“Boy, I sure wish I had one of those.” You can’t imagine how often senior citizens with MS hear those words; not only from children, but from grown adults as well.

Many companies have tried to organize “Day in a Wheelchair” events to help their biped employees develop an affinity for the mobility challenged, but a day doesn’t quite hack it. Whether your mobility is confined to a wheelchair or a mobility scooter, eight hours on a scooter is not going to put much more of a damper on someone’s day than a pregnant Kardashian using a scooter for a shopping trip.

However, try a month in a wheelchair. Being confined to a seated position for this long has a much better shot of giving someone a valid life comparison.

I was surfing through Netflix a couple days ago and came across Morgan Spurlock’s 2008 “30 Days” series right there between “Working in a Coal Mine” and “Animal Rights”. It is all about retired NFL cornerback, Ray Crockett, attempting to spend 30 days confined to a wheelchair. What sparked the initial idea for the documentary? Dr. Ray Bruce of the Baylor Rehabilitation Clinic told Crockett that it was unlikely he would ever be able to grasp how someone with a spinal cord injury lives. He challenged him to consider life from the standpoint of always looking them straight in the belt buckle. In response to these comments, Crockett met some of Dr. Bruce’s patients to learn about their challenges and frustrations. “You need to start your whole train of thought over; from how you used to live to how you must live now,” said Crockett.

As a successful NFL player, Crockett lived in a relatively swank home, but he quickly discovers that his home is not ADA compliant aboard the chair. Just getting from one room to another in his wheelchair is a challenge for this cornerback. He learned rather quickly, even after seven years in the same house, that he had to find new ways to do simple tasks like washing his hands and using other bathroom facilities. On only the third day, he and his wife (doing double-duty as his caregiver) were getting a bit irritable with each other. It makes me marvel at the patience of my wife who has been doing this for three years!

One of the things Crockett learned from his Rugby coach, who was a true paraplegic, is that “everyone joins our club; some sooner, some later.”‘ Spinal injuries or arthritis can take a toll on a body with old age.

So did Crockett make it through the 30 days? Yes he did. Not only did he gain a sense of accomplishment, but he also learned an entirely different kind of strength that it takes to live a mobility-challenged life.

The post A Day In My Footsteps appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

A walking wheelchair that can climb stairs and practically turn on a dime is well beyond the dream stage. In fact, it is a project of the CHIBA Institute of Technology in Japan.

Based on its picture, it doesn’t seem very practical for in-home use. If something like this makes it to production, however, a handicapped person could “walk” over curbs and other obstacles with ease. It looks just like a regular wheelchair with wheels on arms. As a curb or set of stairs is encountered, a set of sensors goes into action and instantaneously causes the chair to raise the appropriate front arm and wheel. The action is then duplicated by the rear wheels. It is very similar to how an able-bodied person with outriggers would handle stepping up onto a curb. Except, in this case, the person on the chair remains in a relatively level position and only uses an arm mounted joystick for direction control.

It’s probably the most significant development for the mobility challenged since the power chair.

Watching the chairing action on YouTube, http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t2SHKyq5yCU, you get the idea that the process is slow and cumbersome. At the same time, it is uncanny how the chair adjusts its wheels and seat to meet a variety of environmental constraints I would never attempt on my current mobility scooter. The chair appears likely to be able to handle fairly rough terrain that is largely inaccessible by standard mobility scooters.

The development team has the working prototype, so trials are next. The chairs will be able to be tested by a number of mobility challenged users to work out any kinks. This will likely include changes to the design to make it a little less bulky and a bit faster. Either way, this invention has so much potential to afford incredible benefits to those who are mobility challenged. The future looks promising already!

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You might want to block out Thursday, April 11 for a trip to Boston. If you are anything like me, a trip like this takes some serious planning to provide for mobility equipment and assure access.

Why go through the trouble? After all, I don’t think Boston is all it’s cracked up to be, ‘specially for the mobility challenged. It’s not the easiest place for us to move around. In this case, however, it’s a veteran and one of our own that’s being honored, so the effort will be worth it.

His name is Keith Zeier, a wounded ‘warrior’ who was injured in an avalanche in Huntington Ravine on Mount Washington back in January this year. In April, he’ll be retelling the harrowing experience at a $125-per-person fundraiser at The Suites at Wilmer Hale on 60 State Street.

