Retirement Mobility: Physical Therapy or Electric Scooter?

I have always loved bike riding! As a little girl, riding the rural roads to visit my friend; as an adult with a child seat behind –-bikes always signified speed, freedom, control and independence. Retirement promised new opportunities for bike riding, and I joyfully asked that my retirement gift be a bicycle.

But before I could even get comfortable on my new bike, we moved to a hilly ridge in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. Our new home featured stunning, breath-taking  views just outside our door. Literally breathtaking. The exertion of navigating my bike up the hill just outside our door left me too breathless to ride. Add to that: two knee replacements, each at significant physical and financial cost and the fear of falling; my bike was left unused for decades.

Now we live in a retirement community with rolling hills. My Fitbit tells me that I climb the equivalent of two flights of stairs each time I walk up to the Community Center. (Coming home is so much easier!) Despite thousands of dollars of tests, I am still too breathless to enjoy that walk. I even tried an adult tricycle for a bit, but the exertion was significant, the fear of falling remained, and I recognized that my balance was that of an elderly woman. Too late for me.

A broken leg introduced me to mobility wheelchairs. With my leg protruding out in front, I traveled up the slopes of our community painlessly if awkwardly. As I transitioned back to walking, our physical therapy staff allowed me to borrow an electric scooter. I was warned that I shouldn’t enjoy the scooter; it would diminish my ability to walk if I enjoyed using it. Temporary use only.

Today it hurts to walk. My knees, ankles and back protest. Fear of falling is constant, so I use a cane.  Unconsciously, I chose the shortest path whenever possible and search each site for seating should I need it. Pain and fear counsel me to avoid travel, museums, festivals and more.  

In a brilliant stroke of genius, I rented an electric scooter during our trip to FL. The scooter enabled pleasure in multiple museums, and I happily scootered around the neighborhood streets in search of ice cream! A more recent family trip mandated travel through two metropolitan airports with their distant gates and long security lines. Now, older and smarter, I requested wheelchairs. Being pushed through those airports was the best part of the trip!

My health is recovering after a year of one diagnosis after another, and I find myself wishing for freedom and independence again. Would an electric scooter or wheelchair provide those for me, as they did on my travels? I can hear the physical therapists warning me that I should not give up walking; balance and strength may never return. I sense that the joy of the Florida scooter and the travel wheelchairs was fleeting, and I may not really use an electric wheelchair much at all. I hear the admonition that using a scooter is giving up to old age, which I should delay as long as possible. And yet, without mechanical help, I may already have given up the pleasure of being mobile. Perhaps I can meet my therapists half-way, agreeing to some physical therapy in exchange for the privilege of owning an electric scooter? I will keep you posted…