Author: Sheri Denkensohn- Trott
The saying, “never a dull moment,” is a certainty in life when you have a disability. Unfortunately, some of those moments can be rather difficult, even when it is not a life-or-death situation. My following story of a nice relaxing day experience shows precisely what I mean.
I was having a lovely lunch with two girlfriends, and we broke up the lunch so I could attend my 4 PM online exercise session. It was 3:45. No problem, I’d make it right on time. Until….. I started to roll away from the dining room table as I have done many times before and for some unknown reason, the carpet got stuck under my wheelchair. Rather, I should say, became completely intertwined with the bolt that hangs down under my chair to lock me into the van. Every little move I made my chair pulled the rug and with it the entire dining room table. My one friend had luckily made it out the door or she would have been on the floor, but my remaining friend got down on the rug to examine the situation. She tried to pull the rug off, but that wasn’t working. I called my attendant and then the chaos ensued.
One tried to pull the rug while the other tried to maneuver my chair. Backwards, forwards, sideways, no difference. Wherever I went I took the rug with me and more and more of it each time. I was even pulling my friend who was sitting on the rug! I felt like I was driving a tractor instead of a motorized wheelchair. The rug was so wound up around the bolt that there was no way to pull it off without turning the wheelchair over.
Before attempting that task, we called my neighbor to see if he had any other ideas. He came down and inspected the situation and came up with the conclusion that we needed to raise the chair above the length of the bolt so we could unwind the carpet. Gone are the days of thick phonebooks! We looked around but after finding big books decided that was a dangerous way to go as pulling the rug could cause the chair to tip over with me in it.
Finally, our creative thinking worked. We got my portable lift from the bedroom and my attendant lifted me out of the chair. My neighbor tipped my wheelchair on its side and my friend began untangling it from the bolt. Success! I was lowered back into the chair and was free to roll around. Although I must say, I didn’t go anywhere near the rug!
I missed my workout, but my neighbor, my friend, and my attendant certainly got some unintended exercise. We are sorry there are no pictures, but that was the last thing we were thinking about during our “dull moment.”
We had a lovely candle lighting with my great nephew. And sufficient candles to last us through Hanukkah. But trust me, I’m going to be on the lookout for candles. I might even go on a search now that the holiday is over and see if I can buy them for next year. They don’t expire. My neighbor was our miracle of lights this year.
auditory neuropathy. I am not even going to try to explain that but suffice it to say that it is significantly different from the type of hearing loss associated with aging and conventional hearing aids don’t solve the issue. My hearing loss is a lack of clarity and distinction of sounds and not one of loudness. Basically, what I hear when someone is speaking to me is nothing but a jumble of sounds and with a regular hearing aid, that just becomes a louder jumble! I did get a cochlear implant which helps some, but my hearing is still far from perfect.
with unhappiness and depression. My situation is what it is, and although loss of music is hard, I can still find other things to enjoy and not dwell on my lack of ability to hear music.