I have MS, so my world has been shrinking to a point where I now have problems walking to the bus stop 1 block away from my home, and can name several species of turtles that can walk faster than me. So I'm looking into wheelchairs. Since this is a brand new experience for me I am going to be including updates on the progress in my blog.
I now have a manual wheelchair on loan from the Red Cross. My first trial run on the sidewalk outside the Red Cross centre was hopeful, it took a couple of minutes, but I got the hang of steering and figured I could do this. The next day my husband and I went to see the movie Star Trek a few blocks from where we live. (It was the 20th anniversary of the day we met, and our first date - about a week later - was going to see Star Trek 5, so we did another Star Trek movie for the anniversary... awww) He walked behind me to give me help where needed, and boy did I need help!
Why was I drifting to the left? Course corrections were needed often on the flat bits, and my husband took over for the off-roading on the uneven pavement and when we were in crowded areas. But I was definitely drifting to the left - towards the road - on the way there.
When we got into the theatre, it was clear sailing for me. No problems at all, and since we were seeing the matinee and the place was fairly empty, I took the opportunity to use the washroom. Some fine corner maneuvering, and I steered through that just fine.
On the way home... I was drifting to the right. Hmmm.
The manual wheelchair is incredibly sensitive to changes in slope! I had never noticed the slope when walking down those streets. It is amazing how much difference a slight slope made to the steering.
So is the slope just on the streets downtown? Or are all sidewalks sloped towards the road? Wow, what an odd question I never even considered before.
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