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    Depending on cane

    I've been using a cane since August. At that point I was using it maybe every other step. I now depend on it for each step. But just recently I walked about 30 feet in my classroom without using my cane and it went okay. I looked like a penguin, but vanity went out the window a long time ago. Do you think it is possible to rely on a piece of equipment when you maybe don't even need it any longer? Maybe get a little lazy or something?

    Paula

    #2
    Hi I carry a cane wherever I go but I can get around without one, but I am constantly looking for support rails or something to grab I definitely don't feel it is a fashion statement just a lot more comfortable with it Craig

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      #3
      Originally posted by RonPaulaD View Post
      I've been using a cane since August. At that point I was using it maybe every other step. I now depend on it for each step. But just recently I walked about 30 feet in my classroom without using my cane and it went okay. I looked like a penguin, but vanity went out the window a long time ago. Do you think it is possible to rely on a piece of equipment when you maybe don't even need it any longer? Maybe get a little lazy or something?

      Paula
      Muscles get weaker the less we use them. If you "walked like a penguin," I think still need your cane. Not only are risking injury from a fall (which can cause disability on it's own), you risk injuring your back, hips, and knees because you aren't walking correctly. Been there, done that with both.

      Have you considered Physical Therapy? They might be able to help you ditch the cane.

      Take care
      Kimba

      “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” ― Max Planck

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        #4
        Tall Cane

        I use a tall cane, a thick walking stick with a rubber base on the bottom. I got it in Yellowstone National Park. It has two important functions. The first, and most important: it helps with balance. Because it is tall, I can stand straighter, keeping my shoulder circle directly above my hips. A regular-sized cane seems to make me hover over, which is both uncomfortable and tiring. The second benefit of my beautiful tall cane is swagger. Longer steps. Come to think of it, maybe that's the more important use. LOL
        Stay lifted,
        Mermaid
        "Life is short, and we have but little time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us; so let us be swift to love, and make haste to be kind."
        
-Henri Amiel

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          #5
          The End of Denial!

          I have had to start using a cane this year. The first time I used it was at a basketball game. I was surprised at how self conscious I was. The stairs at the arena are very steep with no hand rail and I realized that using a cane had a learning curve. I was able to awkwardly work my way down by a combination of sitting, scooting and then using the cane to help me stand back up. Last year at this same time I was able to negotiate these same stairs with no problem.

          I spent most of the game thinking about what just happened. I was diagnosed with MS in 2004 and have spent all of that time doing everything I could to stay ahead of the curve with this disease. I have even been so arrogant as to post on this sight how well my exercise program was working and to offer advice to others. I was proud of myself when I would hear someone say " I did not realize you had MS". I felt like I was "winning". I was that guy who put in the work and was going to beat this thing. I openly admitted that I was in denial and I was proud of it.

          Sitting in the arena at that night, holding my cane, I realized that the cane was the end of my denial. I needed help to get back up the stairs when the game was over. I left that building a much humbler man. In the few months since that experience my balance has gotten considerably worse. I had to use my cane for the first time at work. My manager knows I have MS, but she was surprised to see me with the cane. She has already made concessions for me, but balance problems when working with patients at the hospital is a whole new issue. It is hard to hide a cane.

          I realize this morning that being able to share this story with a group that understands has been very cathartic for me. These last 12 months have done more to make me understand the emotional impact of MS than all the years since 2004. In a strange way I am thankful that the age of denial is over. My next project is to find a really cool cane. One I can take to the self defense class they teach at the gym I go to. They have an entire SD class just for people who use canes.
          Yogi
          "Those who agree with us may not be right, but we admire their astuteness."
          -C.Hightower-

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            #6
            I can get around okay without my cane, but that's probably only due to intense physical therapy after my last relapse in December 2014. I went to Summerfest with it, and it was amazing how hard it is to go to Summerfest if you're disabled. I haven't been able to ditch it fully, but I don't know if I want to, either. Being 28 with a cane might suck sometimes, but it definitely makes me feel safer.
            Diagnosed with RRMS on 3/15/2013...beware the ides of March!
            Rebif from 5/2013 - 09/2014.
            Gilenya since 11/2014.
            Also taking vitamin D3, fish oil, magnesium, and B12.
            EDSS 3.

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              #7
              Muscles get weaker the less we use them, and for some of us those muscles get weaker no matter how much we try to use them.

              Anybody remember the 1983 version on Return of the Jedi? The big hole in the sand that was a Sarlacc? Victims slid down a slope into a gaping maw that ate them very slowly. That's my visual of MS. Sliding into the pit, desperately trying to hold on.

              By the way, that movie gave me more nightmares than Jaws.

              Using a cane is a hard step, and it's not really vanity. It seems like giving in another inch down that slope that you'll never get back.

              Someone finally told me how difficult it was to watch me limp and stagger. I looked less impaired with the cane, and felt more confident.

              There was an episode of the TV show House, where he bought a cane with flames on it, finally accepting and making it on his terms.

              Mine was red paisley.

              Twelve years later it's a Quantum Edge rehab power chair. Still sliding down that slope.

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                #8
                Needing a Cane

                I've been using a cane now since 2007, after several falls my doctor suggested a cane would be wise to walk safely as well as to save my energy.

                Since then I have tried different kinds, but my favorite is a wooden hand painted derby handle cane that I adore.
                I swallowed my pride long ago, and now I walk proudly with my pretty cane.

                I am grateful that after 21 years diagnosed with MS I am walking
                "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans" ~ John Lennon

                Comment


                  #9
                  Canes

                  Originally posted by RonPaulaD View Post
                  I've been using a cane since August. At that point I was using it maybe every other step. I now depend on it for each step. But just recently I walked about 30 feet in my classroom without using my cane and it went okay. I looked like a penguin, but vanity went out the window a long time ago. Do you think it is possible to rely on a piece of equipment when you maybe don't even need it any longer? Maybe get a little lazy or something?

                  Paula
                  I have been using a cane for quite awhile now. I think this is the fifth time that I have had to learn how to walk all over again. In the past, I would have been able to walk (wobbly) with the cane. But this time, I can walk a little bit by myself, but other times, I get scared and in a panic looking for my cane. I think I have gotten to the point where I can physically walk, but something in my psyche is stopping me. Crazy, isn't it. I have even talked to the health plan nurses and counselors and they mentioned something in my mind is stopping me.

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