshake.  Oh, and some hairspray. And some hair clips.

Calliper/blister update

My callipers
My callipers

Well, I went to the hospital to show them that my callipers and boots have been blistering me again, and, as promised, I thought I’d give you all an update.

The man looked at my feet and how they sit inside boot and suggested that we try adding some extra straps to another pair that will change my foot position and hopefully be more comfy to wear. He ordered them and suggested that I come in for a fitting rather than just collecting them so that he could show me how to attach the calliper to them because it will be slightly different this time around. I’m just hoping that I’ll manage to get them on by myself, although I don’t see why not.

With this will then come some upping the ante on my physio and stretching regime, but that’s probably a good thing to do anyways.

As for the chaffing that the callipers did to my legs when I first got them back in January, I showed him the mark that is still on my leg (although somewhat fainter now, which is good) and when he found out that I wear them over the top of my jeans rather than underneath them, he suggested that it might be a good idea to wear jeans with small seems in case that was what had irritated my skin in the first place. They haven’t rubbed there for ages though so I’m hoping that that part has sorted itself out at least. I know that I could hide them under my clothes if i really wanted to, but I figured that seeing as I spend my time wondering around with a big blue walking frame, it seems a little bit pointless, if you ask me.

So, there you have it. Not all that much to tell really, but let’s hope it works. Needless to say, I’ll keep you posted.

Helping around the house (or not)

When it comes to housework, I’m not exactly great at it. I mean, sure I do the dishes sometimes and pick up the things that are on the floor but that’s about it.

Truth is, I don’t find household chores all that easy to do, once you take away the ones I’ve just mentioned. I’d struggle to vacuum up unless I was using a hand-held mini vac, and laundry isn’t a walk in the park either.

A lot of the time (well most of the time in truth) I feel bad that I don’t do more around the house to help my mum. I try my best but there’s always work left over that she has to do. If I clean the living room she’s still left t plump the sofa cushions, and in the bathroom I can take care of the toilet and sink but the shower is pretty much a no-go.

Instead, I help out in different ways like entertaining/keeping an eye on/irritating my little sister after school and in the holidays while I’m not working, and making her the odd cup of coffee (which she then has to come and get because I can’t carry it unless I make it in a thermal mug). While she says she doesn’t mind, and that she can do it faster than me (I have no doubt that both of these statements are true) I’d love nothing more than to have dinner on the table for her when she gets home from work, but I don’t think beans on toast would cut it somehow.

My lack of summer shoes

One of the downsides of summer for me is that I can’t wear summer shoes. In years gone by this hasn’t been too much of a problem for me because it hasn’t ever really got that warm, but boy, oh boy, I am feeling it this year.

I’m not able to wear flip-flops or open toe sandals to help me keep cool in the heat, and I’m still limited to my usual choice of callipers, boots or trainers. Usually this doesn’t bother me too much. If I’m honest, because I’ve never done it, the idea of wearing flip-flops seems totally odd to me. The idea of wondering around all day with something shoved between two of your toes and having the sole of your foot slapped by whatever they’re wearing every time you take a step seems like it would really get on my nerves, but I guess you must get used to it after a while.

Maybe there would be something different I could wear, I don’t spend enough time in shoe shops to really notice.

For the past week, I’ve taken to wearing an old pair of ankle boots I bought a couple of years back. My callipers are too warm to wear at the moment, and they’ve blistered my feet really badly again anyway. This happens every so often and I’m not really sure why, but I’m off to the hospital next week to hopefully try and get the problem sorted out. They don’t blister me as much as the AFO splints that I used to wear, but still, it’s not nice when they do. My foot was so sore last week that my boyfriend even offered to carry me so that I wouldn’t have to walk on it until I could change into something that wouldn’t irritate me quite so much. I didn’t take him up on the offer, as tempted as I was by the time I got home.

For now, I guess I should look on what I guess you could call the brightside: at least I have an excuse to wear something that’s not quite so warm without having to feel guilty about no wearing the callipers.

Every cloud, eh?