My physical condition now is getting very hard to handle as I am not as mobile as I once was when I first had the stroke 12 years ago.. My ability to walk with a cane is very, very tough and it wears me down.. It's my left leg and side which is very paralyzed yet I must depend on that leg in order for me to even stand up to get moving...

I don't know what happened but it was not another stroke and the MRI's suggested it has a lot to do with my back and the nerves where I got shot in Vietnam and was operated on to remove the bullet... So I go to the pain clinic next week to see what can be done to make me walk better somehow...

In my opinion now when age and conditions meet your body gets weaker day by day... I was walking good from when the stroke first happened and I have had therapy every year at the clinics and at home but now it is very hard for me to walk even to my vehicle to go anywhere with me driving or my wife driving...

All the assessments are coming back from doctors that there isn't much more they can do to make me walk better... I'm very thankful for my scooter but on the other hand life now is very tiring for me energy wise... I can imagine my condition is not the only one so I got to learn to deal with it daily... I never saw this condition coming and I don't want to be home bound I want to get out and about under my own power...

Right now my Ford Escape SUV is a 2003 model without the push button up and down of the tail gate door where I have to haul my scooter... That makes it difficult for me alone to load and unload my scooter and get the door closed with one hand I can use... The lift is automatic that puts it in and out on the ground but I have trouble with the seat taking it off and back on by myself because it will not fit with the seat left on, it has to come off and lay on the scooter to get the scooter loaded in the vehicle...

I don't want to buy a new vehicle at my age now and may not be driving very much longer plus these new vehicles cost around 39,000 dollars, that is way above my price to pay... I only paid 13,000 for this one 12 years ago so a new vehicle is out the question...

Hopefully my physical condition can be fixed soon and I can walk much better than I do now... Our up coming trip would be better if I could just walk, climb stairs, and stay up rite better...