They Call Me Galvez

I think I’m gonna end up breaking my mobility scooter… just a hunch…  I don’t think it was built to go over speed bumps. It seems like it stalls every time I hit a bump. I may need to tone it down a little more… the simple act of crossing the street is always an adventure… maneuvering to push the crosswalk button, lining up to hit the curb at the correct angle, making sure I’m aware of traffic that is turning, praying I don’t stall in the middle of a busy street… sheesh… stuff that was routine is now a concentrated effort! Maybe I just need to get out more often… I’m really “jumpy” or really sensitive to everything… this must be what newly paroled prisoners must feel like… sensory overload!

Anyways, I love being able to go out whenever I want, but it seems like there are less people to hang out with… the people I used to hangout with 5 years ago are still around, but they all have real responsibilities now. I can get out more, but it’s much harder to find people to hangout with. This was going to happen regardless of surgery, but it’s all hitting me at once. I actually went to the movies for the first time by myself and it was great being on my own! It was a little weird, but I could get used to it. I was not embarrassed at all being by myself at the movies. Gone are the days of calling someone up on the same day to see if they want to do something. Everything requires planning in advance. This is yet another thing I gotta adjust to… re-integrating myself socially is a whole different type of rehab…  it’s something I’ve been neglecting, but I’m more aware of it now. My friends have been great thus far, but I feel like it’s time to take the initiative and start doing things alone… people realize this on their own… health care professionals can only provide them with resources… you can’t force somebody to re-integrate themselves. I can definitely see where patients need help figuring stuff out, but it is ultimately up to a patient to know when they are ready. I am amazed at how much the little things in life were taken for granted.  Sadly, sometimes you don’t realize something had been missing, till you find it again. I’m talking it all in, but damn there is still a lot of of things to figure out!  Being out and about has made me more aware of things… after identifying and isolating impairments, it is just a matter of addressing those impairments…

Had such a fun weekend. I took the train up to LA  again but this time I used the crutches and a mobility scooter. That little scooter has opened up the world for me. I can finally keep up with my friends when we go out. I don’t feel like I’m holding everyone up anymore. Sure, I can’t go everywhere, but I don’t feel like burden to my friends when I’m out and about. I do get some weird looks from people though. I think people are used to seeing older people in mobility scooters, so when they see me they probably think I’m screwing around. (OK, maybe I’ll stop chasing pidgins and trying to run them over!) Actually, I really don’t care what people think.  So if people stare, they stare… I not gonna waste energy worrying about what people think of me
I met up with one of my friends from college and we went sight seeing in LA. Thursday we went to the Dresden restaurant from the movie Swingers, then went to Griffith Observatory. Griffith Observatory is one of my favorite places in LA.  It satisfies the science geek in me while eliciting my inner Rico Suave. (I say this because this is where Kelly and Dillon had their first kiss on 90210… don’t ask why I know that.)  On Friday we met up with another friend in Redondo Beach and hung out in Hollywood. I got to take the scooter out on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame! In the Hollywood and Highland Mall, I even let my friends take turns riding the scooter… So funny!  When I get together with some of my friends you can bet we are up to no good… I called them my “pit crew” because they got really quick disassembling the scooter to transfer it in/out of the car. My friend tricked us into going to a restaurant that served insects as an appetizer. We ended up eating crickets, but I passed on the scorpion. Crunchy with very little flavor.  Later that night we met up with some friends at a bar in Santa Monica. Saturday we toured the Redondo Beach Pier. My friends walked, I rocked my scooter. Definitely pushed the limits on the scooter. Found out it doesn’t run well on hills, bumpy ground, or grass. Oh well, at least I can get around faster now! Been to the bar twice already on my own to watch basketball! I’m doing my own “experiments” with ETOH and walking/ scooter driving.  No seriously, I’m looking at the effect of ETOH on ataxia.  Results are inconclusive so far because functionally I’m safe, but I haven’t found any quantitative peer reviewed measures for ataxia yet.  “It’s all in the name of science”  I gotta try going to a movie next. Anyways, at the wedding I had 3 glasses of wine and a beer and was successful walking with the crutches with no falls…”It’s all in the name of science”… HAHAHA!  A “whole new world” is starting to open up!  I’m getting much more comfortable with the crutches… I still think walking then running is not too far away but for now the “scoot-scoot” will have to be a means for me to get around for long distances most efficiently.

Wow!  Things are already starting to pick up!  I am putting the finishing touches on my Fall schedule.  I’m going to a MD Anderson Conference in Houston to speak on a patient panel, rehab grand rounds at RUSH hospital in Chicago, Texas again for the LiveSTRONG Young Adult Alliance Conference, and hopefully something at University of Michigan Hospital.

I’m getting more comfortable with the crutches, but I am nowhere near fast enough to walk across a busy intersection.  I know in time I will get faster, but I’m faced with the dilemma of speed for community mobility.  I will continue to work on my community mobility speed, but I am still stuck with the fact that I cannot go out by myself.  I think I have found a way to address that… a mobility scooter.  You know, those scooters you see older people riding.  Unfortunately, insurance won’t cover it because I am independent in the home.  I need something that will make me independent in the community.  Crutches or a walker won’t cut it for me going out and about.  A mobility scooter seems like a good solution because walking with the crutches or a walker requires a lot of energy.  By the time I get somewhere, I am pooped!  I understand why insurance only pay for medically necessary equipment in order to establish independence at home, but jeez, in many cases equipment is necessary to establish independence in the community.  I’m very lucky to have a great network of family and friends with mobility, but a scooter will let me go where I want to go without someone having to stand close by if I lose my balance.  As a PT, I have seen how some patients become dependent on the scooter for all mobility.  I promised myself not to fall into that trap.  I got my hands on a scooter and went out by myself in public for the first time in over 4 years!  I live very close to a shopping mall.  I never used to go  to the mall before, but I’m very confident I’ll be doing that more often!  Gotta try it at night one of these days… I’ll still work my butt of trying to walk and run, but for now the “scoot-scoot” will have to do.  Eric Galvez, call-sign “mAssKicker1″.  I’ll be calling San Diego mall booths requesting permission for “flybys”… HAHAHA!