Thursday, December 17, 2009

Friday, December 04, 2009

Progression: A balancing act.

FA is a progressive disease which means it gets worse over time. This makes things especially challenging because there is a constant balancing act between pushing oneself in order to maximize one's physical abilities and giving in to reason and comfort.

For example, I am in a transition period between walking and cruising in my wheelchair. Whenever I leave the house I have to assess the situation and decide whether or not things will be easier with the wheels. I have to consider the terrain I will be in, the time frame of whatever I am doing, the people that will be there, the activities that will take place, how I am feeling at the time etc.

After taking all these things into consideration I place them on either side of a scale. On one side of the scale are all the reasons why things might be easier with the wheels. On the other side of the scale is one thing: The fact that the more comfortable I get in the chair, the more time I will spend there.

to be continued...