Zeier, Andy Politz, and his son J.P. Politz were among a group of climbers trying to raise money and awareness for veteran families during the climb. Zeier, who has only one leg and a prosthesis. Nonetheless, the three were all tied together when the snow broke near the top of the Central Gully and sent them cascading down the dangerous slope.

They were delivered the equipment they needed to descend by Mountain Rescue Service, a Mount Washington Valley volunteer group. The U.S. Forest Service was also involved in the rescue. Thankfully they survived with non-life-threatening injuries.

Since then, multiple attempts to get Zeier, Politz, and their camera team, to comment on their experience had been unsuccessful before now.

In a Feb. 6 letter to the editor of the Conway Daily Sun, Politz conceded, “We should have been more conservative and shifted to a simpler route.”

The team had left the Harvard Cabin at the base of Huntington Ravine about 9 a.m., and the expectation was that the group should have been able to make it to the summit in four hours, where they were expected overnight.

Some experienced climbers in the Valley have criticized the group and their focus on reaching the summit, rather than observing the changing conditions and retreating.

“Having accommodations to stay at the Observatory provided a unique element to the decision-making process,” Politz wrote. “Zeier’s prosthesis made it difficult for him to negotiate horizontal ground.”

“High up in the gully, we looked often at the prospect of bailing out on the ascent but turning around was not a decision without consequence either. We fully expected our slow progress would improve on the steeper ground and windswept slopes, that were only 100 feet above us when the avalanche occurred,” Politz wrote.

At the fundraising event in Boston attendees will hear from Zeier and also see footage of the failed climb.

The challenges faced by Zeier during the climb, were not unlike the problems faced daily by other mobility-challenged individuals. This event has hopefully shed light on the need to provide suitable accommodations for this section of the population. Zeier’s heroic climb would have been difficulty for anyone. And, with any luck, his bravery will be duly rewarded at the event.

The post Still a Steep Climb for One of Our Own appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

Many of us know a grizzled and debilitated old gentleman who has given up on life, or even someone of the younger set who through accident has become mobility challenged and bitter.

Those who spend their time cooped up in front of a TV set probably will simply sink deeper and deeper into their own remorse balking at the hand they have been dealt.

I prefer to think of it as the path God has chosen for me to walk. In my case Multiple Sclerosis has relegated me to a mobility scooter which has been a tremendous help in improving my quality of life, as well as my companionship with my wife and our friends.

You can do a lot of good from the back of a mobility scooter, often small things that let people know you are no normal disability case.

Take just a simple act like holding a door open for a biped woman with her arms full of groceries and a couple of running children. Funny how kids are fascinated by my scooter and settle down to watch or ask questions. For just a moment this mother’s day was a little less frazzled.

Yes, I can walk dogs, haul garbage to the dumpster, even pick up carelessly tossed bottles, cans and other rubble. It is funny how young people living at home wouldn’t   think of dropping hamburger packaging on their own lawn, but change the setting to a condominium development and good breeding goes out the window along with the empty soda can.

But I have plenty of time, mobility, and the desire to live in clean surroundings. As winter leaves us and the ground begins to dry, this will become more of a task, but a once a week trip spruces things up.

I have found too that being out in the public also allows me to help total strangers. I can carry 10, 20, or 30 pound objects on the floor of my scooter with no strain.

I can be patient with the teenager using the handicap bathroom stall as his personal texting station.

It says in Phillipians 2:3-4 “doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.” Regardless of your affiliation, you can take a lesson on the value of selflessness from passages like this.

As I get on in years, this makes more and more sense. For too often I lived in the competitive world of business for self promotion and personal advancement.

I missed the real quality of life evident when you take time to appreciate the creation around you.

Once in a while, take the pay toll here line instead of the express lane. Dig a little deeper and pay the toll for the car behind you.

You will blow his mind, but it will make your commute go better.

The post Quality of Life appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

Spring is pothole time in New England, as it is in many parts of the country. A well-developed pothole can do considerable damage to the running gear of a car or truck, so many drivers intentionally swerve to avoid the sudden jolt. This risks a more severe collision with an object or other vehicle.

There are also “potholes” for mobility equipment around the home. They may not do as much physical damage at speeds less than four miles per hour, but they can still set up accidents that can injure or embarrass the unwary  mobility challenged operator.

