Learning to Wheel Good!

My Wheelchair - My Frenemy!

My wheelchair enables me to get around with less pain in my feet. However, it can be a real pain in the butt too - especially if I've been sitting on it for a long time.

While I am truly grateful for all the miracles that came together to enable me to find a wheelchair for only $25 while I wait the four months for the one that was ordered for me through ODSP, I am still angry about having to use one.

Image by Richard Reid from Pixabay

I am grateful  I have been able to avoid using a wheelchair for most of my life, but the extensive trauma I have experienced has taken its toll. Why am I using a wheelchair now? Well, the doctor said excess Cortisol in my body from trauma is causing muscle spasms and spontaneous bruising to my feet and ankles. Therefore, standing in one spot for more than a few minutes or walking more than a block at a time results in excruciating pain.

I can walk with a cane, and I do push through the pain to get things done without a wheelchair, but it is a real battle of the mind to ignore the pain, and very tiring. Thus, the wheelchair - my frenemy.

What is a Frenemy?

A frenemy is someone or something that is helpful to you, but at the same time, can be harmful. Do you have a frenemy? For example, if I stay in the wheelchair too long, my muscles could atrophy. Therefore, I need to make sure I get up and move around.

Yes, I know I can do leg exercises laying in bed. but it feels like such a waste of time when there is so much to get done. 

Now.. perhaps if my bed were close to the ceiling and I were artistic like some of these foot painters, perhaps I could do a rendering like the one on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.

I am truly grateful that I can feel pain in my feet and ankles, and glad that I still have them, but I'm definitely not happy about needing to be in a wheelchair. Grrr!

Do you have a frenemy too?
I would love to hear about it. Please drop me a comment below.
Su