Out of the way!!

[thursdays child]

Hi folks, as some may know I am soon to have my hip replaced and whilst staying with my sister and her husband I was having a particularly bad bout of arthritis.To be able to get oot n aboot an even older relative loaned us the use of a WHEELCHAIR!!!This was a first for me and what a strange experience I found it.The one absolute need is to trust completely the person/persons who push the chair.The feeling of vulnerability is very strong,especially when negotiating curbs and roads! Another thing that struck me was how cold it can be when immobile and the need for a blanket was very clear.On a more positive note I found people were so kind and helpful to us,opening doors, helping with packing and patiently waiting for us to pass by.After a while i got used to viewing the world from a sitting position but it is so frustrating not to be able to have a proper rummage through the clothes racks and the range of items on the shelves at the top or bottom was also difficult to reach and see properly.However when returning to the car park I noticed the others were a bit weary while I was quite perky!! Was it because they had struggled to push me around do you think?

It was a most interesting and a not unpleasant experience if a bit limiting.I appreciate that because it was a temporary situation my observations are based on a very narrow perspective.

It did give me thoughts about how being in a wheelchair impacts on caravanning and how much effort the manufacturers put into designing caravans for disabled use for a reasonable cost.

Thank you John for the loan of your "chariot" and thanks to the people of Cannock for the help and understanding you gave me on my visit.

Thursdays Child

 

[Parksy]

I was in one for a short while following a stroke until I learned to walk again and my sister pushed me round the Merry Hill Shopping Centre one Saturday afternoon. Never Again!! Because I am so used to driving and being in absolute control I found it difficult to surrender that control to my sis and I was worried at the time about her bumping into people or objects.

Other shoppers were very kind and helpful but one thing that really struck me was what seemed like a slight reluctance to look at me from passers by.

I'm usually a gregarious sort of person and I found it a bit disconcerting to have become a sort of non person. Children were ok, they returned smiles etc but it's not an experience that I'd want to repeat.

In hospital (I was in for a while) I became a 'patient' rather than a man, I was treated kindly more or less and I will always be eternally grateful to the physioterrorists who enabled me to walk and lead a reasonably normal life once again.

We take so much for granted, I went to bed one night as a fairly active and vigorous man and woke up the next morning helpless and incapable of doing anything much.

 

[BedfordGeorge]

Hello Thursdays Child,

You gave me a warm shouted welcome to the forum, may I now wish you a speedy recovery and release from your chariot.

Best regards,

George

 

[602]

Hi,

On more than one occasion, I have aproached a stranger in a supermarket, to enquire whether their wheelchair can "pull a wheelie". Amazingly, every one of them seemed more than happy to discuss their chariot. Which raises the questions .....

Were there really pleased to be accosted by a nutter?

Was my aproach preferable to doing their shopping?

Are people in wheelchairs taught manners better than most of us?

Or do they have a strong sense of self presevation? (Be polite and he will go away.)

602

 

[Parksy]

If my short experience was anything to go by the wheelchair user is most likely to be pathetically grateful that someone bothered to speak to them directly rather than via the person pushing the wheelchair.

Going back to Thursdays Childs point about disabled caravanning I think that a company called Fry's do conversions and now of course Roma have started making bespoke caravans that can be legally towed in the UK by non commercial vehicles.

I think that I read somewhere that a disabled person can claim VAT back on a new caravan because they are leisure vehicles.

If that's the case it would offset the conversion cost or the higher premium on a first class Roma built caravan.

 

[Steve L]

Oh how we take for granted how our legs work.

I had to learn to walk again following a serious motorcycle accident 29 years ago. I had total knee replacement courtesy of a private health plan paid by my employer that fortunately covered comuting to work. In those days all you got was your leg pinned straight on the NHS.

In 2004 we took my father-in-law who relied upon a chair to get out and about round Scotland with his caravan and three other vans. We used to set his van up first so he & ihs wife who is also disabled could supply us tea and bacon butties while we set up the other three vans.

I had converted his van to ramp access with a wheelchair ramp I aquired free of charge from the company i worked for as developement engineer. The ramp is the platform type used in LTI black taxi's and worked very well, providing a slope instead of a step as he could walk a little.

Good luck with the op Thursday's. Be determined to succeed and work hard at the physio.

I'm fighting the dreaded arthritis myself, but mine is in my shoulders and elbows. Currently waiting to find out what is to be done to rectify a shoulder op that has gone south. Looking like anothe ryear off work this year.

All the best.

Steve L.

 

[thursdays child]

Oh how we take for granted how our legs work.

I had to learn to walk again following a serious motorcycle accident 29 years ago. I had total knee replacement courtesy of a private health plan paid by my employer that fortunately covered comuting to work. In those days all you got was your leg pinned straight on the NHS.

In 2004 we took my father-in-law who relied upon a chair to get out and about round Scotland with his caravan and three other vans. We used to set his van up first so he & ihs wife who is also disabled could supply us tea and bacon butties while we set up the other three vans.

I had converted his van to ramp access with a wheelchair ramp I aquired free of charge from the company i worked for as developement engineer. The ramp is the platform type used in LTI black taxi's and worked very well, providing a slope instead of a step as he could walk a little.

Good luck with the op Thursday's. Be determined to succeed and work hard at the physio.

I'm fighting the dreaded arthritis myself, but mine is in my shoulders and elbows. Currently waiting to find out what is to be done to rectify a shoulder op that has gone south. Looking like anothe ryear off work this year.

All the best.

Steve L.

Steve, thanks for that matey! HIMSELF had to have a rota cuff repair to his shoulder due to an accident in his artic. Like you his was not a good fix.He was told that the odds were agin him but he gave it a go.His problem was compounded by the fact that he is left handed so changing gear in the truck was not safe or manageable.He was retired early as he cannot do anything that requires consistent arm movements,even writing and eating can be difficult.We have an auto car and because he gets lonely without something following behind we bought a caravan!!!Old lorry drivers never die they merely park up!!!

I read all your posts with interest and I wish you and yours every success for your future health and wealth wise.

Thursdays Child

 

[Northwood]

I was in one for a short while following a stroke until I learned to walk again and my sister pushed me round the Merry Hill Shopping Centre one Saturday afternoon. Never Again!! Because I am so used to driving and being in absolute control I found it difficult to surrender that control to my sis and I was worried at the time about her bumping into people or objects.

Other shoppers were very kind and helpful but one thing that really struck me was what seemed like a slight reluctance to look at me from passers by.

I'm usually a gregarious sort of person and I found it a bit disconcerting to have become a sort of non person. Children were ok, they returned smiles etc but it's not an experience that I'd want to repeat.

In hospital (I was in for a while) I became a 'patient' rather than a man, I was treated kindly more or less and I will always be eternally grateful to the physioterrorists who enabled me to walk and lead a reasonably normal life once again.

We take so much for granted, I went to bed one night as a fairly active and vigorous man and woke up the next morning helpless and incapable of doing anything much.

Thanks you for sharing, I once collapsed in work with a blackout the only thing I could think of at the time was how embarressed I was.

Good on you mate.