The problem is “universal design” characteristics developed for bipeds without consideration of the elderly, the war wounded and those who have sustained spinal injuries.

For instance, dining room tables are usually at a very comfortable height for someone seated on a dining table chair. But for the mobility challenged aboard a wheelchair or mobility scooter, the height is all wrong. The seat height prevents getting the rider’s legs easily beneath the table. The risk of food spills is much greater.

The same can be said for desk heights and the height of most beds. The latter makes self transfer from mobility device to mattress a nightly physical challenge.

Moving to the bathroom (must we?), there are similar challenges with sink levels, but usually the problem concerns reaching faucets from a seated position.

I remember how much closer a shave I could get when standing at the sink with the ability to “lean in” to spot evasive whiskers. From a seated position, it becomes a memory game.

But the real challenge comes with the standard the water closet, toilet, commode, head, john, potty, privy, can or throne.  Call it what you will, it is easier to use as a biped.

In most homes, getting to it from a wheelchair or mobility scooter is just half the battle (in most cases, the toughest half). From there, let’s move to actually putting it into use. If usage requires sitting on it, transfers from a mobility scooter or power wheelchair can really be a challenge.

If the would-be user has any below-the-waist challenges, urinary or otherwise, you are pretty much on your own to come up with a solution.

Then there is getting cleaned up. Showers and baths seemed so easy in the good old days of walking.  It has always been easy for contractors to combine shower and bath. Convenient for some, but a hazard to many.

Our next nemesis is the kitchen. This is where being mobility seated and trying to be an effective help don’t really mix. Overhead cabinets are nearly inaccessible from a wheelchair or scooter. Even most oven controls are at the back of the stove. Then try getting to the mayo jar at the back of the refrigerator or the TV dinner at the back of the freezer.

Just picking up a dropped fork or spoon was a hassle until I found a pair of plastic tongs.

These are just a few of life’s potholes I have learned to work around in the home. Have you got any similar challenges?

The post Potholes appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

We’ve all seen “that guy” cruising through the departments of big box stores. The one with those cheeks and rolls pouring over the seats of mobility scooters winding his way through the aisles.

For the truly obese, mobility scooters and power chairs are often the vehicles of choice.

At first I thought retailers were just catering to seniors by lining up several mobility scooters at the entrances of their establishments. But once inside I frequently find they have been taken over not by the elderly, but the obese.

There is a serious problem in this country we are not addressing.

Obesity is costly. According to the American Obesity treatment Association obesity-related health care costs totaled an estimated $117 billion in 2000. I imagine that price is even higher now.

Between 1987 and 2001, diseases associated with obesity accounted for 27% of the increases in medical costs.

Medical expenditures for obese workers, depending on gender and severity of obesity, are between 29% and 117% greater than expenditures for workers with normal weight.

From 1979–1981 to 1997–1999, annual hospital costs related to obesity among children and adolescents increased, rising from $35 million to $127 million.

I know, in this day of trillions in federal spending, $200 billion hardly makes a dent. But as is often stated: a billion here and a billion there…pretty sooner or later, you’re talking real money.

Mechanical mobility isn’t always the best solution for the overweight. There are limits scooters can safely carry, but there don’t seem to be limits to the weight people can pile on.

All manufacturers have weight capacity limits that can safely be supported on their mobility scooters clearly states in the instructions, usually 250 to 300 pounds.

Exceeding these limits can cause mechanical parts to fail or the scooter may break down. Some may not even move. There are heavy duty scooters are available for riders over 300 pounds.

I think the mobility scooter can sometimes be an enabler to the overweight who find walking an inconvenience. Walking can be a real pain for the overweight and most often requires a real incentive. It must stop somewhere. Americans and citizens worldwide must realize excessive weight is unhealthy.

Combatting the Scale

Many of us need to change our eating habits; a few less trips to the drive-through comes to mind. Here are some other actions to change:

• Eating too fast
• Always cleaning your plate
• Eating when not hungry
• Eating while standing up (may lead to eating mindlessly or too quickly)
• Always eating dessert
• Skipping meals (especially breakfast)

It is time to either take some serious steps to lose weight, like an exercise regime, or park the mobility scooter and get moving on your own accord If you’re able.

