[daffodil]

Hi There!

I'm just curious and looking for new ideas on different physical activities that other paraplegics currently participate in. I've been brainstorming recreational things to do with my boyfriend. However, I'm unsure of what the extent of my boyfriend's capabilities are. Also, his family informed me that before he and I got together - he's been basically home-bound. So I don't want to give him one idea that he doesn't feel confident in. He feels like he's disappointing me if he doesn't think he can't do it... it would be nice to have a few ideas to present to him

Actually, I shouldn't just gear this to paraplegics - It might be helpful to others if everyone puts in ideas. So far, me and my hunny do the following:

- Fishing (pontoon boat)
- Bowling
- Camping (trailor)
- Amusement Parks (riding the rides)
- Dancing

Also, found this nifty item: a Fishing Float Tube (picture attached - that's not him in it ) - this is wonderful for fishing and for him - swimming too. The bottom of the "seat" part clips in nicely. The bottom has a belt that clips in between the legs and then another around the waist. The seat is upright and his back doesn't hurt in it - a metal bar also goes along the front of it (he feels secure). There are various loops where he attaches paddles or various fishing items. We have two of them and we tie a rope between them (more security). Absolutely love it and would recommend it! *** The ones we bought are not exactly but very similar to the one shown.

If anyone has other ideas - we'd love to hear them! Thanks a bunch!

~ Daff ~

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This post has been edited by daffodil: 12 August 2008 - 04:18 AM

[evilmac64]

hey were do you find them fishing floats i gotta have one

[Texaswheelz]

At T12 he can do pretty much anything he enjoys doing. How about water skiing, jet skiing, snow skiing, white water rafting, kayaking, basketball, tennis, riding ATV's...etc. Why fishing on a pontoon boat? cause he has to sit in his chair? I've been in many boats and quite a few pontoon boats and always leave my chair on shore, I'd much rather go out on a ski boat or bass boat then a pontoon unless I plan to just float around drinking all day. Why camping in a camper? I've camped out and slept in a tent our better yet outside under the stars, never in a camper, slept on the ground on a sleeping bag or blow up mattress. Sounds like his family and maybe even you to an extent don't have expectation of him getting and about and he's living up to those non expectations.

My family did that some what also when I was first injured(hell until I graduated and moved out) and I wish they hadn't. I was injured and they moved back to the middle of no where to be around family. I'd rather they had moved to a place that had activities to get involved in. I snow and water skied early on, but all the rest of the stuff I just started doing recently and wish the hell I'd started doing it 15 years ago when I was younger. Plan a day at the lake and have jet ski's rented and ready to go when you arrive(one for each of you). Or a trip to the mountains for riding snow mobiles or skiing or even mountain biking if you could come up with one of those one off titanium rigs for a weekend. With his lower injury he can pretty much get out and do anything he wants.

[daffodil]

Texaswheelz, on Aug 12 2008, 01:18 AM, said:

At T12 he can do pretty much anything he enjoys doing. How about water skiing, jet skiing, snow skiing, white water rafting, kayaking, basketball, tennis, riding ATV's...etc. Why fishing on a pontoon boat? cause he has to sit in his chair? I've been in many boats and quite a few pontoon boats and always leave my chair on shore, I'd much rather go out on a ski boat or bass boat then a pontoon unless I plan to just float around drinking all day. Why camping in a camper? I've camped out and slept in a tent our better yet outside under the stars, never in a camper, slept on the ground on a sleeping bag or blow up mattress. Sounds like his family and maybe even you to an extent don't have expectation of him getting and about and he's living up to those non expectations.

My family did that some what also when I was first injured(hell until I graduated and moved out) and I wish they hadn't. I was injured and they moved back to the middle of no where to be around family. I'd rather they had moved to a place that had activities to get involved in. I snow and water skied early on, but all the rest of the stuff I just started doing recently and wish the hell I'd started doing it 15 years ago when I was younger. Plan a day at the lake and have jet ski's rented and ready to go when you arrive(one for each of you). Or a trip to the mountains for riding snow mobiles or skiing or even mountain biking if you could come up with one of those one off titanium rigs for a weekend. With his lower injury he can pretty much get out and do anything he wants.

