Wheelchairs for EVERYONE
(continued)

Then, I go to a store that provides scooters… And I sit down and I think it is lovely (thank god) - then I think "oh my, have I moved my limbs enough today?" (Still feeling guilty about the "use it lose it" routine). Time passes and, eventually, I see something and I think OK and I get out of the darn scooter seat and look at whatever it is on a shelf. I try to be what I used to be, and having had the luxury of sitting down for some time without the horrid pain of walking... Heaven help anyone watching me. They have no idea what I feel or what it costs to get out of that machine. They can't see my pain....

ANYONE HAVE A HEADACHE? Yeah? well geez… really? Are you sure? I can't see it! You look fine. Should I believe you?

Do you get the picture?

No-one can understand RSD pain if they haven't felt it themselves… any more than I would know what their headache felt like, or how they see green grass or blue ocean , or angry clouds, or feel flames licking their limbs. So you look at the sky and say it is blue? What kind of blue? Huh? I have no idea what you see. Blue? How the heck do I know it is the same blue that I see?

So, about the scooters/wheelchairs etc. ....Yes, they are an aid... Mine has saved me and given me an outlook on the world. I can't walk more than a few blocks in a day; but oh no, I don't rely on it. But I don't think that anyone who hasn't been forced to resort to a wheelchair has any idea what it means to be trapped in one. I can use it and laugh and go LA LA just to get over the horrendous feeling of being in one and, for a while, I feel good about doing something I couldn't do otherwise... I thank god that I have one available in some stores. I can thank God that I can see things I haven't seen in years. I can thank god I have the courage to sit in one - after all I am not a quad am I? Oh yes, I can be riding in one and step up and look at something and even get back to my car. But does anyone know what I really go through? Does anyone know what it feels like to be stared at? Does anyone know what it feels like to be doing something you never thought you would ever do? Oh yes, there are plusses and minuses.

Beats going to a store and passing out on the floor....

Then there is:
How about going for a walk along a nice path, listening to the birds and so on? How about worrying about where the wheels of your scooter will go as you go to an underpass and see shards of glass all over? How about driving along a street and breathing in fumes from all the cars on the road? How about trying to put all your purchases in a tiny basket?

I love being out; but I want to feel the breeze in my hair and the wind on my face and the grass under my feet and the rain on my face and the snow drops melting on my cheeks. But guess what? I am thrilled that someone invented these things because for a couple of hours I can see, feel and sense what the world is all about.

Perhaps everyone should have one.