rock climbing while disabled – Multiple Sclerosis & Me

We Just Jibbin

I started back rock climbing. The ‘vid stopped it in 2020 and 2021 and I just didn’t have a way to get to the gym last year; using Lyft woulda be too much money even though it isn’t far. This year however, I discovered that it is on the MARTA line, so early March I decided to go back since I could take advantage of MARTA. Iehgolie, never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I’d be taking public transportation to go a gym but here we are – every Wednesday without fail. Now, I haven’t actually climbed a wall yet because of the number of Catalyst volunteers and climbers who show up, but I’ve been using the Wellman (a “chair” on a pulley system that is suspended from the ceiling) so essentially, I pull myself up to the ceiling of the gym.

old picture but that’s me hanging out there

The first day back when I entered the gym, I was actually filled with excitement and felt like “I’d returned home”; it really felt good to be back. Luckily for me, all the other participants climb the walls so I’m the only one who uses the Wellman so it’s made my progress really easy to track. The first day, I didn’t even make it to the ceiling. The night I eventually made it all the way up, I took an hour and a half. Last week, I took 16 minutes the first time (it would have been a complete waste of time to NOT go again after only 16 minutes)! I completely shocked myself and was convinced that the volunteer who was belaying me (holding the rope on the ground) was helping and was also pulling – he wasn’t. WHAAT!! This activity really is rewarding…especially when you look up and see just how high you’ve gone. The only Wednesday I’ve missed so far, is one where I had to work late. I continue to enjoy it and every Wednesday I’m grateful that I never started climbing in my “normal” days because I would have been consumed with what I used to be able to do – it is what it is, most times I just can’t help it. The bus is picking me up at 6:00 this evening :-). Anyhoo, this now brings me to another point and a most mundane activity.

I yearn to be able to use a knife and fork!

Yup…it’s true. Lil side story…when I came to this country, I was appalled at how many people didn’t (or didn’t know how to?) use a knife and fork properly. Most people I saw held the fork like they were stabbing whatever was in their plate and it completely baffled me. So much so that once I went on a date with an American and saw him cutting his meat and I blurted out, “Oh wow! you know how to use a knife and fork!” Funny tho, I observed that he’d cut whatever but then put the knife down and switch the fork to the other hand to actually eat but as usual I digress!

I yearn for the ability to use a knife and fork!

When I go out to eat, I generally order something that I can easily eat with just a fork. If I can’t and I’m alone, I ask the waiter for whatever to be cut up when I place my order and I make sure to show them my poc hand. If I’m with friends, they know what will be coming once I get my food. Truth be told, it annoys me to no end that I cannot do it – it’s not even a task that I can do slowly – and usually if I see someone using their knife and fork, I know that I look at them wistfully for a second or two too long. It’s not as far as being depressing or frustrating but if I had one day to be disability-free, everything I ate that day would need to be cut into bite-sized pieces and I’d be using both utensils to eat at all meals. Go figure…it’s the little things!

Anyway, I gone so…’hol it down till next time. Oh. Before I go…I know that no one will be surprised to read that 2 days after I got my supply of pills from Mark Cuban’s pharmacy, my insurance approved the prescription, and the pharmacy started contacting me. “Please contact us urgently and as soon as possible to schedule your medication shipment” steups! I ignored them for a few days and then eventually told them that I wouldn’t need more pills till June so stop calling me! UGH!!

Ah gone,
Stax

Adaptive Sports

As u know, I’ve been rock climbing since last April. I’ve missed a few weeks recently because of work, because of life and well because at the end of the day, it is a workout and every now again, I just don’t feel like going – it is what it is. As hard as it is, I really thoroughly enjoy it although sometimes I can’t help but feel badly for the person who is side climbing with me at the time. Those volunteers deserve awards because dealing with my left hand and arm and, every now and then my left leg, is a mini workout itself. Side note:when Rebecca evaluates and measures my left hand grip, the scale barely gets a reading, but i’ll bet that if she were to measure when one of Catalyst volunteers is trying to pry it open to grab a hold on the wall, the reading will qualify me for American Ninja Warrior…but as usual, I digress. I’ve come to realise that I’m glad that I never started rock climbing before. Hear me out…

Years ago, G and i started yoga. She absolutely hated it and I absolutely loved it. Thinking back, one of the reasons that I loved and looked forward to the class was that it wasn’t ur typical workout with machines and reps and weights and blah blah blah. It was (for me) in the same category as dancing because I was getting exercise in without its feeling like a workout. Attending yoga class was the one thing I did religiously…until I didn’t. lol. Anyhoo, as ms invaded my body and things started changing and I realised that there were things that i just couldn’t do any longer, i discovered adaptive yoga. I contacted the lady who taught it and she came to the house once (can’t remember y it was just the one time but it might have simply been a scheduling thing cuz she came during a workday). We kept in touch and at some point, she told me that she was going to start a class after hours, was I interested? Hell yeah! Sign me up…

If I’m remembering correctly (which is debatable), I think I went to 3 classes. I re-read this post and clearly I wrote it after the first class because eventually, I really, really disliked it – it was actually depressing. I couldn’t do the simplest things and on top of that, even though there were other people in the class, I felt like I was the worst and struggling with everybloodything the most. It was a constant reminder of things that I could no longer do – I was completely disinterested.

Admittedly, now that time has passed and we have (kinda) learned to live together comfortably, no not comfortably…without as much conflict, maybe I will revisit? No promises although I told Taylor that I’ll incorporate her Pilates classes at Shepherd next year (even got Dr. Gilbert to write a prescription for it so that I can pay with my FSA card).

