Inadequate

I grew impatient with some of the patients who were in therapy. They had so much more movement than I did, but they were whining about their plight. Some of them wanted to give up instead of trying, and all I wanted was some hope.One afternoon Rena came and sat down beside me. "Ronnie, I want you to do something for me." She put a board on my lap and asked me to push my arm forward and then backward. She took the board from across my lap and said, "That's all I needed to see." I watched her walk away with a sense of purpose. She went to an area where they kept some wheelchairs. I overheard there was a new powered wheelchair they were putting in the back, until it could be picked up by the distributor. It was fitted for someone who had passed away, before they could use it. Rena brought the chair over to me and told me that she believed it was the right size for me, and, based on the test she had just conducted, I would be able to drive it.I was excited and scared at the same time, but, if it gave me some form of independence, I was more than ready for that. She transferred me from the manual chair into this shiny new powered chair. My arm rested on the armrest, as I watched her put my hand on the joystick. I moved forward and backward and turned around slowly. It felt great. I wanted to smile, but I kept my poker face on. I was a little shy, so I took it easy with my new wheels.I suddenly became the center of attention. Everyone who worked in the rehab unit was happy to see that I was able to move around on my own. Later on that evening, when activity in the rehab unit had calmed down, I wanted to test drive my new "car" to see what she really could do. So I casually made my way out of my room and down the hall, to an area of the hospital that could only be entered with a security card. I checked my surroundings to make sure no one was looking at me.Once the coast was clear, I pressed the joystick all the way down for maximum speed. I felt the wind across my face, as I accelerated up and down the hall as fast as the chair would go. For the first time in a long time I had done something on my own. I drove back to my room, and inside I felt better than I did before. I now saw what was possible, and I set my sights on two new goals: brushing my teeth and feeding myself.

Author: Ronnie Isler

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Jul 19, 2015

Number of Pages: 194 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 151515307X

ISBN-13: 9781515153078