A Minor Inconvenience

For the past year and a half, Larry has experienced pain in his Achilles Tendon.  The cause turned out to be a bone spur sawing away at the tendon that helps him ride his bike, play a round of golf, and, of course, walk.  As the pain became more unbearable, we sought the expertise of a San Diego surgeon. I made the appointment a year ago in April...before we put the house on the market, before we bought the fifth wheel, before we began our vagabond lifestyle.  It took 7 months to get an appointment, then after a series of tests, another 4 months to get a surgery date.  

On March 5, the deed was finally done.  The damage to the Achilles Tendon was worse than we expected.  The doctor was able to shave off the bone spur, but the entire Achilles Tendon had to be reattached in the process.  The result: an “L” shaped incision, 3 screws holding the tendon in place, and a plaster cast.  The plaster cast lasted 10 days, then was exchanged for a fiberglass cast. The catch: no weight on that leg for 6 weeks.

Crutches were fine for short distances, and for getting in and out of our home, but we quickly saw that a wheelchair was going to keep us from being completely marooned.  I must insert here that Larry has never complained about his plight.  We know this is a small inconvenience, but one that has given us a small glimpse into the world people in wheelchairs face.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Las Vegas was the most wheelchair friendly place we visited.  After all, they want all their guests to be comfortable and able to drop some money at the tables.  The weekend we visited was spring break, so the average age was about 23.  We only saw one other wheelchair the entire weekend. 

Without a doubt, the hardest place to get into is a public restroom.  The worst by far was at Scripps Green Hospital.  As with many so-called handicap accessible bathrooms, the door is super heavy and unwieldy.  If you manage to keep the door open, there is a maze of trashcans and other obstacles to overcome in a series of hard turns to get to the promised potty.  We also found tough toilets at the Presidential libraries (Nixon and Reagan), restaurants (Ruth’s Crist Steakhouse has its bathrooms upstairs), and shopping malls.  Just because it has the little wheelchair symbol doesn’t mean it’s accessible.

Overall, people have been wonderfully helpful and generous.  Here on Camp Pendleton, Larry ventured out on crutches to  the base exchange in search of batteries (the power went out).  When he was making his way back to the car with his bag full of batteries, the bag broke. Several young Marines came to his aid in picking up the batteries, then offered to do a fireman’s carry and take him to his truck. He declined and made it to the car without further incident.

On Friday, we hit the six week marker.  We hope the doctor will take off the purple cast and give Larry a walking cast.  What a miraculous, wonderful thing to be able to stand up straight and tall with both legs planted on the ground.  Then, the next part of our journey can begin.