5 Things I Do Differently Living With Muscular Dystrophy

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Having a Disabilty I’ve found people are always have a natural Curiosity to how I do things, over the years of having a muscular dystrophy a Progressive condition I’ve adapted many times over the years how I do certain things!

A while back my fab friend Fi from Life of an Ambitious Turtle wrote a great post about the things she does differently living with Muscular Dystrophy. Fi asked me and the rest of the #MDBloggersCrew to do the same and share five things that we all do differently.

There are many things I do differently, but if I wrote all them all down we’d be here a week later!!

So without further ado here are my 5 things I do differently living with Muscular Dystrophy. I hope it gives you all just a tiny little insight into my life with a disability.

Holding my arm up

Both my arms are incredibly weak I’m unable to lift them independently with out help, my left arm is the strongest out of the two as I’m naturally right handed I’ve had to learn to adapt by using my left for everything like signing my signature, eating even using my phone so basically becoming one handed.

Coughing

It’s seems such a simple thing that your body would naturally be able to do coughing to clear your throat if you have a bad cold or infection. However, having muscular dystrophy doesn’t just mean it affects my arms and legs, it also weakens my respiratory muscles, this means when I try to generate an affective cough it sounds like I’m faking it! Not very Helpful as it can increase the risk of infection. This is helped with a machine called a cough assist it involves placing a mask over my mouth and nose, the machine fills my lungs with air opening up my airways and lungs then it sucks all the air back out creating a stronger cough helping me to clear anything that’s just sitting on my lungs, it’s an amazing bit of equipment. That saved my life 2 years ago.

Showering

As I’m unable to walk or stand independently it’s a lot easier to take showers rather than baths so it’s been a while since I had a good old Splish splash and around in the bath tub. Showers are a more practical way for me made easier with a shower chair with wheels which means I can be safely moved into the shower with no difficulties plus I’m lucky enough to have a wet room bathroom at home.

Toilet ~ Geberit Aqua Clean

I like to call my toilet an all sing all dancing toilet, now we all know I love a good toilet chat but this time it’s in the Comfort of my own home not a changing places, it’s probably something that everyone takes for granted. my toilet comes with functions that gives me my dignity and independence when needing to have tinkle. with the help of the remote control I’m able to work everything myself.

Functions

• Adjustable nozzle position
• Adjustable water pressure
• Adjustable water temperature
• Automatic nozzle cleansing 
• Front cleaning
• Rear Cleaning 
• Seat sensor
• Warm Air dryer
• Oder control

Turning Lights & Heating on/off

It’s the small things that help in the house that gives me Independence like being able to control the heating and lights myself, not being able to just jump up and turn things on is made easier with voice activation on Amazon Alexa and Hive heating, I’ve got voice activated light bulbs fitted in the kitchen, living room and hallway, being able to control the heating has been a god send having muscular dystrophy my body feels the cold very quickly and can take time to warm back up, with hive I’m never cold plus never to hot plus it’s great on my gas bill!  

Well that’s me I do hope you feel like you know me a little better and what happens in my day to day life.

Kerry x

Feel free to share your own techniques and things you do differently living with Muscular Dystrophy or any other disability by leaving me a comment below. Help raise awareness of Muscular Dystrophy by sharing this with your friends and family.

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