Okay, I'm not going to set off walking down the road without my cane. I'm not going to schedule a four-hour drive for eight o'clock at night. I'm not going to sign a contract on a condo with three flights of stairs.

It's the LITTLE things I have to think about ahead of time, and I still don't.

For example, Bob needed some sugar/water for the hummingbird feeders, so I made up some in the pitcher we always use.

NOW I have to remember to pick it up off the counter with my RIGHT hand, because the stair rail is on the LEFT side, and if I pick up the pitcher with my LEFT hand, when I get to the stairs I will have to either not use the railing (BAD idea) or somehow transfer the pitcher full of sugar water to my other hand mid-flight. Splash.

Or I have to figure all the ratios of hand weakness to difficulty of de-clothing to the location of public restrooms to the likelihood of having a bathroom emergency. Wrong ratio equals potential humiliation.

What percent of the time do you suppose I think of those things until it's too late and there's an incident? Oh, I'd say about 5%. Slow learner.

me too..you should see how much I spill at work..haha

I've gotten to where I play out the scenario in my head of everything I'll potentially have to deal with if I plan to go anywhere.

I have to think about what time of day it is. Will I be too tired because I missed my nap?

I have to plan that I will probably have to use the restroom - do I know where they are? Will I be close enough to them to make it??

Are there stairs and is the floor carpeted or tiled? This makes a huge difference in which shoes I'll wear.

By the time I'm ready to go I'm exhausted and wonder why I agree to go anywhere anymore.....

I'm in a chair, but I can toilet myself. Of course I never say anything, but sort of hate going to my PCP. They want a Urine sample, not easy for a woman with one working cooperative hand and a leg on same side as the bad hand that does not cooperate by moving over to make space for cup to pass through. YIKES!

Bathroom follows letter of Law, has a handicapped pullup bar, but it's on my wrong side, my weak side!!! Leave door unlocked, DH waits outside waiting for my yell. I know which bathrooms I can use alone and which not. DH has come into empty Ladies Rooms with me (and ladies you know, that seldom happens). I'm not bagged so limited in amount of time and places I can go without a problem. This sucks.

It's a full time job....

Have to keep all the laundry done, as much as possible. So I can have at the ready what clothes I will need to be comfy. I can't wear certain things some days. Some bras feel too tight sometimes, fine other days. Then you gotta have the right shirt to go with that bra. Some pants are too hard to zip when my hands are funky. Gotta have the right undies if the butt is burning.

And dh wonders why I stand there like an idiot trying to figure out what to wear when I'm just gonna hang around the house, lol...

Then in order to go anywhere even for an hour, what will I need with me? I pack like I'm going for a week. Might need some Relpax, some aleve, a muscle relaxer, and always a bottle of water, always my cell phone. It was crazy when I was on 10 meds - you should have seen how big my purse was then.

Need sunglasses in case my eyes are sensitive, a sweat shirt as I'm always cold.


Takes so long to get ready, I'm tired before I even leave.

This is something I am learning, the hard way, LOL.

We have plastic cups and really big coffee cups on hand for the days where a glass just wouldn't be a good idea for me.

I have a cane in my car for "just in case".

I have to test for hot water with my left, since my right hand does not always feel heat.

I have to wait for things like coffee to cool because I cannot always feel how hot it is. I've burned my mouth a couple of times without knowing it.