Sandy @ Unbreakable Journey

Posted on: May 11th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

How do you address the inaccessibility of places?

Many of my friends don’t have apartments that are accessible, and many places in the city that I live in are also not wheelchair-friendly. However this doesn’t mean I allow that to stop me from participating in events, parties, and other activities.. There are three general categories of questions that I ask myself before taking ‘the plunge’ into an inaccessible location: First: Assessing the Carrier. Second:Infrastructure & Environment. Lastly: The Event Itself.

Assessing the Carrier: The qualifications are fairly basic, surprisingly. The bottom line is if YOU are comfortable carrying me, then I will be comfortable being carried by you. If you are nervous and uncertain, I will probably also lose confidence and get freaked out by your own self-doubts.

YOU should not feel bad if you don’t think you will be able to carry me; I promise I won’t hate you forever (or at all), and I definitely will not think any different of you. I understand that it’s not something everyone feels like they ‘innately’ can do or are comfortable doing. Seriously, I don’t mind. I promise.

Infrastructure & Environment: Here I mean that I usually quickly assess the actual infrastructure of what I will be going up/down. These are a few questions that run through my head while I am checking things out – Are the stairs crazy steep? Are they rickety? Is it more than 2 or 3 flights up? Are there landings? Is it a well-lit area? Will there be children running up and down at the same time? Can I see myself dying here? (That question is only semi-serious).

Event Itself: In other words, what will we be doing? Is it a crazy game of laser tag? Will it be necessary that I have access to my wheelchair or some other form of mobility? Will we be watching movies? Will we be eating and drinking? Drinking games? Crazy dance parties? Whatever it is, I need to know what we’ll be doing for my own comfort levels. If I need access to my wheelchair then I will plan to bring my fold-able wheelchair. If we will be eating/drinking I will need to know about access to the bathroom. If we will be drinking, will the stairs be okay for a somewhat tipsy person to be carrying me? Or maybe I can just crash on the couch for the night?

The above categories and questions are only my own personal ‘guidelines’ of what I consider before I get myself involved – I’m sure there are many other questions you may consider in your own mind!

Posted on: May 4th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

Any tips for those going off to college?

It’s around that time of the year when school is wrapping up and everyone is looking forward to graduation parties, and time off to spend with friends! If you are one of those happy members of the class of 2012 –

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

All of your hard work has paid off and soon you’ll be moving off to exciting new ventures into the near future. For some of you that exciting new venture includes going off to college. What to pack? What questions to consider? One reader asked about any tips I had so here’s my list of suggestions–

Posted on: April 27th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday: What shouldn’t I say to someone with O.I.?

Here are a list of a few things that I have been told, or have heard being said — and my response is usually a silent groan followed by a disapproving shake of the head.

Maybe you should just drink more milk or take calcium supplements
Getting a cast must be so cool
Do you want the kid’s menu?
You can read?
Can you do normal things?
Do you go to the bathroom by yourself?
Where’s your neck?
Why is your head so big?
Where is your mom?
What’s wrong with you?
No one is going to hire you, they don’t want the liability
I wish I could experience a broken bone just once in my life

Posted on: April 20th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

Have you ever given a presentation to your classmates about O.I.?

Yes! When I was younger, my elementary school had a week called “Understanding Me.” This was the week where fourth and fifth graders learned about people with varying abilities via hands-on learning, guest speakers, and presentations from yours truly.

Because my friends had grown up with me since Kindergarten they knew, by then, what to expect from me. So while they saw how I lived my life with them at school, they had no idea what my life was like when the school day ended. And very few knew what my life was like at home. This was the part of the “Understanding Me” week that I enjoyed sharing with my classmates, that other part of my life. Things like how I moved around at home (at that time mostly by crawling around), whether or not my brothers or anyone else in my family had O.I., how many fractures I have had, or what my first broken bone was. I remember talking about how my parents still had to carry me around “like a baby,” that I would never grow to be taller than 3ft., why I needed to wear leg braces, and when it was that my mother found out “something was wrong” during her pregnancy.

Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

What are the upsides to being in a wheelchair?

