Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Finally a good day!
The work at our condo is just about complete, a few minor fixes and everything will be done. It only took three years what should I expect?
It's beautiful outside nice and sunny.
Enjoy

Sunday, March 29, 2009

After waiting for approximately 3 years we finally had some work done under Québec's P.A.D program. We had spent a fair bit in extras in order to accommodate a person in a wheelchair making it virtually barrier free. Some items such as electric door openers for the building, a remote door for my condo and a few other modifications were left to be covered by P.A.D.

One of the modifications was to raise my toilet and replace the flimsy support arms I had with proper devices. The pictures at the top give you a before and after view.



As I may have mentioned previously when you have MS and your mobility is affected you become accustomed to your environment you adjust to them. If something is moved it usually requires another period of adaptation which can range from a few days to several weeks until you feel comfortable with the changes. On Friday I misjudged my transfer from the new toilet seat and landed with my butt on the edge of my wheelchair, while I was sitting on the edge of the chair it was impossible for me to reposition myself, basically hanging on to prevent a fall with both hands.
I do not have enough strength in my arms to lift my body weight "yes I can hear you now a diet would certainly help" the best analogy to describe my predicament would be if you were to imagine hanging off the edge of a cliff and did not have the strength to pull yourself up. You know that eventually you will have to let go thereby falling, I held on for 45 minutes and as soon as my wife opened the door returning from work I slipped to the point of no return and landed on the bathroom floor.

I wasn't hurt anywhere in particular yet my body ached everywhere. My arms probably hurt the most due to holding on for so long and my left leg hurt as it decided to go into spasms for more most of the time I was holding on. Once on the floor all I wanted to do was rest for a while to catch my breath and then attempt to use my bath electric lift chair in order to raise me so I could transfer to my wheelchair. That would've been possible if I had any remaining strength in my arms I did not and my wife certainly could not pick me up so we mutually decided that 911 was our best alternative. Turns out they were very busy and since I wasn't bleeding profusely not at all actually and it wasn't a heart attack or anything serious which it wasn't they referred to it as "humanitarian aid" the only thing they forgot to mention is that humanitarian aid may mean lying on ceramic tile for two hours until they decide your call cannot be answered so they transfer it to the fire hall.

Sure enough four firemen came with the huge fire truck of course spoke to my wife and I for a few moments assessing the situation. Then two of them lifted me and deposited me in my wheelchair wondering why it had taken so long for them to receive the call as they were not busy that evening and would've come much earlier. We both thanked them and they left, I took some painkillers and went to bed.
Saturday was a write off as I spent most of it in bed taking painkillers and sleeping most of the day I tell you every part of my body felt as if it had gone through a meat grinder.

Sunday morning I decided to take a shower which was a dumb move since I hadn't recovered completely from the previous episode, my leg still hurt and my arms were weak. You guessed it fall number two, I slipped and landed on the shower floor for certain I thought I had broken a limb but no just more bruising. I sat in my shower and after a few minutes decided to take a shower there and then, once I was done I transferred onto my electric lift chair raising it to the height of my wheelchair for a lateral transfer.
It was at that time I decided my next purchase would be an electric operated lift. A device used for patient transfers from the bed to the wheelchair or wherever else the patient needs to be moved to. It certainly wasn't in my plan to get this so early yet realistically things are not going to get better are they?

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Yesterday I received a letter from the licensing bureau advising me that based on the information provided "my medical condition entitles me to keep my drivers license." There is no doubt that I was pleased with their decision yet I wondered what other conditions merit such stringent guidelines.
It appears as if I will be required to provide them with a report from an ophthalmologist or optometrist, a report from my general practitioner and possibly one from an ergo therapist on a yearly basis.

I can't help but wonder how many other chronic conditions are subject to these demands? Would a person with diabetes or someone having undergone angioplasty perhaps people suffering from glaucoma or those people driving with the vision from one eye hey why not include anyone having to wear glasses.
How about people over the age of 50, people having had one or two accidents or received one or two speeding violations in the past few years. Even those receiving parking violations "obviously they can't read the signs" which is obvious based on the number of people occupying handicapped parking spaces, perhaps we could take this further and include a whole whack of people who suffer from degenerative progressive conditions just think of it, age is a progression of sorts resulting in reduced capacity, reflexes, mental processing speed. Hell even an ingrown toenail could cause enough pain for you to drive improperly or at least be unsafe behind the wheel. How far should we go with this? It begs the question have we gone too far? We allow drunk drivers and repeat offenders to take the wheel yet rarely call on them for yearly sobriety tests now wouldn't that open up a whole other niche think about the money that could be made from all these tests, reports, approvals, retesting. I think we've gone nuts, off the deep end and while a responsible person could easily correct the situation with common sense once the government gets involved common sense is lost forever.
Personally I stopped driving in Toronto when I felt it was unsafe for me to drive, I did not lose my license nor did I receive any tickets it was a decision I made on my own. Upon arriving in Québec I was evaluated and judged capable of driving, my question is do you think I would continue driving if I felt it unsafe for me or others? Why should everyone be made to suffer for the few who have no brains whatsoever.

I need to get my manual wheelchair fixed to incorporate a headrest as I sometimes utilize it to go from one place to another especially when the house I'm going to does not have wheelchair access. The manual chair which is lighter than my electric chair makes it possible for several men to pick me up including the chair and bring me into the non-accessible building. My electric chair also needs modification yet for some reason my manual wheelchair takes priority. I do not drive with my manual chair at least not yet but I have to bring it in for repair which means I will be loading my manual wheelchair in my Van drive from my electric chair which requires modification and upon arrival disembark my manual chair by pushing it in front of me using my motorized chair. Makes sense to me doesn't it? Something is reversed there oh well can't be all that important can it? Maybe I'll drive back with my manual chair since my electric one will still need modification.
You got to love it.

Have a great day!