Falling

Falling has to be one of my greatest fears, not the act of falling itself as I do not resist and try to prevent the inevitable thus when I do fall my injuries are limited to bruising sore muscles aches and pains, you get the idea. This morning I had an appointment to get my wheelchair fixed not that it was broken yet the technician who saw it last noticed a few bearings needing replacement, this morning's appointment was to replace these.
Everything went well at home as I was getting ready to take the transport bus to and from the repair facility.

Just to be on the safe side I thought I'd go to the washroom before leaving. I'm not certain exactly what happened, positioning myself as usual for my transfer I stood up standing straight solid then without notice my legs buckled and I found myself in the most painful position I'd been in for as long as I can remember. Actually wedged between the bathtub and the toilet a space of less than 1 foot there I was my entire body weight resting on two legs. as a result I could feel each muscle, tendon or what have you in each leg being stretched to their limit it was very painful, no matter what I tried I could not move out of this position I tried my hardest but to no avail.

Fortunately I was able to reach my cell and call a friend who lives on the second floor of our building, I only had to say I required some help, he was at my door within seconds. If he had not been there my only other option would have been 911 I hate to even imagine what kind of shape I would have been in by the time they arrived.

In the past when I fell I was able to move myself on the floor to reach an electric bath chair which I converted to a lift, I would position myself near the lift and use my arms to lift and sit on the seat which would raise me up to a height where I could transfer. That was in the past now if I fall that's where I stay it is no longer possible for me to move myself any distance to speak of so in this case my neighbor brought the lift chair and positioned it behind me where after several attempts I was able to find the strength to lift myself onto this seat and raise myself at which point I was capable of transferring laterally onto my electric chair.

The whole experience was painful and frustrating yet I was able to compose myself in time to catch the good old STO "paratransit" bus.

I got there and transferred onto a loaner chair going for a coffee and muffin within the same building while the repairs are performed. After all of that trouble the technician informed me they had received the wrong parts and had to reorder them something they discovered only when they tried replacing the old parts. My chair is working fine, they apparently ordered the parts on an emergency basis yet I can guarantee that I won't be in that much of a hurry to have them replaced next time around.