Hi - Thanks for the ideas!!

Actually I can understand that it may sound like "I don't think highly of his capabilities" On the contrary - please believe me that I am VERY confident in him to do MANY things we haven't explored. I KNOW you didn't mean it to be hurtful - but that it did hurt because I want him to become more independent - he's 31 and still lives at home and his mom does almost everything for him - HOWEVER I know your intentions are good and know I take no offence to that comment. Believe me when I say that when we're together - he does more activies (new and old) with me than he ever did without (apparently from what he's told me). He's gaining confidence in his abilities and I want to get some knew ideas to try to keep this positive thing going - I love it when he gets happy and proud of the new things he's doing - it's awesome! Also, you must understand as well that this is new for me. We've only been together since November so you'll have to forgive me if what I say seems negative in anyway - it was meant to be 110% positive.

He has told me that he hasn't a lot of experience doing too many activities and that he himself is unsure of what he is capable of - I want to get him past that "I can't do many things" place he had put himself into.

The problem is he can ONLY transfer from his chair to something of similar hight. The rod that was put into his back broke inside - causing muscle damage in his lower back (he has no use of his mid to lower back muscles). To give you an idea - he cannot do a normal sit-up and to sit-up in bed - he has push himself up with his arms and forward (hunching over to keep balance) Also, his torso is longer than his arms and he has tried 11years now to get from the floor into his chair without his lift and he cannot do it. So laying out under the stars is not an option - would love to do that. He has also tried swimming and he sinks - he hasn't tried since that is until this summer with those floaty things we got - he's terrified to swim and drown. Also, he had fallen out of bed and broke his knee cap when he had leg spasms - since then - his knee is 3 times the size and cannot bend all the way - dr's said it will grow again if they operate - if he bends his knee too much - it could break again - causing the knee growth to accelerate.

Wow - I'm sorry for the long read. Sometimes when I start typing I can't stop :-)

White water rafting, ATV's and snow machines are wonderful ideas!! Thank you so much - never thought of that! Thanks so much for your insight and concern for him - I love this site :-)

This post has been edited by daffodil: 12 August 2008 - 06:59 AM

[daffodil]

evilmac64, on Aug 12 2008, 12:59 AM, said:

hey were do you find them fishing floats i gotta have one

We got ours from a place called Bass Pro Shop - here is the link directly to some of the floaters:

Fishing Floaters

However, a lot of bigger fishing / hunting / Outdoors franchises sell these as well. They are mainly used for fly-fishing. There are various types of floaters and styles of floaters out there too.

Hope this helps! :-)

[evilmac64]

daffodil, on Aug 12 2008, 07:16 AM, said:

evilmac64, on Aug 12 2008, 12:59 AM, said:

hey were do you find them fishing floats i gotta have one

We got ours from a place called Bass Pro Shop - here is the link directly to some of the floaters:

Fishing Floaters

However, a lot of bigger fishing / hunting / Outdoors franchises sell these as well. They are mainly used for fly-fishing. There are various types of floaters and styles of floaters out there too.

Hope this helps! :-)

thank you helped alot

[russ1]

daffodil, on Aug 12 2008, 06:53 AM, said:

He has told me that he hasn't a lot of experience doing too many activities and that he himself is unsure of what he is capable of - I want to get him past that "I can't do many things" place he had put himself into.

The problem is he can ONLY transfer from his chair to something of similar hight. The rod that was put into his back broke inside - causing muscle damage in his lower back (he has no use of his mid to lower back muscles). To give you an idea - he cannot do a normal sit-up and to sit-up in bed - he has push himself up with his arms and forward (hunching over to keep balance) Also, his torso is longer than his arms and he has tried 11years now to get from the floor into his chair without his lift and he cannot do it. So laying out under the stars is not an option - would love to do that. He has also tried swimming and he sinks - he hasn't tried since that is until this summer with those floaty things we got - he's terrified to swim and drown. Also, he had fallen out of bed and broke his knee cap when he had leg spasms - since then - his knee is 3 times the size and cannot bend all the way - dr's said it will grow again if they operate - if he bends his knee too much - it could break again - causing the knee growth to accelerate.

