For a long time I used to wobble and crawl around the castle but then, several months ago, I discovered how much easier and less stressful it was to use my wheelchair instead. I’m not sure why it’d taken me so long to realise this but I suppose I felt (mistakenly) that not using the chair meant I was more independent. In fact using it at home has meant I can do more tasks for myself, and feel a lot safer.

Poppy commented on this a few weeks ago saying ‘Isn’t it calmer now you’re wheeling about rather than crashing to the floor all the time?’ She’s right – it’s much calmer. Who’d have guessed that crawling around haphazardly with my head frequently lurching towards the walls, or wobbling along, hanging on to the grab rail before unceremoniously plummeting to the ground, would’ve made things feel so chaotic!

But this evening the castle returned briefly to the old state of chaos. It’s been a wet day and I was covering a colleague at the adventure playground where I work this afternoon. The result was that my wheelchair got very muddy. I forgot about this momentarily when I got home and wheeled straight into my bedroom, only to notice with horror the muddy tracks I’d made on the carpet. For the rest of the evening I left my chair to dry out on the wooden floor in the living room.

As I crawled along to bed I called out to Poppy ‘Wow, I’d forgotten how exhausting this is!’ She laughed and suggested that next time I should wheel up and down outside for a while before coming in, to de-mud my wheels – the equivalent of wiping my feet on a mat.

Thankfully this shouldn’t be a problem once I have my new Trekinetic, all-terrain wheelchair for outdoor use. My current chair can then stay nice and clean for use indoors.

It was interesting going back to moving around in the old way, but it’s certainly not something I fancy doing too often. I’ve become far too accustomed to journeys along the hallway being free from peril.