30 msfocusmagazine.org Life With MS Mobility Devices Provide Freedom By Rudy Yanuck “I’m too young.” “It will make me look disabled.” “I’m not that disabled.” These are some of the excuses I have given when various assistive mobility devices have been offered or suggested to me. Do any of these excuses sound familiar? If so, then you and I have something in common. Multiple sclerosis has affected me nearly my entire life, even though my own diagnosis didn’t come until I was 27. My father and three of my aunts all had MS. I was 12 when my father began using an electric scooter to get around outside of the house. His model wascumbersome,heavy,andhardtoassemble. I must admit, it was a hassle for my mother and me to unload the scooter from the car, assemble it, then disassemble and reload it every time we went somewhere. Not for my fatherthough,whowouldwait in the front seat. Fortunately, for those of us with MS, technology has made great strides since then. During the last 23 years, I have experimented with many AMDs. I found some, such as walkers and three- or four-pronged canes, actually made me unstable, hindering my mobility. While others, such as Lofstrand crutches (forearm crutches) and ankle foot orthotics, help me tremendously with issues of balance and stability, as well as foot drop and ankle rolling. As a cocky, young physician, I first resisted using a scooter. However, I soon found traversing the long hallways at the hospital far too daunting. I quickly changed my tune and happilyaccepted the first of manyscooters to come. With the newer models being much easier to manage, I promised myself I would not allow the scooter to become a burden for my family, as it had been for me during my teen years. I decided to make loading and unloading the scooter my responsibility, for as long as I am able. At that point, I was still walking on my own at home and in the office, but I found that the scooter reintroduced me to many things I had taken for granted in my pre-MS life. I rediscovered activities that I had not even realized I was avoiding. I started going shopping, to the mall, to the park, and on