Disabled in the Kingdom

not exactly like the Disney scooter but close enough

My wife and I decided to to accept an invitation to accompany some friends to the Walt Disney theme parks. I have visited the parks ( Magic Kingdom & Epcot ) twice before but I hadn't been to the parks since I became disabled. I knew little of what was in store, I had an inkling that I would be using a mobility scooter, costly as it was it was a life saver. As I have mentioned here before I have always had a love of walking around and sometimes just walking endlessly, Disney without a scooter would have been my undoing so I'm really glad that we went ahead and got it. Along with the scooter I also signed up for a guest assistance card in order to circumvent the long lines, having Multiple sclerosis I am sensitive to prolonged heat. Most rides entrances cannot accommodate the size of the scooter so plan accordingly, thankfully there are plenty of areas to park the scooters and luckily my cane came in handy to help me mosey to and from the scooter.

I have to say that I am impressed with the care that I received from the cast members, and for the most part my fellow guests were accommodating as well (most people see a big guy in a scooter and assume he's just being lazy, I think having my cane and AFO helped). Being disabled shouldn't stop anyone's fun, I am glad that the Disney Corp is so accommodating.

Further adventures in the cog-fog realm

Last Thursday while I was preparing to leave for this month's MS Support meeting I twisted the doorknob lock as I was walking out the door, as soon (LITERALLY as soon) as the door shut my brain did a silent scream of NOOOOOOO My keys both house and car were in a bowl inside in the hallway. I quickly alerted my father who carries a second set of my keys, my dad lives about two miles away from me so he told me to stay still because he was going to walk over. I may have RRMS and use a cane but my father is almost 72 years old and has his own health issues (beside that my neighbors dogs are unruly and loud and I didn't want to sit in the humidity listening to them bark at me) I had the excellent  idea of at least trying to meet him half way. About sixty feet from my driveway I tripped over a plastic reflector fastened into the ground. Luckily I was able to stand up and I continued on my mission.

that's about one mile, not bad for a guy with a cane and an A.F.O 

I was almost there when the amount of walking added to the heat added to the stress of not wanting to fall again my optic neuritis seemed to dance a bit (my eye would temporarily cross) I met up with my dad and I made my way back home. The way back was uneventful, aside from being a bit sweaty my eye returned to normal and I made my way to my support meeting forty minutes late. What have I learned? I need to keep extra set of keys around.

ongoing hurdle

the one setback that I constantly deal with but I barely notice, my drop foot involves a minor sweep to the left that looks like a pretty good Kaiser soze impersonation. The fact that I'm making good progress in tri-weekly physical therapy is a great first step. Most would recommend the Bioness system but I've been down that road before and I don't care to try again. the symptoms tend to feel worse because we're in a mini-heatwave.

AFO vs bioness L300

in 2010 my physical therapist recommended I get an AFO. Upon going to my neurologists office he wanted to set me up with a Bioness device. The principle behind a Bioness system didn't scare me because I've had arthroscopic knee surgery and I've used stimulating devices on dormant muscles before. But it is difficult to get this device approved by Health Insurance. Its a fine device, I used it one afternoon to try it out. While I was waiting for the approval I went ahead with the AFO because I needed something! it took exactly 1 week to produce and was covered by insurance, Because I usually wear sneakers adjusting the sneaker to accept the AFO was not a problem. Bioness FINALLY called me back 4 months after that to tell me my insurance did not approve the device I had no intention of financing the device having this illness I already have a ton of debt  I have nothing against the company, Bioness is a good company but in my case the AFO met the need at a prompt time and I did NOT have to buy ANOTHER set of shoes.