MS MuSings
A Monthly Online Magazine
by and for those living
with MS,
Multiple Sclerosis
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MS MuSings A Monthly Online Magazine by and for those living with MS, Multiple Sclerosis
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Tables of Contents Other:
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the story ends (though I’m sure there will be a sequel) As Arnie would say…. I’m baaack!! By David Ashton And comfortably installed in my new ‘wheels’, too. What a joyful experience for my poor beleaguered butt. After many months of extreme discomfort I can now take most of the pressure off the scrawny thing with the press of a button, and this is continuing to improve as further customising progresses. The chair is fitted with a Tilt-in-Space seating arrangement, which allows me to lie on my back while remaining in a flexed position, enabling me to not only rest my pressure points but also reduce the swelling in my feet. In other words, a Lay-Z-Boy on steroids! I am impressed by the speed of the chair and particularly its hill climbing capability and stability. One particular episode found me balanced precariously (I thought) on three wheels when one of the font castors decided to follow a large crack in the sidewalk, and I shot off the curb. I didn’t tip at all, the machine simply clawed itself back onto the path, and so we lived to ride another day. Regular readers of my column will be aware that I have rolled my old scooter on occasions, and have polished my elbows on fast corners and negative cambers from time to time. I feel confident that I would have to be particularly reckless with this beast to perform such acrobatics. Is that tempting fate, or what?! The transition from scooter to powerchair has been an interesting learning curve for me. I liken it to normally driving a saloon car and then getting into a van - suddenly you have no visual reference for the very front of the vehicle. In my case, I have no idea where the footplate is and so I am often clipping walls, doorframes and furniture (not to mention ankle tapping the odd pedestrian who wanders into my path—and don’t they all?). I have found, however, that I don’t need to have my toenails trimmed as often; they simply wear themselves away instead! As a result, I am now in the process of having a new customised footplate fabricated. The weirdest experience, so far, was the first outing in my regular Total Mobility taxi van. This particular van is not a high roof model and has a regular size rear door opening with wheelchair hoist. As my new chair has a high back with headrest fitted, it was necessary to reverse onto the hoist and then lie on my back before reversing into the van - rather like loading a missile - and returning to a sitting position for the rest of the journey. At journey’s end the reverse procedure was required and also called on a hefty dose of faith in the guidance ability of my trusty driver. I now know what learner pilots go through when they have to land a plane blind, using instruments only, for their flying test. Of course this was all observed, with great amusement, by several passersby in Central Takapuna. So be warned, if you ever see a pair of size 11 shoes emerging from a van or hurtling down the footpath towards you, it’s probably me asleep at the wheel! There you go, a happy ending at last, but I’m sure there will be many interesting episodes for this worthy tome in the years to come. Keep smiling, David There you go, a happy ending at last, but I’m sure there will be many interesting episodes for this worthy tome in the years to come. Keep smiling, David Reach David by email to comment: dwiths@xtra.co.nz |
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