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Mobility Scooter!

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
No problems with feeling self-conscious. I think I was grinning the entire 90 minutes actually

:) that reminds me of the time I decided to hire a scooter so I could go to the zoo. I was so happy to actually get out and be doing something fun after being stuck at home for so long (or only leaving the house when necessarily). The whole outing was like an excape from prison!!!

No one should fear others giving them bad looks due to being in a scooter. I too found people instead were actually nicer.

To anyone who is well enough to ride a scooter out, but not doing so due to fear of what others may think... I say try to break free of that prison you are imposing onto yourself.
 

November Girl

Senior Member
Messages
328
Location
Texas
Sally - it looks like you & the dog are having a great time! :thumbsup:

xchoholic - I tried to get one through Medicare at one point, but they only covered them for people unable to get around inside the home. It would be wonderful if they would even pay part of the cost.

Valentijn - your trip out sounds wonderful! I have dreamed of that freedom for a long time. :balloons:

Daffodil - when I first got my handicapped placard for the car, I felt extremely self-conscious using it, because I was young & looked healthy. Then one day a smart-aleck teen said with a smirk "you sure don't look handicapped". I was very tempted to answer with "funny, you don't look stupid, either", but didn't. I don't remember exactly what I did answer, but after that I didn't worry about it. Being questioned like that helped me to realize that it just didn't matter.
 

Sallysblooms

P.O.T.S. now SO MUCH BETTER!
Messages
1,768
Location
Southern USA
Daffodil, some people are just mean. I have not noticed anyone mean, ever.

I have seen SO many videos of young teens with POTS that look fine, in wheelchair or scooters so I was so used to it once I got both. When I see someone on a scooter etc, I don't give it a thought, I just think they are getting around and that is all that matters. :angel:

Scooters, w.chairs, folding chairs like I use, etc. They are all just tools for living when we have problems. Just like crutches for a problem. All are the same.

These tools have helped me with my POTS and I use them less and less. I love having them when I need them.
 
Messages
95
I'm 33 and look around 25 on a good day. No one seemed to think there was anything odd about me being in a mobility scooter.

I also didn't go with the two-wheeled because shopping trips are too much for me even when driving to the shop, so I need something I can use inside. And my balance goes a bit wonky sometimes - not always to the point of obvious vertigo, but definitely noticeable on something with two wheels. Plus there's a lot more muscular control needed, just to maintain posture, whereas I can sit back and relax on my scooter, and my arms are fully supported by the arm rests while I drive.

I think it really depends on what your limitations are, to find what fits you best. But I don't think anyone should let fear of public reactions affect their decision. Our ability to function is way more important than a hypothetical negative reaction from morons :)

I'm bringing up an old post here, but it's perfectly relevant. Valentjin, if it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you could do a little update on your experience with the mobility scooter since you had it.

Doesn't need to be much. But I'm thinking about having one as a pacing aid and as cover in-case my carer was out of action. My OI is pretty bad at the moment too.
 
Messages
15,786
I'm bringing up an old post here, but it's perfectly relevant. Valentjin, if it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you could do a little update on your experience with the mobility scooter since you had it.

Doesn't need to be much. But I'm thinking about having one as a pacing aid and as cover in-case my carer was out of action. My OI is pretty bad at the moment too.

Well, I'm still loving it :p And still no "incidents" of getting dirty looks, etc ... quite the opposite usually, though I am quite careful not to run over anyone.

We took it on vacation with us through the Netherlands, Belgium, and a small bit of France. We needed to rent a bigger car to fit 4 of us plus luggage plus the mobility scooter, but it was worth it. Cruising around ancient cities on it, going over the sand dunes - stuff I couldn't have done at all without it, and now I have some amazing memories as a result.

I took more "walks" around the neighborhood with my fiance in the summer, but was in the US for most of autumn - I didn't take it with me, due to traveling at the last minute. I definitely missed it while I was there!

While in the US I finally got my OI problems treated, so now I think I'll have even more opportunity to use my scooter, and without worrying about keeping my "walks" short to avoid bad OI problems. I've taken it on couple trips to Ikea, and it's been perfect for that. Much easier to focus on shopping and enjoy myself, instead of counting down the minutes until OI or PEM kicks in.

I haven't gone shopping on it by myself yet, but haven't really had a chance since getting back to the Netherlands. Previously, OI would still make it tricky to do that by myself (brain fog + foreign language = :eek:).
 
Messages
95
Well, I'm still loving it :p And still no "incidents" of getting dirty looks, etc ... quite the opposite usually, though I am quite careful not to run over anyone.

