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Drove for the first time in 16 months

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  • Drove for the first time in 16 months

    I didn't realize that it had been so long since I'd given up driving, due mainly to feet that were just too numb (not to mention eyesight that was just okay). Being the managing editor of a car magazine, I am very aware of road safety. Since I wasn't 100% confident in my abilities, I sadly hung up my keys in September 2009. But in recent months the confidence was returning.

    The numbness in my feet was down. My eyesight had improved to near 20/20. So this past weekend I felt it was safe again for me to get behind the wheel. I practiced driving in a parking lot with my wife for 15 minutes, quickly shuffling between gas and brake... no problems whatsoever (well, except that I braked a bit hard sometimes).

    "Did you want to drive on the road?" Laura asked. "I'm not ready," I said. But I was and she knew it. My hands were starting to sweat—and we hadn't even left the safety of zero traffic and circling at 15 mph. And it was dusk, edging toward full-on night. But I did it, and the next 5 miles of stoplights, passing cars, yield signs and bike riders were totally and blissfully uneventful. I let her drive home, though.
    Dave Bexfield
    ActiveMSers

  • #2
    Oh Dave, thats fantastic!!! I know how important driving was to you. I hope this is a sign of good things coming your way!

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    • #3
      That is so cool! I am truly happy for you.That must have felt pretty great to drive again[...]

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      • #4
        I'm not going to post every time I get behind the wheel, but I made my first "solo" trip yesterday. Strange but totally normal at the same time. Where did I go? Ironically... to get my oil changed. That's one thing I won't miss with all-electric cars like the Nissan Leaf. And trust me, they're coming like cell phones circa the early '90s. In a couple decades or sooner, most everyone will own one.
        Dave Bexfield
        ActiveMSers

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        • #5
          Indpendence. Something too many people take for granted. With this disease, we all live with the reality that some independence has been lost - or that it could lose it. While accepting that one day that could happen - the hope within us all is that this path will not be set before us or that it is a path we can leave behind...even if only for a short while. That is the hope within all of us. As a nurse once told me when leaving the hospital after a stay of 3 days - "keep hope alive". Thanks Dave for taking the risk, for helping to keep hope alive for so many.

          ..could not help but notice a post of yours under another topic...someone voluntarily carrying wine around for you in an art gallery? Very, very few living males have been able to accomplish that particular feat....every cloud has a silver lining! I will keep hope alive that one day that may happen to me (the wine thing, not the rest of it).

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