Hi all,
I normally use two crutches to get around but the idea of getting a scooter has been on my mind now since last year.
So, I’m just wondering was anyone advised to get a scooter from physio’s or MS nurse, or did you decide yourself enough is enough?
I feel like I’m still clinging to the idea that my walking might get a bit better after my relapse.
Many thanks.
Hey C-c,
no one advised me. I am probably too stubborn to listen anyway. For me (a bit of a thick boy) I took far too long to understand that I needed the benefits of 1: a stick then 2: a rollator 3: occasional use of a wheelchair. then 4: an off road scooter. This changed my life, I could once again join my wife walking in the countryside. Before I worked that out I would wait in the car to see her photos of all the great things she had seen. 5: I got a scooter that fits in the boot of my car which I can use to get out and help with the shopping. Each time I worked it out I felt a bit daft waiting too long to go for it.
I know that everyones MS / personaility / and thresholds are different so I wont try to persuade you either way, you need to choose your boundaries, pick your compromise and think very hard if you are choosing the right time to make adjustments.
See if you can borrow or test a scooter for a few days and then you can assess the value of pros and cons.
Best of luck to you whichever way you choose to proceed.
Mick
If you feel like you need a scooter then only you know if the times right.I remember when i started to think down the lines that i needed one and i almost felt like i needed to be given permission to use one.I just got one after months of thinking do i really need one or am i being silly thinking i do.It really helped me when out and about i could be out for longer and not have to struggle anymore when out.I had struggled for years and wish i had got one a lot sooner.
It was my decision to get a scooter. I kept falling and the fatigue was through the roof. I used Shopmobility for a few months, but I decided to buy my own.
I had a Shoprider Sovereign. It was a brill 4 wheel scooter, with a big shopping basket! I bought it in 2000 at the grand price of £1,895! I used it for 12 years and then gave it to an old member here.
It never let me down. You can still buy them new for around £895 and used on ebay.
Boudsx
Hi Classy Chick,
When my walking deteriorated I started using the shopmobility scooters. Gave me the freedom to go round the shops and it carried my shopping too!
Realised then that I needed one myself. I live alone and enjoy going out and about. Bought a small second hand scooter that would go in the boot of my car. Gave me the freedom and independence to go out and about in the countryside with friends, stay in hotels, go to the cinema etc
Got more difficult to get in and out of the car. Now have a motability car and a hoist lifts the scooter in and out.
If you’re thinking of getting a scooter just look in the papers/ or online marketplaces and you can pick one up for a couple of hundred pounds…
Enjoy a new sort of freedom!
Take care.
Jen
Thank you for replying Mick.
Yes, getting photos shown to me is exactly the same.
I used a scooter on holiday last year. Prior to the holiday I had a whole head turmoil of not wanting too but decided I should rent one. It really was the best thing though. Gave me a whole new freedom I’ve not experienced in a long time.
i returned home saying I’d buy one. And here I am over a year on, still considering it!!
seeing it in black and white makes me wonder why I’m taking so long. It makes sense.
thank you,
Cc
Thanks everyone for replying. It’s good to know that I’m not alone with thoughts on this.
im going to check out if I can get one second hand. It makes sense now rather than struggling along.
Freedom here I come.
Cc
Hi, so my physio suggested I get a wheelchair, because me and my hubby were hardly getting out, walking was becoming very difficult, after soem time I decided I wanted a scooter so it gave me my own independence, so depending on where we’re going, depends on which I use.
Jean x
I have not taken the plunge yet. I keep my eye on the different options that are out there.
My take is the aids help you to keep doing things.
If you keep doing things you will live better and longer.
Be open to using them.
Struggling a bit probably helps you keep fitter than sitting back and letting the aid take over.
The lock down has probably accelerated my decline.
I hired a Tramper the other day to exercise my wife, nice to be able to say an I going too fast for you.
Tried out a rollator on our local hills yesterday, not a great success.
Have a road test on an electric trike in September.
Bit of a mind dump, but you should take control and look for novel solutions. Probably not easy to try things out. What looks great on the screen, may have problems in reality. I have long legs, so don’t fit what I thought we’re ideal solutions.
At my local MS exercise class we kick round the options. Several people have multiple scooters to satisfy different requirements
Also compare notes on walking poles v crutches v walking sticks.
Use what you need at the time and you can use scooter to get you somewhere then let your legs take over.