The post Obesity War appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

Roller basketball: another way to keep moving!

Studies are being cranked out regularly on how prolonged sitting can significantly shorten life spans of the sedentary. They have real meaning for us who are mobility challenged.

Unfortunately, I spend most of my day on a mobility scooter or in a chair. So, what should I do about it?

It is really common problem that affects many of us who are disabled, but it is not an excuse for just giving up.

I have been blessed with relatively good upper body strength, probably from moving around a rather sedate lower body. Up until about six years ago I was going to the gym three times a week, but as my Multiple Sclerosis took a stronger and stronger hold of my lower body I sort of drifted back into little or no conscious exercise.

I paid for it with pressure sores on my butt, making sitting or lying down quite a pain in the… well, you get the idea.

Through my wife’s careful treatment, I have again been able to use my mobility scooter and “controlled” sitting. I need to make sure I am on my feet for at least two or three minutes every hour.

More importantly, I have resumed my gym activity (a 20 minute ride away by mobility scooter).

My workout (during fair weather) won’t turn me into a musclehead any time soon, but it does help my leg muscles, helps me build core strength and upper body strength.

Days when I can’t make it to the gym don’t mean I’m dormant.

I have a wheeled walker for stability and use it a couple times a day; once to the mailbox and back and secondly, walking the length of the hall in front of our condo unit, parking the rollator and walking up and down a flight of stairs a couple of times. After rollating back to our unit, I don’t find sitting such a hazard.

To mix things up, I’ve come up with some alternatives:

Office chair rumba–Since our condo is mostly hard wood floors I can actually get some distance involved by using my feet to propel the office chair across my room, down the hall and into the living room. I can get pretty exhausted after one circuit, but at least it’s something.

Chair dancing–Instead of just sitting there when watching TV, get some bounce into the commercial. Face it, they now amount to about 20 minutes of each hour show. Put it to use: raise and lower your arms, (add weights) wiggle your hips, bounce, stretch your legs, tap your feet and have fun.

Power cleaning waltz–Haul out the vacuum cleaner and waltz it around the living room. Whether it is old and heavy or modern and light, a session of it will get you exercise.

If you are mobility challenged, a vacuum sweeper can act as a support. Move fast and do as much as you can without pain. Start with one room a day. Remember, any object you push or pull adds to your exercise.

The post Get off Your Butt appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

It always hurts when one of your champions falls from grace. Seeing the headline “Double-amputee Olympian charged with premeditated murder” was as unexpected to me as a meteor exploding over Russia.

I’ve always had a special admiration for amputees and others in the Mobility Challenged Club excelling at anything to the point of gaining national and worldwide acclaim.

Many of us who are mobility challenged feel like it is a good day when we can get ourselves out of bed, showered and dressed before getting onto our wheeled steed to face another 24 hours.

Watching videos of Oscar Pistorius whipping around the track on a couple of metal blades filled me with the hope a mobility challenge can’t keep a good man down.

It was just a little more than six months ago when Pistorius made history in the London Paralympic Games when he became the first double-amputee track athlete to compete in the Olympics. He didn’t win a medal but did make the semifinals of the 400 meters and became an international star.

Imagine my shock and disgust at reading the South African headlines about this Paralympic Champion tearfully facing a courtroom where he will go on trial facing a lifetime sentence.

It wasn’t much of a Valentine’s Day gift; allegedly pumping four shots through your own shower door and into the body of your girlfriend, claiming you were shooting at a home invader.

I hadn’t gotten to the point of esteem on my part, but I imagine many in the handicap world had come close to idolizing Pistorius for his accomplishments.

God has never looked favorably on idolization and in most cases the idol fairs worse than those doing the idolizing. That seems to be the case for Pistorius.

He’s not far removed from the likes of Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong. Though not handicapped, this pair also let down a massive public following. Murder is more severe than cheating on a wife or competition, but these men also disappointed their fans.

I can’t imagine what gets into our sports heroes’ heads when they turn towards the dark side like this.

Personally, I have never risen to such fame. If these are the results, you can be sure it will never be a goal.

My love for God and my wife are the two places where I want to win praise.

Of course this will never draw public acclaim, and perhaps that is the flaw. How can you hold a God in awe if you are wrestling with being god-like in your own mirror? Here’s hoping others in the public eye can prove to be better role models.

