A couple of weeks back I took a small tumble off the futon you see in the background of my photo after waking up. Not sure exactly what/why it happened; it just did. But that was my crowning moment to finally break down and buy for the first time ever my new set of wheels - and I don't even need a license to be able to drive it :P
My Doctor had encouraged me about 9 months ago to get one but stubborn me said no, I don't need it, I'm fine with my cane. Well she was right and I was wrong. I stand corrected...lol.
My small tumble has thrown off my gait. I really, really need to find myself a good back cracker and get what parts of my spine manipulated to help correct some of that. I have functional scoliosis in 2 locations on my spine going in 2 different directions and the lumbar/coccyx is the one that juts diagonally to the right. I've been like this since I was 10 yrs old from a toboggining accident that nearly made me a paraplegic.
I now see/understand the benefit of the rollator. It helps to balance the user while walking in comparison to just using a cane which tends to make the user lean over to the one side; or at least in my case it does.
I can still feel the difference in height between the left & right shoulders and in part that is near where the 2nd location of my functional scoliosis is. Yeah, I almost became a quad a few years after the first accident but my gym teacher at the time pulled a bs move on me. Threatened to fail me in gym class if I refused to do the head stand. I should have refused and failed. My parents, both being teachers themselves, were livid. If I had landed any other way than what I did I would have been a quad. Now years later my spine between my shoulder blades wants to bow outwards giving me a hump. And this location plays with my height. I can easily loose 5-6 inches in height if I'm not careful. For me to go from 6 foot and drop 5-6 inches? It's a lot and it plays heavily on one's mental state too.
Anyways, my plan is to use my rollator to relearn how to walk correctly or as close as I can do it and try to get working on walking several times a week as a form of exercise. Walking has always been my godsend in that it helped me loose my first 150 lbs about 12 years ago. So this tool should help me to stay mobile enough to keep me out of a wheelchair and that is my ultimate goal ;)
