Mobility Aids

Well BigTree, your post was certainly interesting. 🙂
I’m glad you are mechanically inclined enough to attempt projects like these, wish I was too.

Actually, we do have scooters made for Canadian winters, but they cost from $2,000 used to $5,000 new. Big 10 inch air-filled tires with great traction, 9 degree – 12 degree incline, so they can take the hills. We Canadians wait for the snowploughs to scrape the streets clear after a snowfall, and then we venture forth again. My little hand-cart with the big wheels used to be good enough for getting water and groceries, but I finally had to stop using it this summer because of the continual muscle strain and pulled ligaments since GBS. But since I quit using the hand-cart, I’ve experienced less pain, and more healing, so it’s been a blessing in disguise.

Instead, I’ve been using strategy, now that my brain has healed more. Indoors, and in my yard, I use my walking cane. Outdoors for errands, I use my rollator; I can fit 1 jug of water in my rollator, but the wheels are very small, so can’t use it in all weathers. Can’t go too far, too much foot & leg pain, so the little seat on the rollator is very handy for rest-stops. I dress warmly in winter, so even if it takes me a while to get anywhere, I don’t freeze. I plan my errands in advance, so I can handle the demands of time and effort they will cost me. And I stockpile for the winter, so I can minimize heavy loads then.

One instance of strategy: my new neighbour blocked off access to the garbage racks to create a safe area for her child, so now I’ve had to find an alternative to dragging a garbage can through that area into my backyard whenever I need it for my leaves and garden refuse. That really bugged me for about a week, but then I thought of a plan. I could still use the hand-cart, just put a big garbage bag inside it, and fill it with leaves and refuse, and then wheel it around the building area to the garbage rack. And that would actually be easier on me than dragging the full garbage cans, as I used to. Life these days is all about finding ways to cope with the difficulties and challenges of daily living.

Often, I just feel so trapped in my own small radius of mobility, and the pain is hard to take when I have to do my errands on foot all the time. I used to go hiking and biking, and really miss the park and the river and hills. I’ve managed to make it there with my rollator the odd time, but it was quite a long and painful ordeal. I haven’t had a vehicle for 15 years, and there isn’t anybody to call on to do things for me (we do have Seniors Organized Service in town, but it’s very costly). It comes down to a matter of making do and doing without.

So I’m saving for a good used mobility scooter that can handle the winter and the hills to the hospital and park. It has to be able to transport a 25 lb jug of water or groceries. In the meantime, I’m studying the info on the dealers websites, so I know the specs of the models. I think I’ll get a 4-wheeler for stability, large air-filled tires for traction, 9-12 degree incline, hand grips that aren’t too difficult to operate. I was considering a scooter that comes apart and can be stored indoors, because I’ve been told it’s too hard on them to be stored outdoors in winter. Mostly, I’m afraid of buying something with a defect that will give me no end of trouble, so I’ve been reading some of the online manuals, to give me details. At first, it was all Greek to me. But I’m gaining a better understanding now.

I’m not interested in accepting assistance with the costs; so I’m not looking at community organizations or the system for any help (as if they would anyway). No bureaucracy for me. I’ll pay for it myself. Strangely, GBS-CIDP has actually made me even more self-reliant. It has made me feel more alone, but I don’t mind it. I don’t want or expect anything from anybody, and am content this way. I don’t live by other people’s ideas of what life is all about anyway.

I’m just glad that there are mobility aids these days, because in former times, people only had a walking-cane, and in modern times maybe a wheelchair, and if that wasn’t enough to meet their needs, they were confined to their homes or beds.

Sorry this post is so long; but this thread is all about our coping strategies, and use of the mechanical devices and mobility aids at our disposal. And instead of just feeling frustrated with trying to meet the demands of living with our damaged bodies, any strategies and ways and means we can come up with and share with each other can give us encouragement and empowerment. Bye for now.

Hi Pam,
Thanks for your post; you’ve sure been through a lot, and I really hope your former mobility aids can remain in permanent storage. Do you get out much?

In Canada, we can’t use ATV’s on public roads; they are for off-road trails and areas, same with snowmobiles in the winter-time, and must be transported there by truck. Everything is regulated, and even regular 2-wheeled scooters can’t be used on highways.