We took it on vacation with us through the Netherlands, Belgium, and a small bit of France. We needed to rent a bigger car to fit 4 of us plus luggage plus the mobility scooter, but it was worth it. Cruising around ancient cities on it, going over the sand dunes - stuff I couldn't have done at all without it, and now I have some amazing memories as a result.

I took more "walks" around the neighborhood with my fiance in the summer, but was in the US for most of autumn - I didn't take it with me, due to traveling at the last minute. I definitely missed it while I was there!

While in the US I finally got my OI problems treated, so now I think I'll have even more opportunity to use my scooter, and without worrying about keeping my "walks" short to avoid bad OI problems. I've taken it on couple trips to Ikea, and it's been perfect for that. Much easier to focus on shopping and enjoy myself, instead of counting down the minutes until OI or PEM kicks in.

I haven't gone shopping on it by myself yet, but haven't really had a chance since getting back to the Netherlands. Previously, OI would still make it tricky to do that by myself (brain fog + foreign language = :eek:).

Thanks Valentijn for sharing your experience (I might even spell your name right this time, whoops :) )

You know I think as much as anything I'd be more apprehensive about running into old acquaintances I'm forced to have the awkward ME conversation with. I think at some point I might end up hiring one out and giving it a go. I still find getting ready to go out quite tiring in itself. Though I'm intrigued about something called DryBath that was invented in Africa that might make hygiene (aka, making myself fit for public consumption) less tiring.
 
Messages
15,786
I went for a great scooter ride Sunday and we took some old bread to feed the birds. Here's a couple photos :D

birds7.jpg
birds11.jpg


I also started crashing late Sunday (not from the ride), and had to use my scooter today to get groceries, due to my fiance's back being messed up and him not being able to sit down at all or carry anything. So even though I was crashing, I was very glad to have my mobility scooter - without being able to take it to carry the food, we would have been unable to go shopping at all.
 
Messages
15,786
I finally bit the bullet and we went to look at mobility scooters ... I thought just to rent one, try it out for a while, etc, but we ended up buying one - a Shoprider GK10 :)

To follow up on myself ... I was watching a rerun of Top Gear tonight, and was pleasantly surprised to see them driving mobility scooters customized for off-road racing :D

And then ... I saw my scooter! Well - heavily modified, but looks like the same model and color.
scooter-top-gear.jpg


My next big project? :lol:
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
I love it and it's spiffy. It's like a mini car. It disassembles easily. Very cool! Good for you. My next door neighbor, years ago, had a stroke. He was never the same. Well, his wife went out and bought him a John Deere lawnmower/tractor-the kind you sit on. He would mow everyone's lawn, it made him feel good, but then he realized the torque it had and he started using it as a car! We would see him driving down a major turnpike on his John Deere lawn tractor and start laughing. That thing could move. It was his car to go to where ever. It was a riot. This has nothing to do with your scooter except for the fact that everyone needs independence and a chance to get out of dodge and go!!
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
I love it and it's spiffy. It's like a mini car. It disassembles easily. Very cool! Good for you. My next door neighbor, years ago, had a stroke. He was never the same. Well, his wife went out and bought him a John Deere lawnmower/tractor-the kind you sit on. He would mow everyone's lawn, it made him feel good, but then he realized the torque it had and he started using it as a car! We would see him driving down a major turnpike on his John Deere lawn tractor and start laughing. That thing could move. It was his car to go to where ever. It was a riot. This has nothing to do with your scooter except for the fact that everyone needs independence and a chance to get out of dodge and go!!

To funny. I like those videos where drunks get busted for DWI on lawnmowers and etc..

GG
 
Messages
15,786
I've had my mobility scooter (called a "scootmobiel" in Dutch, sorta like the "Pope-mobile") for over a year now, so I suppose it's a good time for another update :D

We do "walks" around the lake on a fairly regular basis - once a week if I'm up to it. We take old bread to feed the swans, who decided to have six baby swans this year :p So we get mobbed by them when we approach, but at least they stay in the water. They still make the baby "cheep" sounds when they want food, even though they're nearly as big as their parents now.

Keeping the tires clean can be a bit of an issue at times. Someone had broken a glass on the bike path, which I didn't see in time, so Mr Valentijn spent a few minutes picking glass out of my tires. They did stay inflated though! Also there was a bit of an issue when a flock of Canadian Geese stopped by the lake for a couple days and left their usual calling card :cautious:

But other than that, things have been great. We went to a nice island nearby for a long weekend, and I was able to go through the dunes again, and along a ton of different paved, unpaved, and steep paths. We found a new route that goes along the dune looking over the ocean, and that was hella fun.