A lot of this is just down to starting - the more you do the more he'll see he can do things and will want to do more. As for the above I can gaurantee that I have less use of back muscles and I can get up from the floor (and I'm no young athlete). A long torso makes things more difficult but not impossible, i's all about technique but start with the easy stuff and leave the more difficult stuff for later. What you could to do is practice helping your boyfriend do those more difficult transfers and the best way is to stand beside him as he transfers and grab the back of his pants, if you give him a steady lift (don't lift too hard or too quickly you just need to assist not do the lift for him) as he leans forward and transfers you really don't need to lift much he can do 90% of the lift but that extra 10% plus the steadying effect will enable him to do transfers he thought impossible, no reason after a bit of practice that you shouldn't be lying out under the stars together (air beds are great for pressure relief) - swimming is great with just a standard bouyancy aid (Know what you mean about sinking!)

Cinema is great if you can get him to transfer into a seat - then you can sit next to him like any regular couple. I also like sitting on bench seats in restaurants next to my partner - again makes you feel a lot less disabled. Those are two easy ones that can add a lot of confidence and if he knows that you can help on those transfers then he'll be a lot more confident about it - after a while you'll be able to tell him that although you've been stood there you're not actually doing anything

This post has been edited by russ1: 12 August 2008 - 02:50 PM

[robbo100bike]

Walking ( as in you walk he pushes)?

Handcycling can be very social.

Tennis?

Sailing?

Kayaking?

The list is endless, think of a sport, hobby or past time and there is usually an equivalent

[Scribbler]

I see you're in Canada, you must have lots of snow up there in the winter. In the UK there's a Charity called Back Up, which helps SCI people improve their capabilities through active sports like skiing. Check out the link below and you'll see what I mean.

Personaly I like Pop & Rock Concerts plus Theatre.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XUhpCBxvFOs


Mike

[Texaswheelz]

Sorry if I came off a little harsh, I wasn't meaning to. It's good that your have high confidence in him, more so then he has in himself and his parents have in him. Now just push him a little more and he'll build up that confidence to do more. I don't have any lower back or abs at all, if I'm laying flat on my pack I can just barely get my shoulders off the ground, like 1/10 of a inch. I would love to have them, but I don't, I also have to push myself up when i'm laying in bed. For transferring from the ground up, it takes mostly shoulders and triceps, well the way that I do it does. If he has those then he can build them strong enough to do that transfer, it just takes practice and patience.

[daffodil]

RUSS - - - -

Wow - Thanks so much for the tips! We do go to the Cinema - but he stays in the chair. I will suggest to transfer to one of the seats - hard to hold his hand and talk otherwise. That booth idea at the restaurant was great too!

I have also gave him your advice with the floor to chair and he's willing to try again - with me there to help this time - or actually "stand by" :-) That was REALLY great advice BTW and I really appreaciate that you took the time to post it! Thanks so much - cross your fingers for us ;-)

Take Care! Best Regards,

~ Daff ~

This post has been edited by daffodil: 14 August 2008 - 09:51 AM

[daffodil]

robbo100bike, on Aug 12 2008, 10:29 AM, said:

Walking ( as in you walk he pushes)?

Handcycling can be very social.

Tennis?

Sailing?

Kayaking?

The list is endless, think of a sport, hobby or past time and there is usually an equivalent

We do walk a lot - as in he pushes - LOL and not your average flat street. We have a walkway through a park here - it has many hills and turns - I only help him up hill if he asks for it.

Someone else mentioned handcycling - that sound interesting too - I will look into that!

Tennis - would that be hard on the back (with regular up for too long back pain)? Anyone?

Kayaking - he can't bend his knees unfortunately....

Thanks for the ideas! Much appreciated! :-)

This post has been edited by daffodil: 14 August 2008 - 10:03 AM

[daffodil]

Scribbler, on Aug 12 2008, 11:06 AM, said:

I see you're in Canada, you must have lots of snow up there in the winter. In the UK there's a Charity called Back Up, which helps SCI people improve their capabilities through active sports like skiing. Check out the link below and you'll see what I mean.

