At my visit to the neurologist, this past July, I heard something interesting. Yes, it is true, the improvements I have perceived in past columns are supported by objective clinical evidence (i.e., the doctor’s perceptions). And, if I have MS, it is very mild and not getting worse. Instead, over the past few years, I have gradually gotten better.
While testing my lower body strength he noted an increase in weakness from the hips down to the knees and then the feet. My hips are the weakest area of my body.
There seem to be two somewhat exclusive schools of thought associated with disability. One advises you to live life to the fullest by using whatever mobility equipment there is to help you compensate. The other advises you to avoid mobility equipment because you will become dependent on it, and the dependence will further your loss of mobility.
It is difficult for me to find a balance between the convenience of using mobility equipment and the health benefit of not using it. I veer between the extremes depending on who-knows-what? On my recent vacation in Germany, and at a festival two weeks ago I used a wheelchair when I probably could have walked (though at the airport had I insisted on walking, I would have missed my connecting flight).
Walking is really do-able, but I'm very slow. I feel ungainly and unattractive on foot and, using a walker or hiking poles, I have to pay lots of attention to where I’m going. Though I can walk fairly long distances, on foot I’m never relaxed.
In a wheelchair I am much more relaxed and, thus, socially more accessible. I move more quickly (sometimes more quickly than pedestrians). I can, by tilting my head, make eye contact with other adults and need not always concentrate on my “footprint”. But using a wheelchair does not help retain lower body strength (though it’s been GREAT for upper arm flab!)
According to my doctor, I really could be walking more and better. So, veering now in the direction of “use it or lose it”, and having recently read a book about US Navy SEAL training, I decided to see what (other than a medication I use) could be done to improve my walking.
My experience is that it’s important to understand not just what your disabilities are, but also how they work individually and together. My hips are weak and my left foot lacks range of motion and flexibility. These can be strengthened with exercise and stretching. I went online to see what exercises might be good for hips and found many. But there are certain ones that seem to be standard, especially when it comes to rehab. Using information I found online, and consulting with a physical therapist acquaintance, I came up with several things I could do to build hip strength and increase flexibility in my left foot.
Of course, exercise only works if you do it. And the increments of improvement are very slow so those of us who thrive on Instant Gratification are not going to be happy campers for the first few weeks. Nope, we are going to write home complaining of boredom and futility. We are going to hide in our cabins trying to avoid compulsory sports. We are going to invent all sorts of excuses from bellyaches to needing to iron our socks.
But remembering how I felt a year ago after I succeeded in losing 40 pounds at the Cripple Creek Fat Farm, I am now determined to try and improve my hip strength and flexibility. It has helped to have a scheduled routine. For me, the hour before bed works best. I cannot often think of something else I need to do at that time, and I can count on bed-time arriving every night.
It also helps to have a goal, impossible dream or not. I have incremental goals for myself. I took the “handlebars “ off my commode. When I go kayaking this weekend I will try using a walker to get down to the launch area. At the office I recently gave up using a wheelchair, “graduating” to an office chair. I want to regularly go shopping on foot rather than with a Mart Cart. I will begin walking around Cripple Creek rather than using a scooter. I am planning a winter vacation in the Caribbean with my German friend. I would like, with or without a walking aid in my hand, to join her in a walk on the beach.
And, having written this column, I can work toward a future column where I can, hopefully, report on my success!
Comments? Questions? Contact deanop@msworld.org
