so… this is hard for me, but i’m starting to think it may be time to consider getting a permanent wheelchair. i have a loaner. it’s old, squeaky, judging by weight it’s apparently made of lead.

google seems lousy with enshittified ad pollution.

anyone out there have any good info/advice/love of a particular chair?

also any advice for coming to grips with this transition in my mobility would be greatly appreciated.

plz boost if you can.

it’s difficult to overstate how tough it’s been to deal with limited mobility. hiking and cycling used to be such a fundamental part of my life.

i can still walk. but barely. the break in my hip may heal but will come with some chronic pain and the nerve damage in the other hip is permanent.
i can still cycle but only on level ground for short distances. i still love it, but it’s not the same.

and so, here i am…
to be able to do more without assistance a chair might be more useful than a cane.

@isaiah I am sorry to hear this. I would have a hard losing my ability to walk/run. Exercise is so important. Even if you have to take a chair don't give up on getting around.

@Eggfreckles i gave up on most “getting around” about 7 or 8 years ago. i can do some things, just not too much. the more i do the larger the cost — measured in units of chronic pain.

fortunately for me i exercised enough for a few lifetimes by the time i hit 30. and even after that, after my big accident, i still had another ten years of backpacking. just a bit more limping on each trip.

now moving hurts. yep… pretty much all moving. walking around a grocery store is a big ask.

@isaiah @Eggfreckles ugh so sorry to hear it.

@danielpunkass @Eggfreckles it’s ok. i’ve had 20 years to get used to the idea.

did you know i cycled to your lab at applied sciences every couple days — just from my folks house by lighthouse point — but that hill was not kind to legs.

… and i used to stop and swim 1500m in the fancy pool. i was so ridiculously fit.

point is… i got plenty of pedaling in.
i’m good. :-)

@isaiah @Eggfreckles I don't know if you already knew that I grew up in the neighborhood right near the entrance to UCSC. University Terrace. So I biked up Bay Street my whole childhood. Yes, I also have insane legs 😂

@danielpunkass @Eggfreckles i try and imagining telling my kids that they will have to bike up bay street every day and watching them simply nope that idea completely. lol.

i really thought you were an east-side kid for some reason.

@isaiah @Eggfreckles Nope! I did spend my first few years in Santa Cruz on the East Side. I went to Branciforte Elementary. But my parents moved to the West Side and I went to Mission Hill.
@danielpunkass @Eggfreckles i did not know that you were also a Mission Hill Matador (nor how i remember that mascot) — another shared school. ha!
@isaiah @Eggfreckles Hah, yeah! They changed the mascot a while back but I was a Matador ;)