by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2013/02/26 07:01 -05:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2013/02/26/10396499.aspx
I'll tell you a secret - I got glasses before I had a prescription.
That was just me breaking people into the concept of having them, since I knew I was going to need them.
And I'll tell you another secret - I got a cane long before I needed it.
It's just that I was falling during the daytime (the whole multiple scerosis, ICD-9 code 340 thing), and I decided I'd rather people assumed I was a gimp than a drunk.
And I'll tell you one more secret - I got the Independance Technology iBOT 4000 probably almost two years before I really needed it.
Though it's good that I did; soon after I got it, they stopped making them!
Now don't get me wrong here, the iBOT has always been useful.
But a wheelchair that costs USD$26,100 is probably something of a luxury, at first.
Now, post hemi left hip replacement and still not cleared to walk ten feet with a walker unsupervised, I rely on this chair in ways I never imagined I'd have to.
Suddenly having to care in the bathroom stalls comply with ADA guidelines.
Suddenly having to care what side of the toilet the iBOT will go on.
Now, more than two decades after being diagnosed with MS, I am officially handicapped.
When the hell did that happen?
I wonder what happens next....