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Posts Tagged ‘self-help’

4 Wheel Scooters – Mobility

November 18th, 2009 No comments

For the convenience of yourself and others, The 4 wheel scooter should be collapsible so that you can store it easy whether you are at home or on the road. Since you will want to use scooter anywhere, make sure that that it set up to be used in both indoors and out. An adjustable seat with a strong back is key to the comfort that you will need. Also make sure you have some storage place to bring your stuff along.

One of the foremost decisioans you have to make is, What about performance for your 4 wheel scooter? As far as speed goes, you are going to want to make sure that you can get around at a pace that will keep you moving with everyone else outdoors. You will also need to make sure it has a battery life that is long enough for touring. Think about 20 miles between charges.

You may think you still don't need a 4 wheel scooter. After all, you are still mobile. That may be true, but maybe you tire easy. And then you are away from living life to the fullest, the way you always have. Maybe you can't keep up with the crowd like you used to. The crowd wants you along. You want your independence. You want to continue to enjoy your life. You want to still make all your own shopping decisions. If all these things are true, then a scooter will bring it all back to you.

A 4 wheel scooter should have the features that make cruising possible.

The 4 wheel scooter should be collapsible so that you can store it easy whether you are at home or on the road. Since you will want to use scooter anywhere, make sure that that it set up to be used in both indoors and out. An adjustable seat with a strong back is key to the comfort that you will need. Also make sure you have some storage place to bring your stuff along.

Whatever is on your agenda, Shopping, touring, visiting friends and family: nothing should stop you from these activities. Your giddy-up may be gone, but modern technology will keep you on the go.

Handling and turning radius is extremely important. If you are in a tight space in a store, you do not want to be pushing shopping carts out of the way or waiting for someone who is blocking the aisle while they reach for pork rinds on the top shelf. These places are hard enough when you are walking. You do not want to make it any worse when you are on four wheels.

The machine should be sturdy so that it can take the wear and tear of anywhere you drive as well as the wear and tear of being taken in and out of your vehicle.

Want to find out more about 4 Wheel Scooters, then visit James Morley's site on how to choose the best 4 Wheel Scooters for your needs.

Chronic Illness & Young Adults – You are Too Young for That

February 25th, 2009 No comments
by Lisa Copen

I was twenty-four years old, enthusiastically living in new city, finding my independence, careers, and following my heart when I became disabled in a period days and was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It only took about four weeks, but with two visits to doctors a week, explaining my significant pain, it felt much longer. Eventually I found a wonderful doctor of internal medicine who asked me about fifty questions. In about two days I had a diagnosis.

As with many people, having specific terms like "chronic" and "forever" attached to a painful condition can simultaneously create emotions of fear and relief. At least something describes the chronic pain. There were not many friends, however, that understood or participated in my enthusiasm for a diagnosis. And the office managers at my place of work were not concerned about my pain level, but rather about when I would be able to get back into some heels to keep the office looking professional.

They quickly flung the words, "You're too young to feel so bad!" They always confused rheumatoid arthritis as being related to typical arthritis their grandmothers suffered from, exclaiming, "You can't have arthritis yet." Some tried to sympathize, comparing my fatigued body to a sports injury they had dealt with. "Oh yeah, I have some arthritis on my knee from football. It's not fun, but you just have to push through the pain." Oftentimes, the comments were accompanied by the wave of a hand or the rolling eyes.

A diagnosis in your twenties throws off all the typical decisions one is making. Your twenties should be about deciding on an education, a career, relationships, and where you will live. Suddenly, most of these choices are put on hold. Instead decisions are about how you accept (or do not) accept the diagnosis, what medications to take, what the risk of side effects are worth it, and how to locate the right doctor. We learn how to decipher lab results, what alternative treatments to try and when to have a good cry versus when to just bite your lip.

I did my best to make well thought out decisions, each of them based on thorough research, some instinct, and of course, "worse case scenario" situations. So when I heard someone flippantly tell me, "You're too young to be diagnosed with that illness" it felt like a slap to my intelligence. I recognized it as a passing ignorant comment, but it it my heart deep anyway. Did they assume that I was ignorant or that I too easily accepted the doctor's diagnosis? They comments implied that I wasn't being assertive enough and that I needed to go back to the doctor to get the "real" diagnosis (of an illness that could be cured in a few weeks with just a pill.) I couldn't really be that sick, after all, because I "looked so good."

Laurie Edwards, a woman who grew up with a chronic illness as a child is the author of 'Life Disrupted: Getting Real About Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties,' In her book she explains, "However infuriating and irrational such comments are, they only have the power to define or validate our conditions if we allow that to happen. There are all sorts of reasons why people find it easy to scorn or deny illness, especially in younger people who 'should' look and act healthy - fear, ignorance, intolerance, to name some."

The ambush of advertising for prescription medicines has given the general public a small education on the fact that illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia are legitimate diseases. However, with this education, comes the feeling that everyone is an expert and their assumptions about various diseases are now based on what one sees in those same commercials. For example, people with disabling illnesses can somehow be miraculously playing tennis or doing a marathon. While it's true that a very small percentage of people may go into remission, or those just diagnosed may have favorable results, most of us are happy if we can get out of bed, get dressed and drive a car. These commercials neglect to inform people that though an illness can be controlled somewhat, the person may still be in significant daily pain.

With each chronic illness, most of which are invisible, people will doubt that your illnesses impacts your life as significantly as it does. If you are in your twenties or thirties, they will be even less likely to understand that feeling better requires much more than a good attitude or a little bit of exercise.

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