Dear LPG,

I, like many others of my age, now have what I would describe as fairly advanced back pain all the time, but I try my best to battle through it.  I do try to get out and about at least three times a week and find that while walking has its challenges (because of the limited time I can now walk for before needing a rest), standing for any length of time can present problems of its own.   

I suppose I must be one of the lucky ones, because though I am now 88 years old with all the aches and pains that being that age brings with it, I still drive a little and own my own car.  I do very local journeys to some shops, Church, the petrol station and my friends, although I find getting to shopping centres such as Lewisham and Catford by car is becoming a bit of a challenge due to parking facilities, or should I say the lack of them.  

As a consequence, I go out on the bus and when I do I take my shopping basket which doubles as a seat, but if I am driving it can be a challenge for me to get that in and out of my car because it is quite large, as it has to be to provide the stability it gives when I sit on it.  The challenge happens when I try to lift it into or out of the car. 

I have found a solution that I want to share.  I know that they have always been around, but recently I invested in what is called a walking stick/chair which gives me stability when I am walking and makes things like waiting in a queue at the Doctor’s or waiting at a busy bus stop much easier to deal with.  I now feel much more confident about going to those summer events like Lewisham people’s day or the social evening at the local centre, because I know that I can guarantee that I will have a seat whenever and wherever I need one… and when I take the car to the car wash and I am waiting for the inside of the car to be cleaned I can sit, watch and make sure that, while they are hoovering, dusting and wiping away in the inside of the car, the people who do all that hard work for me, don’t throw anything away that I want to keep.

FU, Lewisham

LPG has found a few websites with examples of the sorts of chairs that FU is talking about.  The websites are sites where you can buy these products, but please don’t assume that LPG is endorsing any of them in any way.

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