My wheelchair has been through a lot. It’s worn through a pair of caster wheels, and the second ones that I bought on Amazon are ready to be replaced as well. The tread on my tires is almost gone. It’s been well over five years, so I guess it might be time to replace them. I recently found out I need to replace some bolts that are seized up as well.
No one gave me an estimate on how long the pieces of my wheelchair would last. I kept hoping my need for the chair would be the first thing to go.
I do spend a lot of time out of the chair, and I am celebrating the opportunity to walk more frequently regardless of the weather now that my treadmill has arrived. My neighbor kindly helped me set it up in the corner where I can still easily get to it without it blocking any of my path in the room. It’s not a super flash treadmill, but it means I can walk through the winter without worrying about the ice or rain outside. I’m starting out small with just a few minutes of walking steady because I need to pause to catch my breath before long, but I know I’ll build up a pretty good record in no time.
The staff wellness challenge for the month of October is to team up to walk around the world – I’m happy to say that I’ll be able to report kilometers in the total – I might be the lowest contributor, but I’m still adding something to the number which is pretty significant to me. I’ll be giving the tread on my wheels a break as I add the kilometers on foot. However, realistically, I need to replace the tires and wheels to stay safe through the winter. One step at a time though – and this week’s step was getting on the treadmill.
