![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
1. A week ago Friday, I picked up my wheelchair. It is blue! And foldy! And comfortable!
2. ... and... really big and heavy compared to the RGK sports chair I've had on loan from a friend since about March. So, I, um, asked eBay how much titanium chairs cost second-hand, and uh. Now I kind of own two chairs.
3. Right, so, my normal walking speed? Over any distance worth noticing? Is "slower than that. No, slower than that. No, really." On wheels, I routinely overtake people.
4. I can keep moving when through abdominal pain spikes. I can keep moving faster than I can walk on a good day through abdominal pain spikes.
5. Have I mentioned upper body strength? Have I mentioned how good it is at reducing my dysphoria?
6. I can GO PLACES: I pushed myself three miles yesterday, plus about 1.5 miles so far today (and planning more!), and I am not any more tired than normal. This included BIMBLING AROUND THE BOTANICS. I can't DO that walking. I get to enjoy museums and gardens again! It's BRILLIANT.
7. I get to try ceilidhing in them soon :-)
8. One of the other things I picked up a week ago Friday was a Bambach Saddle Stool, which is making my body SO much fonder of me for the sitting-at-computer stuff.
9. The second wheelchair? Means I'm getting the pay forward the favour done me by the friend who loaned me her chair.
10. I never need to worry about where the next place I can sit down will be again.
(In less good news, I appear to have developed a slightly worrying latex allergy. I knew I was having contact issues with it in summer 2011 - there is a REASON I spent lab budget on a box of nitrile gloves for myself instead of using the existing latex ones - but um I was not expecting this degree of breathing difficulty from handling a bike pump then scratching my face? HEY HO OFF TO THE DOCTOR WE GO)
2. ... and... really big and heavy compared to the RGK sports chair I've had on loan from a friend since about March. So, I, um, asked eBay how much titanium chairs cost second-hand, and uh. Now I kind of own two chairs.
3. Right, so, my normal walking speed? Over any distance worth noticing? Is "slower than that. No, slower than that. No, really." On wheels, I routinely overtake people.
4. I can keep moving when through abdominal pain spikes. I can keep moving faster than I can walk on a good day through abdominal pain spikes.
5. Have I mentioned upper body strength? Have I mentioned how good it is at reducing my dysphoria?
6. I can GO PLACES: I pushed myself three miles yesterday, plus about 1.5 miles so far today (and planning more!), and I am not any more tired than normal. This included BIMBLING AROUND THE BOTANICS. I can't DO that walking. I get to enjoy museums and gardens again! It's BRILLIANT.
7. I get to try ceilidhing in them soon :-)
8. One of the other things I picked up a week ago Friday was a Bambach Saddle Stool, which is making my body SO much fonder of me for the sitting-at-computer stuff.
9. The second wheelchair? Means I'm getting the pay forward the favour done me by the friend who loaned me her chair.
10. I never need to worry about where the next place I can sit down will be again.
(In less good news, I appear to have developed a slightly worrying latex allergy. I knew I was having contact issues with it in summer 2011 - there is a REASON I spent lab budget on a box of nitrile gloves for myself instead of using the existing latex ones - but um I was not expecting this degree of breathing difficulty from handling a bike pump then scratching my face? HEY HO OFF TO THE DOCTOR WE GO)