Personaly I like Pop & Rock Concerts plus Theatre.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=XUhpCBxvFOs


Mike

Ever neat!! I wonder if we have something like that here (a charity) that does things like that. I told my hunny about that and didn't believe me at first so I showed him the video! He was really impressed!with it!

We went to a concert (the band that sang the song we fell in love to - also his first ever concert) and we had a lot of fun - unfortunately for him - half way through the concert - people decided to stand up and dance in front of us - I managed to politely ask the people if they wouldn't mind moving so that we could see and it worked for a couple of songs. Until the band shouted to the crowd to get up on their feet and dance - we didn't get to see the band the rest of the concert and I watched the other wheelchair users leave. He looked at me and said that he didn't care - he was having a great time :-) He's great - so I sat on his knee so to speak and we sang the songs to eachother (I think was better than the band LOL)

Anyways I'm jibber jabbering again - lol - I apologize. Thanks for that video - I think it inspired him to do more - also, will have to check things here and see if there's a place that does things like this!

Kindest Regards,

~Daff~

[daffodil]

Texaswheelz, on Aug 12 2008, 04:10 PM, said:

Sorry if I came off a little harsh, I wasn't meaning to. It's good that your have high confidence in him, more so then he has in himself and his parents have in him. Now just push him a little more and he'll build up that confidence to do more. I don't have any lower back or abs at all, if I'm laying flat on my pack I can just barely get my shoulders off the ground, like 1/10 of a inch. I would love to have them, but I don't, I also have to push myself up when i'm laying in bed. For transferring from the ground up, it takes mostly shoulders and triceps, well the way that I do it does. If he has those then he can build them strong enough to do that transfer, it just takes practice and patience.

Really... no worries with the comment. You were concerned for him and I appreciate that.

With regards to transferring - I told him about your experiences and ideas and also russ' ideas too about that - I was wondering (maybe I'm missing a post about this somewhere) - but what's a good way to buildup his shoulders and triceps?

Thanks again! :-)

~Daff~

[robbo100bike]

daffodil, on Aug 14 2008, 11:02 AM, said:

robbo100bike, on Aug 12 2008, 10:29 AM, said:

Walking ( as in you walk he pushes)?

Handcycling can be very social.

Tennis?

Sailing?

Kayaking?

The list is endless, think of a sport, hobby or past time and there is usually an equivalent

We do walk a lot - as in he pushes - LOL and not your average flat street. We have a walkway through a park here - it has many hills and turns - I only help him up hill if he asks for it.

Someone else mentioned handcycling - that sound interesting too - I will look into that!

Tennis - would that be hard on the back (with regular up for too long back pain)? Anyone?

Kayaking - he can't bend his knees unfortunately....

Thanks for the ideas! Much appreciated! :-)

Try www.bike-on.com for handbikes i am sure somewhere local will do taster sessons for handbikes.

[emerson]

Hi Daff,
Wow, you guys do a lot together! More than we do so, I really like your post and the fishing floaties!
I'd love to try camping. I'm really into dancing, so that doesn't appeal to me even though I know my partner knows all kinds of tricks and spins. I've asked him about bowling and now I'm going to ask him about it gain. Transferring is hard for him too, he hurt his shoulder a few years back so everything has to be at his chair level (within a few inches)

How about golfing? or does he have one of the racing chair bikes? They are pretty expensive though

Next summer I want to rent a convertible and just cruise around, I'll just throw his chair in the back seat

[Slowlegs]

Hi Daffodil,
the floats look like great fun, you sound pretty resourceful already. You may want to look at a recumbent trike. A friend of mine and his wife have one. They even have a baby seat on the back. He uses hand cranks and she uses pedals. It was quite expensive I think but they both enjoy it.
Good luck in finding more things you can both do, sounds like you are really a positive and supportive influence on him.

