Shadow Man

Every once in a while I find myself on a bizarre thought tangent. I'm not really sure what the trigger is that since we often these tangents, I guess, it doesn't matter the important thing is that I think about what I need to think about. I know that sounds strange and a little convoluted it's true. Today I got launched on such an thought tangent when I noted I was driving my power chair from the living room of my apartment to the kitchen. And for brief second I noted to myself how lucky I was to have such a dependable piece of technology which I use to get around. I just returned from shopping over at the Walmart just down the street. Every day I'm in this chair. It is my responsibility to make sure the chairs charged fully with electricity every morning (or every night before I go to sleep) if I see the need I must plug my chair in to make sure I have the power I will need for the next days activities.

I live completely alone. In the morning after I wake I get myself from my bed to a power chair. I find getting myself up relatively easy. The task would be much more daunting had I not this power chair. I use this chair before my stenosis operations a couple years ago. I used my manual chair in the morning and the evening to get around the house and the power chair during the day to get myself back and forth from work or whatever since I just concluded by work careerafter said operations. Since the operations I rarely if ever use my manual chair. I should use the chair more often but living by myself does not make using the manual “push” manual wheelchair practical. All alone, I am so blessed, to be able to get myself out of bed, before my basic ADLs, perhaps most importantly gave myself dressed to the point that I can show myself to the world. The chair has to work, every day all day without exception. I have another power chair very similar to this chair which I keep as a “backup”. I have the same faith in that chair as I do this chair and having just said that freely admit that the backup chair is just what it sounds like a chair there for emergency situations to use when something goes wrong in my regular world. I am amazed myself every once in a while when I realize I've left my apartment gone all the way downtown Salt Lake done what I need to do and get back without any problems whatsoever. More often than not this is my travel experience. I am up and out the door and don't think twice about the miracle which I'm seated in an moving from point a to point B without restriction.

Right now I have 3624 miles recorded on my odometer of this power chair. I've had this chair for nearly 5 years. I desperately need another chair a new chair. I am 69 years old! I think the next chair I get will most likely be the last chair that I use for that great and dreadful day that I separate from this body and report to wherever I go to next if anywhere. I would like to get a good-looking chair with adequate speed and features that will allow me to live the next segment of my wife with even less stress than this chair. However, I don't know if that's good to happen now. With everything that is happening in this turn down world thanks to Covid -19 . I don't know if I'm going to have any issues in procuring my next chair. If are authorized to get my new chair Monday I don't even know if they would take my application request. I don't know if they would have to process the request. Who knows they may be making respirators or something at that point. Until then I'm pleased with this chair I'm in right now. This chair is dependable, it always has been, I feel my spasticity is getting worse. I'm twisted in the chair it seems I am quickly becoming is Stephen Hawkins clone (before he died). The way that my body is being played upon by spasms which, I'm afraid, is really beginning to twist my body making it difficult, at best, to sit squarely in my chair. I have a fantasy that I lose weight, go back to lifting up weights getting stronger and getting back control of my body. I don't know if this will happen at being 69. I hope I get a new chair shortly.

There's my tangent for today. I survive day-to-day, out our buy a power chair without which I would just be a shadow man…