Stairs

 I’m going to talk about stairs for a moment. I did physical therapy for this. I practiced going up and going down the stairs and I can do it if I hold onto a railing with one hand. It’s hard. There’s a reason why stairs are a form of cardio. 

I went to my second cousin’s wedding in South Beach. The hotel the wedding was in was awful, accessibility wise, and in every other way it really was nice. My cousin had to push me all around to find the ramp. The spot the rehearsal dinner was in also had horrible accessibility. First, I had to go around to a side door. In order to go around to the side, I had to roll through a youth hostel at night. Then this video was playing upstairs and of course there was no other way up but the stairs. If I couldn’t get up the steps, I was SOL. So in heels I had to go up the stairs. I was maybe up there for 20 minutes and then it was all over. It was time to eat so now I had to go down the stairs. Again, I was in heels (it was the first time I had done this.) My whole family plus the groom and the groom’s family and the whole wedding party too, lined up behind me as I descended slowly but surely. It was so embarrassing. I felt like I was on display.

To get into my apartment I need to lock my brakes on the wheelchair and rollater and then stand. I use the rollater for support then I take a step up. Once both my feet are on the step I unlock the rollater (why unlock it before then?) and take a step then I get the rollater up on the next step and I do it all again. All of this is done while my caregiver holds on to the back of my pants for safety. I then have to walk up to and over the door jamb. That’s the craziest part. I have to walk and then lift my rollater! I just realized that that’s the hardest part, the door jamb. I’m lucky that I have the ability to stand and walk.