a carrot or a stick

Alas I am no longer as mobile or (more scarily) stable on my feet as I used to be.  Walking causes me a great deal of pain and I regularly find myself losing my balance to the extent that I am not very confident when getting about.  And then there’s the sheer fatigue that even short efforts cause me.

I’m OK (ish) at home as I’m in familiar surroundings and have something I can grab hold of in an emergency.  And when I have to travel any sort of distance then my poor wife has to push me in a wheelchair.

But what about those intermediate distances?  Getting somewhere outdoors when getting the wheelchair out of the car seems pointless?  Before I would have just stayed in the car while Lisa went and got what ever it was we needed, as I didn’t like using my walking frame in public.

But now…..

Now I have a walking stick!

Picture for me if you will a dashing, rather rakish young man swaggering around with his stylish walking aid leading the way.  Then banish those thoughts and replace them with a picture of me.

I’m only a few days into stick ownership but I’m enjoying the extra stability that a third “limb” offers me.  Now I’m not about to start covering huge distances (my back is in no sort of condition to facilitate that), but at least I seem to have a little more confidence in my ability to stay upright.

Now, where’s my monocle?