Saturday, July 25, 2009

The most disability unfriendly city I have seen

As I previously posted I broke my ankle and am in this funky boot thing. Well just to make life a bit more fun, I went to see Harry Potter the day it came out and while at the theater I slipped on some junk they left on their floor and fell. I didn't want to hurt my ankle again so I put my hand on the seat to steady myself. The seat was shaky and my hand slipped between the seat and back, pressing the thumb almost double over backwards. I didn't want to miss the movie so I told Ken after we left. We decided to see if maybe it was just sprained so I waited to the next day to see the doctor. Over night my thumb swelled up huge. Well the doctor who saw me wanted me to go to a hand specialist. They were worried that I had hurt the tendons. The hand specialist said he thinks it is broken but its hard to tell.So I have to go back there next Tuesday. The pain is amazing. I am actually taking pain pills for it. I hope they do something soon. I am not sure I can stand this for long.

OH yes I had a sleep study done and have sever sleep apnea. I guess I stop breathing 48 times an hour. Wow.. Anyways when the doctor and the insurance get off their butts I will get a CPAP machine that I wear while I am sleeping.

Ken will thing he is sleeping with Darth Vader. Face mask, boot and hand wrapped up.

OK so back to the disability unfriendly place. Louisville sucks for people that are mobily challenged. I am using the knee scooter to get around. Going to places like stores is a challenge. I have as of yet, and I have used it now for 3 weeks, not found a single door that opens with the press of a button for the disabled.

Most doors are heavy and slim making it difficult to get my scooter through, I would not want to try a wheel chair. Many stores have stairs with no ramps for wheel chairs. One strip mall we use on a regular basis has no disability parking so I find myself trying to get the scooter out of the van while squished between two vehicles. This same strip mall has so few up ramps to get from the parking lot to the sidewalks in front of the stores I find myself parking a long ways a way just to be near the ramp.

When going out to eat I have found restaurants with disability friendly washrooms who have piled unused chairs in the way making it difficult if not impossible to get past them unless you are walking.

Oddly, even the place I rented the scooter from (it also rents wheel chairs) had narrow heavy doors with no auto opening on them.

I do get around but I can say its a pain. I would think that in a place like Louisville the ADA would have long ago made things better.

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