Thanks Laura,
I think the insult to injury is I DO often ignore it - or try to! I think, without a little bit of that, I wouldn’t have preserved my walking range as well as I have. I’m already much more physically active than I was before I was diagnosed, and I’ve lost a stone in weight!
But when you’re already working that hard, and someone suggests that if you just tried a little bit harder, you might be able to ignore it altogether…
/Sigh…
T.
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Tina,
Would a mobility scooter be of any help in this sort of situation for you?
I have a big one which is very, very comfortable, very sturdy and capable of going long distances and I was out on mine for a couple of hours yesterday going to the GPs. My carer wasn’t available to drive me and like you I can’t afford taxis but with the aid of my mobility scooter I was still able to get the appointment. All up it was a trip of about 7 km, it was manageable; exhausting but manageable.
Just a thought,
Cheers,
B
Hi Belinda,
I wouldn’t have thought a mobility scooter is appropriate for someone who’s still walking three miles or more, would you?
I know there are no absolute rules as to who can and can’t have one, but I’d feel I was using it under false pretences.
If I still had the money, driving lessons and a car would be the obvious answer, as disability isn’t the real or main reason I’m stranded. Of course, it doesn’t help, because it makes it harder for me to stand around in all weathers for buses. Just because I can still manage it doesn’t mean it’s either easy or good for me.
But I’m very apprehensive about learning to drive, even if I suddenly came by the money. There’s a bit of a family history re driving: my mum was quite phobic, although she passed her test first go, and never had an accident. I think, growing up, I got the idea driving was some impossibly difficult thing I would never be able to master, so better not to try. My confidence has not improved with age (or MS) so I think I’d find it even harder now, to pluck up the courage.
I did have an aunt who learnt in her 60s, though, I believe. Ironically, though, she died in a fall from a bus, so I guess she never used her little car very much, otherwise how did she come to be on the bus?
Tina
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Tina
Have you tried calling your local MS Society Branch? Your support volunteer might be able to offer help or suggest other local options. You do not have to be a member to ask for support.
Hilary
Tina,
Whammel’s idea of a trike is a really good idea especially if you don’t feel that a mobility scooter would be suitable. You can get adult sized ones and the never having learned to ride a bike issue wouldn’t be a problem…
http://www.tricyclesales.co.uk/Items/Adult_Tricycles/Adult_Tricycles_List.aspx
Cheers,
B
Sorry B, I do know you mean well, but it’s just soooo not me. Having never driven, or so much as ridden a bike, it’s not just learning not to fall off; I don’t have any road sense, or anything. I think it would be highly dangerous to just get one of those and think I’d be fit to ride off. Plus it still wouldn’t solve the problem of the more than half the year the weather is too inclement to use it. And just look at the prices, too! I could carry on hiring taxis for a whole year, for less than the cheapest of them (I don’t mean daily taxis, but for all medical appointments, which might only be a handful a year).
I’d have to be really sure I was going to get seriously into it, for that kind of money, and I just don’t think I would. I think it would be one of those things I’d nervously try twice, before going back to walking or the bus.
All credit for lateral thinking, though!
Tina
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I feel really lucky now to have the doctor and hospital just minutes away.
If I were you and were unable to rely on the transport service I would plan to walk/bus and just make sure I had lots of rest the day before and afterwards or if it was wet take a taxi. If its only a few times a year it would be ok. Could you ask a friend for a lift? I hate asking for help but on a number of occasions I have asked people to take my son to nursery, or watch the kids while i go to hospital or give me a lift and they are always delighted to help and offer to do so again. My neighbour is elderly, I don’t know her that well but I’m always offering her a lift to the shops or to get her shopping if its wet, it’s not a burden at all, people like helping.