In a Wheelchair - How would you deal with it?

lelin, you had a dream but for me it is reality because i have been wheelchair bound since 1992. I was first diagonized with Muscular Dystrophy in 1978 and since then my physical condition started deteriorating. Now i am on a wheelchair for life but i have taken it in my stride and accepted the reality. Mentally i am strong so it has not made me depressed. I am enjoying my life with all the limitations in it, and am always smiling, happy and peaceful.Even if i were given a second chance i would still not change anything because i have gained so much spiritually that all the wealth in the world cannot replace the joy that i feel.

Hi Lelin, It will be very difficult indeed to be confined in a wheelchair all your life, particularly if the person used to be very active physically. If it happens to me, I know it will make me feel really, really down but I am also aware that nothing good will come out of self-pity. So I'll try to find ways to be useful not only to myself but to those around me as well. Surely I don't wanna become a burden to anyone.

Having a son in a wheelchair, I have mixed feelings. I would not let it get me too down, but in the same instance, I know the challenges we face, just going out of the house. I would try to keep my spirits up.

I could live independently in a wheelchair for the most part, I think. But I see some problems. I have a bad hip and it's very painful for me to stand long. When I cook, I have a chair in the kitchen so I can sit down every few minutes. It's hard to reach the stove when I am sitting next to it attending something that is cooking! I wonder if they make stoves short enough for people in wheelchairs?

I would hope that I could handle this like you. I tend to have a sense of humor about the trials of life.

Living in a wheel chair would be very difficult. I know that I could deal with it, but only if I kept faith in God and stayed strong and persevered in life with courage. I am sure that it would get to me sometimes because there are so many things that would be different for me. But like you said, I also believe that things happen for a reason. I guess the best thing that we can do is not take life for granted and be thankful for what we have now.

I would have to move somewhere with no steps. As it is, I live down in the basement. Besides that, there'd be few problems. I was in a wheelchair for a while after surgery some years ago, and my step-daughter is parylized after a car accident a few years ago, and does well in her wheelchair.

Hi lelin, I hope that I would be able to deal with it but I know it would not be easy. Like you I believe that everything happens for a reason, so that would be a plus from the beginning. I have a nephew who has been in a wheelchair, as a result of an accident, since he was seventeen and now he is forty-five. I admire him perhaps more than anyone else that I know. He has an excellent outlook on life and being disabled has taught him patience. After his accident, he went on to further his education and today has a job that he enjoys doing and is very good at. He has also helped others who have found themselves in similar situations. Blessings.

I live in a house without any stairs, and it would be possible to live here if I had to use a wheelchair. I would still be able to do many of the things that I love, I could still paint, write, read, knit, use the internet and those kinds of things. I sure that it would take some time to adjust to the situation, but I would try to get the best out of it and focus on the positive things. I love travelling, and I know that I would still be able to travel in some countries, but there are also places where it would be difficult to get around in a wheelchair, and I would have to take that into consideration when I plan my trips. I believe that everything happen for a reason, and I think that I would be able to learn something from the situation and become a stronger person.

I know it would be very hard and I could only pray for part of the strength that I have seen some people exhibit when disabled. It can really make you think when you meet someone or know someone who is bound to a wheel chair.

I have often wondered about this and hope it never happens to me. My mother had alzheimer's and several strokes before she passed away in 1997. She went from walking with a stick to using a wheelchair. She was bedridden the last two years of her life, though. She didn't know what was going on any more when she ended up in the wheelchair. If it were me and if my mind were still good, I probably wouldn't feel sorry for myself,either, and just concentrate on the things I can do such as singing, playing the guitar, piano, and the harmonica. I used to think I would never be able to ride a horse any more if I ended up in a wheelchair. I'm so glad now that they are teaching people with disabilities how to ride horseback and saying that they can do it. At the therapeutic riding center where I volunteer, for example, we have a wheelchair ramp for those who are in wheelchairs. We can push them up the ramp in their wheelchair and they can mount the horse from there. Of course, some volunteers and the instructors help them to mount from there, too. It's the movement of the horse that helps them to learn how to use their legs and learn how to walk again. Kathy.