weekend in a wheelchair
Dec. 13th, 2004 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiderdustI just spent the weekend in San Francisco in a wheelchair.
Restrooms that are labeled "wheelchair accessible" often aren't, it's difficult to eat at a restaurant table, and the experience of being nearly tipped out of your chair while crossing the street (because of the poor condition of the street and curb) is frightening and humiliating. The hallway of the hotel was almost too narrow for me to maneuver in the chair, and several times I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of the elevator. I got so frustrated and angry at times, I came close to tears.
I still don't know when I'm going to be "back to normal", either. Tomorrow I get my knee x-rayed, and possibly an MRI (speaking of which, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with the MRI and my nose ring; I'm probably going to have to pay a piercer to take it out since it's a closed ring).
My lower right back (around my hip) is screaming at me. The muscles are tired and sore from having to be in one position all the time.
I don't mean to make it sound as if I had a miserable weekend; it was actually pleasant overall and we had some good quality family time, but struggling with the chair really took a lot out of me (and it took a lot out of the rest of us, too). We skipped some activities that we had planned on doing. I know I would have been able to do even less if I hadn't had the chair at all, but I really wish that my knee hadn't picked such a bad time to tear.
Restrooms that are labeled "wheelchair accessible" often aren't, it's difficult to eat at a restaurant table, and the experience of being nearly tipped out of your chair while crossing the street (because of the poor condition of the street and curb) is frightening and humiliating. The hallway of the hotel was almost too narrow for me to maneuver in the chair, and several times I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of the elevator. I got so frustrated and angry at times, I came close to tears.
I still don't know when I'm going to be "back to normal", either. Tomorrow I get my knee x-rayed, and possibly an MRI (speaking of which, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with the MRI and my nose ring; I'm probably going to have to pay a piercer to take it out since it's a closed ring).
My lower right back (around my hip) is screaming at me. The muscles are tired and sore from having to be in one position all the time.
I don't mean to make it sound as if I had a miserable weekend; it was actually pleasant overall and we had some good quality family time, but struggling with the chair really took a lot out of me (and it took a lot out of the rest of us, too). We skipped some activities that we had planned on doing. I know I would have been able to do even less if I hadn't had the chair at all, but I really wish that my knee hadn't picked such a bad time to tear.
