Disregard this if you are early stage AMN.

[LessThanRich]

AMN is a terrible progressive affliction with no cure or even treatment. I think its great if you still can walk a bit and don;t fall over on the whole, but for a lot of us this is an everyday struggle. To put things in perspective, I suffered 7 years walking and 9 years with no diagnosis. I went from walking to one stick, to two sticks, to two crutches to wheelchair over those 7 years.

Getting a wheelchair won;t "instantly" fix ALL your problems. A lot of them will disappear instantly however You also need to practice and get get good in your chair. You need to practice jumping up and down steps, going offroad and general chair positioning so it acts as a safety net as I do still stand to do some things. Its just a tool and just like any tool you need to be skilled to use it to its fullest potential. Once competent you can literally go and do almost anything. Personally my biggest challenge is a yearly 5 day punk festival in the mountains of Slovenia. Its extreme, look up Punk Rock Holiday on youtube if you need proof. No chance I could do this festival without my chair. I am naturally a very (hyper)active person and I would have had to have settled for a secluded life as going out was too difficult. It still isn;t easy now. But with wheelchair with bag behind me at all times with all essentials, a car with hand controls and electric gates, I can still go out on my own and live life the best I can. I didn;t go out on my own for like 6 years and even went to the extent of buying a bar so I had a social life from home. It all got too much for me and I completely lost it and everyone around me. After a fall at work I had 7 stitches in my leg and this is when I decided to get a wheelchair after trying all the meds and ankle supports. You can;t really work using crutches. Closing my bar followed shortly after. After a short period of mania where I partied so hard it was like I was trying to kill myself, followed 2½ years black depression spent almost completely alone whilst relearning life whilst accommodating a wheelchair. Nowadays you will find me depression free (for the most part) and living life with my beautiful girlfriend I met 9 months ago. It all depends how much you want to achieve. If you are happy going nowhere or just going somewhere to sit in a corner and not move all night then disregard my advice. But if you want to make the most of life and really do something, you need full mobility. And to really achieve this you need a wheelchair.

[DennyB]

I'm with you. I think we try to be stubborn and stick with the sticks as long as we can. I think it is a pride thing. I'm getting to the stage where it is getting harder to walk even with 2 canes. My wife and I have just been on a cruise and I was surprised with the amount of people that were on board with small mobility scooters cum wheelchairs. I am thinking seriously about getting one. It sort of feels like I'm giving up.

[LessThanRich in reply to DennyB]

Don;t look at it like that. You are opening a whole new world to yourself by dealing with your mobility issues. My ego took a massive knock and I lost all my friends as a result. But 4 years on I couldn;t imagine life without my wheelchair now, looking back I feel I wasted a lot of time in the 7 years I suffered walking.

[LessThanRich in reply to LessThanRich]

Understanding you are handicapped now is a horrible thing to deal with. I know. Its 4 years later now and my life is as normal as it could be.