I really believe that had I started rock climbing as an able bodied, normal person, I would have felt the same way about it. Sometimes I look at other climbers and I wish I could scale up the wall like Spidey too but I am not discouraged by it and it certainly does not depress me, the left arm/hand annoy me when they don’t corporate and I cuss a lot (and apologise for it) but I’m not discouraged. Luckily I have no reference point and have no idea what that’s like. So I keep going at my speed doing as much as I can all the while willing that hand and arm to stop acting the fool and just relax a little and open up for us so I can grab the blasted hold.

Allyuh hol’ it dong…till next week!

Catalyst Sports

This is the name of the organisation that is “dedicated to providing adaptive adventure opportunities to anyone with a physical disability“. The Atlanta chapter provides cycling and climbing opportunities and I have been rock climbing with them every Wednesday night. It’s adaptive climbing so they strap me into a pulley system to assist me while I go up the wall and, while a “regular folk” person would normally only need one person to belay (the spotter, if you will, for someone who is climbing), I require 2 – 1 belayer and 1 person working the pulley. Dom has been taking me and he’s observed that they are not working as hard as they did that first day…I’m not convinced. They also have a piece of equipment called the Wellman (system?) that is like a chair (also fitted into a pulley) that someone can sit in and pull themselves up to the top of a wall. The system hangs freely from the top of a wall (it’s not against it) because I suspect that it’s what someone with no or limited lower body strength can use to go up. It doesn’t require actual climbing, u use ur upper body to pull up to “climb” to the top. I’ve used it a couple of times too and I think that I’ll alternate between it and actually climbing the wall weekly. Additionally, one week Huck climbed with me – he was my going to be my “left side” if you will. We got real close real fast…lol. Turned out that he was more than my left side but it worked out very well and we had a great time that night.

you know I have my spiel to explain my issues and I’ve gone consistently enough that the volunteers who are have been there weekly know what I have going on. The first time I used the Wellman, Huck asked me if I wanted to use a strap for my left hand that essentially keeps it in place around the bar that I had to grip to pull myself up (u’d think that because it curls up, it would do so around the bar eh? no that would be too logical…it’ll curl up tight and probably end up on top the bar rendering it just useless). It was very overwhelming for me because I thought, “shit…they have thought of everyfrigginthing!” and I remember blurting out how happy I was that they were in my life…smh. I don’t know who started Catalyst Sports, but boy am I glad they did and I am exteremely grateful for the volunteers who are there every Wednesday night without fail and who are willing to put up with me and my curling left hand, my stubborn left leg and my consistent cussing. My hero days are but a distant memory but when I’m climbing on my own and trying to get the hand or foot to a grip in the wall expletives tend to fly out my mouth. I always have to remind myself that I have limitations and may not be able to do whatever like regular folk, so I need to adjust because generally I don’t remember and that’s when shit starts flying 🙂

anyhoo, enjoy some more pictures…

Grit and determination going up on the Wellman

See the that black thing to the right of my face? that’s the strap around my left hand

Allyuh hold it dong till next time – ah gone so!

My New Challenge

I’ve been M.I.A. forgive me; I had a visitor. Allyuh know how it is, when people come from out of state/out of the country. Was a short trip for Obs so was pace right thru. Things are back to normal now, so back to our regularly scheduled program.

a few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with a coworker and she told me that she really loves rock climbing. Some time during the conversation, my disability came up and she said that the facility to which she and her son go has a “disabilities night” if u will. They shut down the facility to able bodied folk (I think) and the disabled can go climb as much as they want.

a little background for u: Sometime within the last 10 years or so a facility called Stone Summit opened in the area where I lived. Discovering that it was a rock climbing facility, I was intrigued but back then I wasn’t into working out one bit (Steups. Ballys gym got 3 years of membership fees from me and if I went 10 times, I went plenty). Anyhoo, as intrigued as I was about the rock climbing, I did nothing about it. Fast forward to April 2018…

speaking to the chick piqued my interest once again and once she told me about their offer to the disabled, I decided to call Stone Summit (I still live close by). I called and found out that they do not shut down the place for the disabled but there is a group that goes in every Wednesday to climb and that group is specifically “dedicated to providing adaptive adventure opportunities to anyone with a physical disability.” The atlanta chapter offers climbing and cycling. All I had to do was go to their website to find the information I needed. I emailed the contact and discovered that yes every Wednesday from 7-9, for a $10 fee, I ccould go climb. I just had to complete a few forms and give them the details of my disability. Of course, I was concerned about this bothersome left side of my body but the chick to whom I was speaking said that in some situations, they’d have someone climb with me to help.

What the hell did I have to lose? I knew that if I didn’t go, I’d be mad at myself…I went 2 weeks ago. Did I know what to expect? Nope. Was I nervous? Not at all. I’ve discovered that I’ve become quite trusting in these kind of situations. Maybe it’s because I have to be? In certain situations, I need help – I cannot deny that. It’s better to get the help than not and who better to help me than someone who deals with the situation all the time. I got there, introductions were made, I was told how things go and I “gearsed up” – my harness and shoes (there are special rock climbing shoes). Since it was my first time I was given the option of climbing the less intimidating wall – I took it.

So right now I’m using the word “climb” very loosely. They actually put me in a pulley rope system they have designed – remember it’s adaptive climbing. So it was a combination of my physically climbing and their using the pulley to get me up (I cyah lie, it was mostly pulley). I only went that one time cuz remember Obs was here for a short time and we had things going on. I had a blast, I actually went up twice and am looking forward to going again. Going forward, I’d like to start climbing more and using the pulley less (that’s my goal). Additionally, there weren’t enuf volunteers that night for someone to climb with me, so hopefully the next time I go, someone will be there who can “be my left side” so to speak. They can place these limbs or at least help to get them where they need to be. I’m heading there tonight, so stay tuned!

Enjoy…

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