[jdhoggg]

The biggest thing to remember about transferring is to lean over and not look where you are going. I can transfer into or onto nearly anything I want to and I, like him, do not have great trunk control. When you transfer, you look where you want to end up and place one hand there, then look away, lean over, pick yourself up and go for it! I mean I won't say I have not been on the floor before....but I am able to do most things I want to. Oh and by the way, I am going to buy a couple of the floaty things tomorrow because I LOVE to fish and have always hated not being able to fish out of a boat in the local farm ponds near my house. I have a UTV I take the roll bar off of that I use to get all around the pond, but being in the water is going to be sooo much cooler. The funny thing is, I already knew about them from before being hurt. I had just completely forgotten about them. (Just told the wife we're headed to Gander Mountain first thing in the am.....

[Skrads]

www.d-ability.org


This is a link to a website showing all sorts of activities for people with all disabilities. Whilst I was in hospital last year after becoming a T12 paraplegic I helped to creator/ hospital recreation officer find information and links for the website. It is full of great information and covers a wide range of interests.

If you find the website helpful, please leave some feedback and let others know about the website.

Cheers

[not4ever]

daffodil, on Aug 11 2008, 09:12 PM, said:

Actually, I shouldn't just gear this to paraplegics - It might be helpful to others if everyone puts in ideas. So far, me and my hunny do the following:

- Fishing (pontoon boat)
- Bowling
- Camping (trailor)
- Amusement Parks (riding the rides)
- Dancing

~ Daff ~

How about shooting pool?

[Jax]

You said he can't bend his knees. Just curious about what you mean by that, as there are some other neat things out there if you can get him to try them. Here's a few links to some more extreme things if the two of you ever get a craving for a rush.

Motorcycle Riding

Off Road

I know...I'm crazy, but crazy can make for some good times and some interesting conversations.

[daffodil]

Jax, on 13 March 2009 - 02:48 AM, said:

You said he can't bend his knees. Just curious about what you mean by that, as there are some other neat things out there if you can get him to try them. Here's a few links to some more extreme things if the two of you ever get a craving for a rush.

Motorcycle Riding

Off Road

I know...I'm crazy, but crazy can make for some good times and some interesting conversations.

WOW... been sooo busy - I ALMOST forgot about this site - I feel so bad... but I'm back! :-) OK... SO... better late than never lol...

One night, his leg spasms were so bad, he fell out of bed and broke his knee. Since then, the bone just keeps growing and growing to the point were he can't bend it fully. The doctors here don't want to do anything because they said the bone will just grow back and they'll have to operate again etc. He has a hard time getting the one leg into the car now without getting his foot wedged in the car door (hinged part). So... anything to do with bending his knees is out ;-)

[daffodil]

jdhoggg, on 20 September 2008 - 03:09 AM, said:

The biggest thing to remember about transferring is to lean over and not look where you are going. I can transfer into or onto nearly anything I want to and I, like him, do not have great trunk control. When you transfer, you look where you want to end up and place one hand there, then look away, lean over, pick yourself up and go for it! I mean I won't say I have not been on the floor before....but I am able to do most things I want to. Oh and by the way, I am going to buy a couple of the floaty things tomorrow because I LOVE to fish and have always hated not being able to fish out of a boat in the local farm ponds near my house. I have a UTV I take the roll bar off of that I use to get all around the pond, but being in the water is going to be sooo much cooler. The funny thing is, I already knew about them from before being hurt. I had just completely forgotten about them. (Just told the wife we're headed to Gander Mountain first thing in the am.....

Awww - Right on! So Sorry for the SUPER LATE reply. I'm so glad I was able to contribute to the idea of your floaty purchases lol... they are really great! Hope they worked out for you two! :-D

[xiamenmom]

robbo100bike, on 12 August 2008 - 02:29 PM, said:

Walking ( as in you walk he pushes)?

The list is endless, think of a sport, hobby or past time and there is usually an equivalent

Our favorite way to walk if the surface is fairly flat is with me holding one one of hands and walking while he steers with this other hand on the other rim. I'm not really pulling him, since his chair is so lightweight that if I walk at my normal pace, he sort-of floats along beside me. I love being able to walk hand in hand with him like other couple do vs pushing from behind where I feel much less connected.