Sorry for the ramble, but think what extra things you will be able to do.
Took the plunge after being away for a weekend. The one day walked around part of an open air museum, then sat around while my wife explored further.
Next day went to a couple of indoor museums. At the first one borrowed a wheelchair that I used as a walker. At the second one the lift was broken so walked around climbing up and down two floors. In afternoon my wife went out for a walk alone.
Next day visited mobility shop in Wellington Telford. I had met the owner when he had delivered a reclining chair for my mother. They had a reasonable range and he started off asking what I wanted it for. Having been looking at the market for some time I knew all my requirements would not or possible. Allowed to test drive the most likely candidate around the town centre I closing some very uneven paths. So bought it there and then.
I have been able to do things I would not have been able to do without it. Three trips in campervan to carefully selected campsites with access to towns/ attractions. Another trip away for a weekend. Several “walks” when in the Peak District for a week. Several days out, a couple of local trips as an alternative to the car.
Remember it is an enabler, think carefully about how you want to use it. Try not to leave it so long that it becomes a necessity, but use it to keep you in the world.
Electric trike was amazing, but would not fit in either of our vehicles. Have to have something you can use.
without a scooter i would never go out. i take the dog for a walk with mine. the only issue is the RAIN, its under cover at moment more then taking me out lol.
Its great fun when the sun is shining and i would spend ages outside chatting to strangers lol.
supermarkets now i dont go into one and shop online, but when i did go i used my electric wheelchair as it could be folded away in car. You have to decide really what you want a scooter for.
going out terrain driving, or just using it for shopping.
shopping scooters are so cheap now, and will fold away in boot of car.
terrain i have one which is still able to be broken down but i prefer to take my electric wheelchair as it just folds like a pushchair.
I never consiidered it as it was just a necessity for me. another aid i had to use. its good fun.
Jaydee, so how do you get about?
I felt much better using my scooter and now my wheelchair. Without them I would be not only housebound, but bedbound.
Boudsx
I just don’t go out locally poll… haven’t for years i just go out anywhere but local, but only go out every so often anyway as im too ill these days to go out. x
Thanks Jaydee
Sorry to hear that chick
Pollxx
Hi Jaydee, I’ve only just read this and that’s such a shame… I agree with Bouds, I so need mine, I prefer mine to the w/c, which is manual and hubby pushes me, but I prefer the independence of the scooter, when I got mine at first I did feel a bit strange, but then I thought sod it, do I want to go out or not, going out won and although I don’t do it a lot, I’m always glad when I do. So love I feel for you, feeling this way and not being well enough to do it, not the right time of year anyway. I really hope that you may reconsider, sending BIG ((((((HUGS))))))
Jean x
Do it! I came to the conclusion myself and oh my, the freedom! The speed! The ability to go to the shop under my own steam! Best decision ever
I was hoping I would improve enough to not need one but saw a secondhand one on our local FB for £100 and thought it was worth a try… it meant I could go to the shops near me, go through town. It gave me freedom. I have since got a folding one that fits in the car. I think my MS team were reluctant to say you need this. They discussed referring me for a wheelchair but my walking was improving in my home so I was unlikely to get one. They still encourage my walking (and they do but it takes me so long to try 100m and the fatigue is then so dibilitating that the scooter has made things much easier for me. I do exercise at home like pilates to help improve my movement too.
Just come back from a trip to nearby town. We took the scooter down an old railway track, also took in a trip down high street and a quick shop in Tescos.
I could have managed the trip around Tescos pushing the trolley, but wouldn’t have had the reviving trip out.
I have seen my range yoyo with my MS , breaking a metatarsal, fitness, lockdown. However, I doubt I will ever recover enough to be able to walk the 2 or 3 miles I did on my scooter today.
My philosophy is it is not an either or, but both as appropriate. If you embrace it because it allows you to do more, rather than view it as a failure.
View it as an enabler rather than a badge of disability.
Try one out at a tourist attraction or even to go shopping. View it in the same was as a bus taxi car to get you to where you want to go.
Thanks Jean but i don’t think i will be in any fit state to get on my scooter if this relapse does not get any better.I am thinking of giving my scooter away soon if that’s the case to someone who can make good use of it. x
Doing a bit of research on mobility scooters. Recently diagnosed with SPMS. I guess like many others, my physical world is shrinking. There are some useful recommendations here and many ads on Google and have the ability to buy one new. I just don’t want to buy a lemon.
Options?