My Friend, the Wheelchair
If you are old enough, you may remember a tv series called “My Mother The Car.” It was canceled after one disastrous season, from 1965-1966, due to bad reviews and low ratings. Really? Was anyone surprised that the public did not buy into the premise that someone’s mother was reincarnated to become the family vehicle? (Some ideas are just so bad and so poorly delivered that they should die after one season.)
So when you read the title of this blog, do not think I am suggesting my wheelchair is a person or a reincarnated being. But it has become a friend. Or maybe it always was … but I have just come to realize it.
I remember clearly a few days after my injury when the hospital staff told me I was to be fitted for my wheelchair. “I could just borrow one, couldn’t I?” I thought. After all, I knew that in a year or so, I would be back up and walking. But they were insistent. Even if I only needed a wheelchair temporarily, they told me, it needed to be built to fit me and serve me the best. So I agreed.
Then I had to take lessons in wheelchair use: how to propel safely, so I didn’t damage my shoulders, how to turn, how to go up and down ramps and hills, how to transfer in and out of the chair, and how to pop a wheelie to get over obstacles. Again, I told myself these were skills I would only need for a short while.
That was 8 years ago.
Now I know that I am likely to need a wheelchair for the rest of my life. Those are hard words to write, but that is my reality. Even if I walk independently again, I may need my wheelchair to travel long distances. This summer, I had somewhat of a setback in my recovery, due to the kind of back issues many people my age face. My back hurts, and my mobility has suffered, so I am spending more time in my wheelchair than before. It has taught me that we never know how we will feel or what we will need in the future.
Join Our Movement
What started as an idea has become a national movement. With your support, we can influence policy and inspire lasting change.
Become an Advocate
My therapists believe that one of the aggravating factors causing me back pain is my wheelchair. It is 8 years old, and has lost support in the back and the seat cushion. The frame is in good shape, but in the 8 years since I first got my chair, lighter materials and better technology have made it easier for a person to wheel in the chair. So they have recommended a new wheelchair.
And a curious thing is happening: rather than resenting the need to use the chair, I look forward to my new chair. I now know that I do things almost every day that I could not do if I did not have a wheelchair. Sure, I have to check with restaurants and other public spaces to see if they are truly wheelchair accessible, but if they are, the world opens up to me much more than if I could not venture outside my home. With my wheelchair, I go to the grocery, to the theater, to social occasions, and elsewhere. My bitterness over needing the chair has morphed into gratitude and positive feelings about being able to use it. Yes, my wheelchair is my friend. And I look forward to making a new friend who will help me do all I can do and go where I can go – together.