MS Wellnes Expo and...

A few Saturdays ago I went to a wellness expo hosted by the MS society. Was a good use of my time - heard some things I already knew and learned some new things too. There was a neuropsychologist there from Shepherd Center who gave a familiar story about his first MS patient.

• The guy had a huge yard and he always used to go out on his riding lawnmower and cut his lawn every Saturday morning starting at 10. Enter Multiple Sclrrosis...well he simply refused to give in to the MS and every Saturday morning at 10 he would start mowing the lawn. And then every Saturday afternoon by 1, his wife and kids would have to bring him in and lay him down to cool down. He would be of no use to everybody (including himself) for the rest of the weekend. Eventually, of course, he had to stop the madness and make a change. Dr. Rob's point tho, was that one of the most important things that we need to do to deal with our wretched disease is listen to our bodies and make changes to our lives/lifestyles (even though we may not want to) where we have control. I can't do anything about the lesions on my brain/spine that affect my walking but I can use a scooter to get around when a lot of walking is involved. 

Speaking of scooter...Soca Scooter has given me 4 long good years. He lime, he wine, he fete up a storm, he is my partner in crime at the airport (I have a story bout this for allyuh)...we've been thru a lot together but alas, I think that I may need to retire him soon.  

• The seat is busted and oozing sponge in a few places
• I've thrown out one rubber handle and the other looks like it was in a fight with a shark (I have to keep it tho cuz my cup holder won't work without it! it's glued together)
• and I think his chassis is slightly bent

Originally I was going to run him to the ground but I have a vision in my head of my driving along minding my own business somewhere and he just stops...and then what'll be my story - not a good idea. The one vendor at the expo in which I was interested was a mobility store where I found my next scooter. It's a folding scooter and so essentially it collapses with a click of a button into something a lot like a carry on piece of luggage. One "problem" with this one is that the top speed is 4mph; Soca Scooter is 5.  The difference between 80 and 81 mph, I may not notice but 4 and 5?...ugh! but clearly I'll need to get over that fact at some point. Hopefully this one will also be able to lime, wine and take jammin like good ole Soca Scooter.

let the good times roll...