Fear of ECV (long..sorry)

[hematite153]

I have fibro too. Sometimes our brains (stubbornness?) are our own worst enemy, aren't they?

Yep. Although, I should also add that one of the facets of my fibro is that heavy exertion with some form of endurance is actually better (for me) than light exercise. So, when we go to wdw, I actually push my DW in a w/c. (In an ideal I only do this for half of the day and then crash and/or I crash every other day by hanging out at the resort.)

But, then, on another day when I'm feeling like I'm going to collapse from carrying laundry upstairs I wonder how I can possibly do that (push my DW at wdw) if I can't walk up a single flight of stairs safely....

It's an odd disease.

In my case, I'd also not find much help from most of the ecvs because of the need to hold the power down with your thumb...I'd be in agony within the first hour. (I love Buzz, but, can't ride twice in a row.)

 

[mechurchlady]

My first day in parks with an ECV led to a blister. The levers are such that you can pull on one side to make the other go down and forward. Even the ones where you rev the handles can be tiring when you are short armed like me. However the freedom is worth it and I have learned to find ways to adapt to ECV usage.

 

[hematite153]

My first day in parks with an ECV led to a blister. The levers are such that you can pull on one side to make the other go down and forward. Even the ones where you rev the handles can be tiring when you are short armed like me. However the freedom is worth it and I have learned to find ways to adapt to ECV usage.

Yes, for many people the freedom that comes from the ECV is worth just about anything. My point was that for me, with my variant of fibro, an ECV would lead to less freedom than walking/running/pushing my DW. It really is an odd disease.

So, what I recommend is that everyone assess what works best for them and then do it.

I've seen many people comment on how they let someone push them once and will never do it again. I bring up the conversation with my DW every time we go so that she can choose an ECV instead of a w/c if she wants. But, she says that she likes having me push. On the other hand, we went with her family last year and she had one of her brothers push her once for about 10 minutes and then ended up walking (whenever I wasn't available to push) from that point on.

 

[mechurchlady]

Big hugs for you, hematite153. I have celiac and have weird things from wheat reactions like a throbbing nose an ulcer sore, dry skin, and burping. If it don't make sense to a person then they will not believe you. I had a guy harass me at the restaurant because of my belching. Sorry but I cannot help that I need to belch. I understand what you mean, hematite153. May not make sense to most people but to me it is plausible.

I have done the wheelchair at airports and that was scarier that Tower of Terror. People do not understand that how to drive a wheelchair and smash into things or hit them bumps in the road. I felt like a pinball and they were aiming for every bumper on the airport and was lucky they did not get a tilt. Also why do airports have 90 pound women pushing wheelchairs. I had to get out on a ramp and walk up as the lady was at a steep angle trying to push me.