The post Bladerunner appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

John Loo / flickr

When my wife and I decided we had to do something to make transporting my mobility scooter easier, we quickly encountered a chicken-or-egg type of problem.

At the time, she was driving a Ford Focus. Though the scooter easily breaks down into four pieces that fit neatly into the trunk (but with no room for anything else), lifting each piece over the wall of the trunk to get it in became an issue.

If we went shopping and made four or five stops that meant my wife was having put the strain own her back muscles 8-10 times a trip.

Besides this impact on her, the trips became less enjoyable as I didn’t want her to have to unload and load the scooter so many times. I often opted to sit in the car rather than put her through the hassle.

We have a close friend who has a van with an electric ramp which makes transporting her power wheelchair a breeze.

We knew it couldn’t be done with the Focus but decided to check into what was available for lifting assistance. Frankly, there are almost too many options. There are the ramp systems like our friend’s; there are drive-on lifts that are convenient on the back of a large van that allow you to roll an intact mobility scooter inside; and there are lifts that pick up a  mobility device and carry it on the outside of the vehicle.

From what we could tell many of these options were vehicle-dependent (we were already of the mind a change in vehicles was coming).

It so happens we live fairly close to a regional mobility lift supplier who had helped set up our friend’s van.

We visited to find out what they recommended for four or five different vehicles we were considering. The sales consultant told us we needed to settle on a vehicle and let him contact the lift manufacturer about fit.

We were looking for a good, clean, slightly used SUV, or better still a cross-over style. Vans didn’t really appeal to either of us and the big Explorer types were equally unappetizing. As I soon found out, there were few I could get into on my own due to seat height.

Then there were third-row seats to deal with. They needed room to hard mount the lifting mechanism.

The only ones that offered any potential were the Lincoln cross-over and the Cadillac SRX. Both had powered passenger seats.

Of all places, on eBay I found a lift that mounted in a trailer hitch with a crane-like apparatus which would lift the scooter to deck height where it could be swung into the rear compartment. It broke down into four pieces which stow beside the mobility scooter.

At the nearby Acura dealership, we found an SRX with a near 52,000 on the odometer. It was perfect; I can’t help but feel like God had something to do with it. Under the back bumper was trailer hitch big enough for a 20-foot trailer. The lift people (this is about the tenth try) said this one would work.

It is champagne-colored inside and out and is a great ride. Funny, most people at 74 go for a single ride in a Cadillac; it’s black and they have no idea of its capabilities. My wife and I now can get out for little day trips and the number of stops never matter.

Consider that one chicken (or egg…) cooked.

The post Scooter Transportation: A Chicken or Egg” Problem? appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.

Kenneth Allen / geograph.ie

I went to an Atlanta Track Club member’s New Year’s Day party and gravitated towards the Masters Runners who are running strong still, after forty years, plus or minus. The first runner I approached was a runner who was also a doctor. He was happy to give me some good advice, recommending glucosamine supplements. As a doctor, he suggested that I speak to my primary care physician prior to starting a regimen. The Mayo Clinic notes that, “several studies… report benefits of glucosamine in treating osteoarthritis of various joints of the body.”

My next prospect was a man who is 66 years of age. As luck would have it, we usually run about the same times and I get to see him rather frequently. He mentioned that he recently experienced some right hip pain when standing up from a sitting position. Another runner asked him if he crossed his legs a certain way, and low and behold he realized he crossed his legs on that particular side. He discovered that it is important to sit correctly, with two feet firmly on the ground. Good posture and positioning benefit your joints! I was on a roll at this party. Free advice from some really experienced people!

I approached a very successful Masters Woman runner and asked her the same thing. How do you keep your joints working?! She informed me that her chiropractor and massage therapist were on her speed dial on her cell phone and she takes long, hot Epsom salt baths. For those of us who do have the financial ability to schedule routine visits, I did some research. Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. wrote a great article on PsychCentral.com about this very subject. She recommended contacting your local university “training clinic.”* The graduate students can work on you at a discounted charge.

I personally learned a lot at the New Year’s Day party, and I plan on tackling my knee ailments with this great advice. I sincerely hope this helps you too!

The post My Poor Knees appeared first on Allmobility Advocate.