Legless

As a result of yesterday's post, I'm off to the hospital on Tuesday for further investigations. Normally the Fox would have happily driven me in, no problem. However, in the present circumstances things aren't so easy. I'm anxious about my driving to Lancaster when the letter suggests I may have  a 3 hour visit, possibly including a local anaesthetic. There is the drive back to consider. I feel we've put on friends enough as it is over this last weekend, so I decided to ring up & arrange some hospital transport.

Would you believe it? Hospital transport cannot take my wheelchair. Car drivers are not insured to take it; ambulances haven't the space. An ambulance will be coming but I will have to use the ambulance, then the hospital, wheelchair. This means I will have no control of my movement as that chair will be the sort that someone else has to push or pull. I'm telling myself it will just have to do.

They don't seem to understand that to deprive a wheelchair user of the use of their own chair is rather equivalent to taking your legs away. It gives you a great sense of insecurity, vulnerability & dependency on others. It means having to ask to go to the loo as you can't go by yourself. What is more the letter indicates they may have to take more X-rays at odd angles. I managed to get into the awkward positions last time in my own chair. I'm not sure they will be able to manoeuvre these unwieldy wheelchairs with as much finesse.

But it seems it's the best we can do. The Fox cannot drive at the moment & I don't think it would wise for me to drive for such an appointment.