Medical mobility scooters (3 or 4 wheels) are supposed to be used on sidewalks only, not on roadsides, but the sidewalks in most towns and cities are so rough and uneven, that you can’t use them on most of them. In the winter (November to mid or late April), many sidewalks remain unploughed and unscraped; there’s just a footpath through most of them, so we can’t use them on the sidewalks for sure then. So I’m thinking of getting a mobility scooter that can handle the road-edge pavement. Lots of people in my town use them on the road-edge and so far, no complaints from the police. You just have to watch out for the careless drivers.

Speaking of which: last week, I was pushing my rollator on the side of the road (no side-walk there) to get water, and there was a car warming up its engine in the driveway next to me. The driver heard my rollator wheels clattering, just glanced at me, and proceeded to back up into me. I wasn’t able to jump out of the way, and it was only inches from me when it finally came to a stop. They really stared at me, as if it was my fault for being in their way, when really they were backing up when it was unsafe to do so. This has happened to me 4 times since I got GBS three years ago, and I get the feeling each time that these townspeople are actually testing me to see if I really am crippled. From now on, maybe I’ll just take down their license plate number and call the police to report them. 😡

I’ve noticed a rise of this sort of attitude, or maybe it’s been there all the time, and it’s only now that when I’m more vulnerable that I’ve noticed it. Travelling on the Handi-Van a few weeks ago to shop in the city, I took along my rollator and cane as usual. The Handi-Van is equipped with a wheel-chair lift, and the signs on the two front seats state that they are designated as handicapped seats. Of course, the people sitting on those seats were not handicapped in any way, and those with walkers and canes had to struggle past them to the back seats. One time I ventured to ask one of those passengers if this was still ‘Handicapped Seating’, but all she did was say I could sit next to her. I had too many bundles to do that, so went on to the back of the bus. 🙁

Life is more of a battle than ever these days, whether it’s the grocery clerk that closes the door in your face as you struggle to open it with your groceries piled on your rollator, or the people that stare continuously at you because you use mobility aids, or the impatient, cross, people that just don’t get it that you need more time to walk through a doorway or just anywhere.
But if they live long enough, sooner or later they’ll know the same things we do. :rolleyes:

Sorry my post is miserable; I got insulted at my local store when I was using my coupons to buy my groceries there yesterday, and it’s still bugging me. Gotta put it past me, and focus on other things to get happy again. Think I’ll turn on the music for awhile. Bye for now, and God Bless!

Just an update about a mobility scooter.
Just lately, two people…my sister, and a stranger from my coupon-club have offered to help me pay for a mobility scooter, but I declined. I decided long ago that this is something I really want to pay for myself, because when I finally get behind that wheel, I want to feel like I truly own it, and that in spite of the GBS/CIDP I was able to figure out my problems and meet my own needs. I’m trusting the Lord to help me to keep on saving up for it, and to help me to find the right deal at the right time.

BTW, I am also continuing to walk a bit better. And a few times now, I’ve actually jumped up from my chair without my cane, like I used to do.
(Who cares about etiquette???)

My heels still hurt badly; but my vocal chords have been improving slightly. Have been stockpiling for the winter, and have to oil my rollator wheels. When I think of all the water and groceries and other stuff I’ve carried on my rollator for the past 3 years, I’m just amazed; it’s been a real Godsend. And it only cost $10 at a yardsale; old and worn but tried and true and a tremendous help, completely dependable, except for those small wheels. I’ve even wheeled it up to the hills to pick berries, and it’s lightweight, so can be easily managed, except in snow.

Had a chance to try out a new rollator a couple of weeks ago at the townwide yardsales, but found that the center-of-balance of the carrier basket was in the front of the rollator, not the middle, so the wheels were always getting stuck whenever they came to a curb. Also, that one had no solid back-frame (just a back-support strap), so couldn’t be tilt-lifted over a curb. The people who make these designs need to actually try them out, don’t you think? Here’s a disabled person trying to use one of them, with water or groceries in the basket, comes to a curb, the large wheels won’t even rise over a 2 inch bump, no solid back frame to grip and heave the walker over the edge; so even an able-bodied person would have a terrible time handling and lifting that beautiful, but heavy and poorly-designed rollator.