Hello just wondered does anyone here still drive? I haven’t driven for 3 years but no-one told me i couldn’t. I have a Motabilty car and open insurance so the carers and Lee and my daughter drive. Well just recently perhaps foolishly i got in touch with the DVLA and they let me have an assessment which i went for yesterday. It didn’t go well, they said they would get in touch with the dvla and see me again perhaps in 6 months, to see if i improved i think it didn’t help because i was very anxious id not forgotten how to drive, but everything is so weak and my cognitive ability is not what it was. I think i foolishly assumed that they would have some miraculous adaptation that would turn me into Super woman …but sadly they didnt…iv’e not driven for 3 years accept for my wheelchair, and me and Frazer go everywhere together. When i got home i cried, its just a reminder of my past life i loved my white van it was old and battered but it was my freedom. Ben my son was lovely he reminded me of all the adventures i’m having with Frazer…yes its a different life, but still good…You know what they say “When God closes a door he opens a window”
I gave up driving quite a few years ago but I still miss it Michelle. I wasn’t told to give up but I knew I was no longer safe, I seemed to lose my ability to judge distances but it was my inability to concentrate that was the final straw.
Im sorry to hear about your driving test, I can imagine that you would feel extra nervous if you were being tested and that would make things go worse
I only had my diagnosis last year and was living in Europe, so not driving at all back then. When I returned home to NZ I didnt know if I should drive, my doctor said it was up to me. I kind of make a compromise in that I only drive very short distances in my automatic car (just to the shops or local hospital and back) and its been a God send that I can still drive since my father has been very ill in 80 year old mother doesn’t drive. Due to the intense pain of spinal stenosis, fatigue, faltering vision, vestibular disorders etc. I would not even attempt to try driving longer distances. Fortunately I have a new friend who has RRMS and is currently in remission, has no problem about driving to Auckland and back, so we just share the petrol costs and enjoy each others company
I haven’t driven for years now, when I felt unsafe, I made the decision to stop. I still miss the independence it gave me, and it’s always a reminder of this damn ms, but life goes on in a different way.
I haven’t driven for some time. My licence ran out last week and I’m still waiting for the new one from DVLA. Like many of us here, I’m on a three year deal. When I visited the optician two weeks ago he said my eyesight had actually improved. I’ll still drive a bit but Jo, being a diamond diva will always drive for me. I rather like having my scooter and wheelchair with free bus pass. And the bus stop is 30 meters away.
Hi Michelle i made a very hard decision to give driving up i didnt feel safe at all and i knew it was for the best, but boy oh boy i was so upset having to make the decision i think we know deep down when its time to give up, i really missed it for ages .
But it soon became the norm.i felt really cheated because i learnt to drive when i had trouble walking and it gave me so much independence, so when i HAD to give it up it hurt like hell,i felt like i had lost my indepedence for a 2nd time,god how i hate this crappy MS.
Thanks for your kind messages everyone, I sometimes think i can do more than what is possible and the feeling of failure is awful. it always makes me sad when i look back at what i could do in he past and realise that i will probably never do it again. And then i’m guilty of comparing myself to friends my age who are working and driving and having active lives. Its so good to come on here it makes me realise that life goes on and non of us are failures , we still have great adventures, but in a different way.
Hugs ((())) I stopped about the year two thousand I knew and still know it was the best decision but it hurt. Life goes on and our next car will have to be wheelchair adapted it is getting increasingly difficult to transfer safely. Life goes on and we have to adapt. I know I couldn’t drive now but wish life to be different I want to be like I was thirty year’s ago still working etc wouldn’t it be nice to have a magic wand?
No I don’t want that I am happy as I am. George our son is off to Qatar soon we had a fantastic day all together today so I can’t go back I have so much to be grateful for and a future to explore. So so going back as you said one door closes and a window opens. What I want for the future is to get rid of this acid reflux stopping me sleeping at 1:15 am. HEATHER has just made me tea and I have peptac on dripfeed two doses since ten o’clock and another to in a minute. Grrrr I knew I would suffer eating all that rich food today!! Still I enjoyed it then but paying for it now.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! I waited almost a year for the assessment that I too thought would suggest things that would assist my driving. Biggest mistake of my life, I had a 90min ‘grilling’ starting with what is the date? There was to be a further 60mins, I had to ask for a break then tested on the static rig, it didn’t go well I was tired. Drive their car using hand controls around hospital’s one way system and very narrow in an unfamiliar car. Did I mention hand controls?
Lest I take over your post and steam comes out my ears, I now drive my automatic with hand controls and a steering ball What did the professional driving instructor tell me, I should have gone for the hand/steering adaptations and not involved DVLA.
I am a law abiding citizen and could not have done this. I am actually now glad I jumped (MS sick joke) through ‘their’ hoops but it was harsh. M
