Blog > Thoughts > Other's Thoughts > Elisabeth's thoughts > Always or Never?
Always or Never?
Written by Elisabeth on Saturday, March 27, 2010
When we decide to wheel, do we have to make the choice of always wheeling, never walking again? Can we walk sometimes and wheel other times? I think the answer depends on each of us, it depends on what works for each of us.
I am not a pretender, I am a transabled wheelchair user. I never pretend to be a paraplegic, I never told anybody I was one. To quote Chloe, “I use a wheelchair to treat my BIID, not paraplegia.” The use of wheelchair depends on my state of mind. Sometimes I need a high dosage, I need to wheel all the time. Other times, walking is fine with me and wheeling for just 15 minutes a day will do the trick. I thought it would be very confusing for people to see me going back and forth but it is not. People are usually just curious, not concerned. A quick explanation that I need to use my chair sometimes generally satisfies them. They don’t want medical details. Sometimes they will come up with an explanation and if it is close enough to one of my existing conditions, I leave it at it.
But what works for me doesn’t necessarily have to work for others. Each of us is different and we have to find our own way to manage BIID. For some wheeling is counterproductive. It hurts more than it heals. Some need to wheel all the time and act like a para. And some of us can appear able-bodied one minute and disabled another.
Personally I would recommend anybody who considers to start wheeling to keep his options open. To see what works and what not. To approach wheeling as a way to manage BIID, not as a way to pretend. Because as a pretender we might need to make the choice of wheeling all the time. As a transabled wheelchair user, I have the freedom to choose what works best at the given moment. A long hike might be it. A day spent wheeling might be it. But I am the one who makes the medical choice.
Because after all wheeling is my medical choice, it’s not a lifestyle choice.
Tags: BIID, Lifestyle, Medical, Transabled, Wheelchair
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5 Comments
unfortunatly i have no wisdom to shed on your well writen article,but i did want to thank you for your kind words the other night i did apriciate that
You make some excellent points Elisabeth, for me Wheeling certainly is a medical choice and when my BIID is rampant it sure helps but stopping wheeling generally just adds to my frustration. When wheeling I don’t see myself as a paraplegic pretender like i used to I now see myself wheeling as a result of my BIID. However on top of my BIID I still have paraplegic desires which are strongest when I am not wheeling. I have no doubt that my life would be vastly improved if I could legally get a snip around T8. I’ve been waiting almost 50 years for it and are we any closer to achieving our goals now? My BIID drives me crazy at times mind you some people I have outed to think I am crazy already. My paraplegic desires are complex I know but one of the issues would be it would legitimise my wheeling and I would be free!!!!!!!
4 On 29 March, 2010, Phil said:
My dream would be:
I can wheel whenever I feel like it, and I can walk, run, dance, jump, hop whenever I feel like it, and nobody asks why…
But I’m living in the 5th floor, no lift/elevator, and how could I explain that I can carry my wheelchair up and down, but not walk in the streets?
Unfortunately, I dont have this option at all right now.
With the actual cost of a chair – and the simple fact that my family wouldn\’t understand at all (As well as living with both my grandparents and my brothers), its simply not able to happen.
Which sucks – I find I SI more when BIID gets to a bad point with my thoughts …
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1 On 27 March, 2010, Chloe said:
You are so right that we each have to find our own solution. Those solutions are not necessarily obvious, and may require some experimentation and fine tuning.