I was also able to drive it up and over a huge dune which leads to an estuary and then the beach. The terrain was really rough, since I couldn't go through the parts of the path with loose dry sand, and Mr Valentijn scouted ahead in the paths through the grass to find a way through which wasn't blocked by waterways.

Eventually we made it to the edge of the lagoon beach, and found a spot where there was a very short transition from the grass to the hard-packed sand, with little of the dry loose sand in between. Once I was on the damp sand, I was able to cruise all the way around the little lagoon thing, and even get a peek at the ocean, though there was way too much dry loose sand for me to walk to the ocean from there.

After that we went to a little restaurant in a village called "Cocksdorp" (hurhur :lol: ), and ate lunch on a back patio that looked over a huge stretch of beautiful marshland. Then we got back to the hotel, where I was feeling pretty wiped out, but it was taking a bath that pushed me over the edge into crash-land :rolleyes:

There were kilometers of dirt paths near the hotel, winding through the woods there, and we went out there several times. At the end of one path there's a view spot behind a wooden barrier to look out at the birds in a sanctuary. I even spotted a somewhat rare spoonbill running back and forth with it's bill in the stream to catch fish and such - looks a bit like a small T-rex when running with its head swinging back and forth o_O

After we got back home, we started venturing into the huge city park nearby a bit more. There are paths forbidden to bicycles, and with barriers, but I can circumvent them pretty well - not something I'd want to try with a 3-wheeler, since things can get pretty tippy even with 4 wheels :cool: Anyhow, we found a reconstruction of an ancient farm, with all sorts of cool gardens nearby, and even some cute little goats and such. Also huge empty pastures surrounded by trees, streams (with bridges!), etc. It's like there's a whole secret little world hidden there - surrounded on all sides by roads and heavily used bike paths, but peaceful and quiet once you're inside.

I stayed with my in-laws on Wednesday while Mr Valentijn was at work nearby, and took my mobility scooter for that. So I was able to go to the grocery story with Mr Valentijn's mother, and "walk" around the village for a while. Not stuff we can usually do while I'm there, so it was fun to be able to get out with her and meet some of the people she knows, etc.

I also might be taking the scooter with me to Seattle in a few weeks. I just need to call the airline to see if it's still possible. Due to the way the charger is set up, we just need a really cheap part of the cord once we get to the US, which will then plug into the rest of the charger.
 

rosie26

Senior Member
Messages
2,446
Location
NZ
So cool Valentjin :)

I'll never forget my first introduction to a motility scooter in the late 80's I think it was. I was walking home from work one dark night around 8pm and I was just coming up to a corner that I was about to turn into when I heard a "alien like" noise "whizzzzz wherrrrrrr" I knew whatever it was I was going to be seeing it any minute. Scared the pants of me nearly. Turned out to be a motility scooter, nearly ran me over too. :D
 
Messages
15,786
I finally found the photos of our recent trip to a nearby island, so here's some of my mobility scooter in action.

Here's one of the many forest paths near the hotel. Scraped bottom a bit on stealth-roots when it was getting dark, but otherwise did fine, even when crossing the soft and sandy horse trails.
005.jpg



Here's on the path through the dunes, going to the beach. Lots of hills, some quite steep, but I didn't have to dismount anywhere. Good paving, though drainage gaps in some places were quite jarring. My faces looks funny because the sun is blinding me :p
017.jpg



This is from the lookout area at the top of a huge dune (sun in my eyes again). There's stairs going up and down, but also a steep and winding (and sometimes narrow) wheelchair ramp. The diagonal left path with people on it is the normal path leading through the estuary and to the lagoon and ocean. The sand traps start about half way to the lagoon, so we had to find a path through the grass.
022.jpg



Here's the bridge, and a nice look at the types of waterways all over the place. The smaller ones were all dry though, due to the sand filling in an the entry to the estuary. But they were still a considerable obstacle to get around and cross over. I had to leave the path right after this bridge, due to deep loose sand having built up on the path - not scootable!
028.jpg



And here's me on one of the easier parts of my off-road path. I think parts of it were made by/for giant horse-drawn wagons that bring tourists to the beach. Mr Valentijn had to scout ahead a lot to find a path that the scooter could handle.
029.jpg



And I'm on the lagoon beach! This part was pretty easy, aside from a sticky/muddy place where water goes into the estuary at times. More scouting ahead by Mr Valentijn to find the least sticky/soft muddy sand. We then went all the way around to the far side of the lagoon, until stopped by a sign saying "Warning! Quick Sand!"
038.jpg



After getting it back to the car (the battery only went down to 3 out of 8 bars), it did have sand and other debris in pretty much everywhere possible. So Mr Valentijn brushed it down with the brush he uses to get snow off the car. Nice and clean!