Wheels

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Dear SCA6 Network Members,

I hope you are having a good summer! I've been thinking recently about how great wheels are and wonder if any species other than ours uses wheels as a tool. 

When moving homes, there is nothing like a hand truck or a dolly for heavy boxes and furniture; people love their cars, including some that can self-drive these days, bikes, skates, and scooters; most offices have desk chairs with wheels; but then somehow 'wheelchairs' are not as glorified. Tammy Schumann wrote a wonderful book titled "Scooter Sagas: Coping with Ataxia" describing her journey to more outdoor freedom with her scooters. The ataxia resource and discussion group (AR&DG) had a session discussing how to best travel with ataxia which definitely involved wheels. I was walking through an airport security line in Denver, CO last week thinking about how quickly so many people were walking the mile of roped aisles, back and forth, and how if anyone had any trouble walking how much harder it would be to get through security. Meanwhile people in wheelchairs get whisked through security, no problem. But that means the person must be willing to give up walking through the airport and use a wheelchair, even if they have never been in a wheelchair in their life. And this might be fine from a logistical standpoint, but a wheel chair is just not the same look as a Ferrari. There are many other reasons why travel might be challenging with ataxia and it truly impresses me that some members have figured out how to travel anyway. If anyone is willing to share their travel tips with me, I will compile into a list to share with the group.

After this experience at the Denver airport, I received an e-mail from one member, Bill, about a 4th of July promotion for an off road walker that he already has and finds useful. He and I are not necessarily promoting this particular walker because everyone has different needs/wants, but I think it has some pretty groovy wheels and I agree with Bill's message below about exercise. I've also attached a few tips our group has put together over the years for new members and a refresher. So, please try to stay active in whatever way is fun and safe for you and have a great rest of your summer!

Best wishes,
Terry


"This story was sent to me by my Swedish walker company (Trionic) as a Fourth of July promotion.  I found the story fascinating because we both have some sort of Ataxia, and use the same off-road walker.  The bottom line is that exercise remains one of the best ways of managing Ataxia, and that there are machines available to help us.

Bill"

Once a healthy, well-trained surgeon, now using a walker for daily activities | Trionic Walkers & Rollator s

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