1. Awesome concert seating accommodations. Whenever I go to concerts or sporting events I have always been appropriately accommodated. This usually means getting seats that enable me to view the stage / field, but also maintains my safety. Sometimes there is a roped off section for wheelchair seating (plus one or two guests), other times accessible seating is intermingled with the rest of the concert goers. Either way though, I have never complained about this and … neither have my friends =)

2. Courteous and chivalrous behavior. Although there will be some obnoxiously rude moments, for the most part I can expect people will treat me courteously. Who said chivalry was dead? Nothing says chivalry like being able to board planes before first-class passengers.

Posted on: April 6th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

Are there right words to say to a parent who just received an O.I. diagnosis?

I once imagined what a newborn with a disability might tell a parent.

But like I said, I just imagined it. It might be quite awhile before we know exactly what those new additions to our families are really thinking.

I think that to answer this question there are two possible perspectives: you might already have experience with O.I. yourself (as either a fellow parent or as the child), or you might not have any first-hand experience. In this instance I can’t say for certain that one perspective may be any better than the other.

Posted on: March 23rd, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

What was it like when you first began walking?

I could name all the major bones in my lower limbs before learning how to walk. It was around pre-school that I had my first long-leg braces (KFO’s) made. They are remembered with great disgust: the plastic was always sweaty against my skin so I would wear tights underneath, my sneakers always looked overly bloated as I tried to jam the foot piece in, and the clunky contraptions seemed to weigh about the same as a newborn elephant. My doctors and parents tried to make them more appealing: When I complained about how hot they always were they cut holes into the braces, then they printed cartoon characters on them – the left foot had Tweety bird and the right foot had Road Runner. Still I would dread putting them on once a day before school and rip off the velcro coverings the second I got home – relishing the feeling of carpet and the denim from my jeans against my skin.

Posted on: March 9th, 2012 by Sandy1 Comment

Fracture Free Friday

How do you know how much/little to explain about O.I.?

This might come as a surprise to some, especially given the fact that I have a public blog – but I am actually a fairly shy person. It may take a whole semester of school before I start making friends. It’ll be more than a month before I’m comfortable in any work setting. I’m not likely to strike up conversation with fellow commuters on the train (no matter how many mornings I see the same faces). I would much prefer a party with 5 of my closest friends than a house party of 20+ strangers and 1 friend.

With that in mind, when people on the street or even acquaintances ask me why I’m in a wheelchair – you can bet that I am shy about my response too. It usually goes something like this:
Person: So can I ask you a question? Why are you in a wheelchair?
Me: Uhhm, well I have this thing.. um basically it makes my bones brittle. I fracture a lot.

Posted on: February 24th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

What makes life with O.I. easier?

Often we are so consumed by the inconveniences of O.I. that it’s easy to overlook the components of our lives that makes it easier. To answer this question it would be too easy for me to create a laundry-list of fantasy medical care, ideal school systems, perfect family dynamics, and flawless peer groups. Not only would this be unhelpful it would also be a lie – no one has that life regardless of whether or not you have O.I.

When I first thought about this question I decided to think about what makes life easier for me in general. Off the top of my head that would be: my awesome friends, some semblance of day-to-day purpose, a supportive family structure, and my own attitude. Even if one of those components wasn’t at its 200% best, I still find that I have solid ground beneath me to make it from the beginning of the day till the moment I close my eyes.

Posted on: February 17th, 2012 by SandyNo comments

Fracture Free Friday

Is it difficult being the only one?

When you’re a child you lean on your family and parents to show you how to be a person. Everyone comes from some perspective, rules, ideals, values, culture, or some understanding of the world/society in which we live. It is through this construct that our parents and family raise us. If a child is black their family teaches them about what it’s like to be black; if they are Eskimos a child is shown how to survive as an Eskimo; if a child is born into a family of politicians they quickly learn about life in public office. But when a genetic mutation happens it means this is a child that has something no one else in the family has. Who does the kid lean on? Who is going to tell the child about the perks or pitfalls? Who serves as the role model? Who is going to show him or her the ropes?