On The Double

 

 

 

 

In baseball, we have the double play.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s the double dip ice cream cone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have my favorite gum “Dubble Bubble.”

 

 

 

 

 

And today, My Odd Sock “gimps” with…..

 

 

….double canes!

 

 

 

 

 

“What did you do while you were gone?” some ask.

Nope, no fancy vacation for me….that is, unless you count a trip to the neighborhood looney bin, aka Wal-Mart, to purchase a new pair of walking sticks!

 

For several years I have gotten by using one cane.  But more often than not one cane wasn’t enough.  I was using a cane in one hand and wall-walking with the other.  In absence of a wall, some one’s shoulder worked well too (especially if they were cute!).  But being an independent cuss, as most of us MSers are, I find it hard to swallow my pride and ask for a hand (or a shoulder in this case).

 

“You need a rollator.”

“Think about using a rollator.”

I heard that again & again–like a broken record.  And I resisted it like a child turns away from veggies.

I have a rollator.  And quite frankly, using it scares the heck out of me!  I tend to lean on it as you would a shopping cart and it goes out from under me.

Downhills with a rollator can be an S.O.B.  I was grinding the brakes harder than a 18-wheeler coming down Pikes Peak!

And a rollator is just too big to maneuver through my humble abode.  (Try pushing a wheelbarrow through the narrow aisles of your local Kohl’s store.  It can’t be done.)

 

 

 

Double canes made the most sense to me.

I am better balanced.  More upright.  With improved body control.  (The bladder is a whole nother subject.)

I just feel safer using two canes.

 

 

 

When I got my new canes, the first thing I had to do perform a “strapectomy”–removing the shoelace loop that hangs out the end. 

What purpose does this thing serve?

No one puts their hand through the loop.  It just dangles.

It a cane, not a friggin ski pole.  “Off with it!” I bellow.

 

 

Using two canes, the only thing is getting use to walking as a “quad” instead of as a “biped.”

Walking seemed robotic as first.

But later it came more natural.  Even fluid (if compared to a wounded moose)!  I went to the local high school track and walked half a lap.  (Granted, glaciers flow faster–but I did it.)

 

 

Have you made a recent change in your use of mobility-aids?

How has it worked for you?

 

Although we share the same diagnosis, we can make different choices to help us move about.

 

It’s just a matter of personal preference.

 

As for me, double canes are a welcome addition to my mobility-aid family.