A Day in the Life By ParaGirl

This is just a short story about how I think my days would be if I

were handicapped in the way I would like to be- DBK amputee and

Paraplegic.

I wake up with my alarm and hit snooze at least once. I do hate

mornings, I really do. I sit up in bed and rub the sleep from my eyes,

then pull my nightshirt off over my head, leaving me naked. I scoot to

the edge of the bed and place one hand on my wheelchair and one

hand on the bed, lifting myself and transferring over to my chair.

Using my hands, I lift my legs and place them in front of me in the

chair, stumps hanging over the edge of the chair. I unlock my Quickie

and head into the bathroom.

I wheel up to the counter and first brush my teeth, then try to brush

some of the tangles out of my hair. The counter is low and the mirror

is at the perfect angle for me at wheelchair height. Everything in my

house is wheelchair accessible, from the toilet to the washing machine.

You couldn’t believe how handy a front-loading washing machine is to

a girl like me. I wheel next over to the shower and turn on the water,

selecting the perfect temperature. There is a custom seat in the shower

that I transfer onto by locking my chair alongside the tub, then using

both the chair and the tub grab bar for support and half lifting, half

sliding my crippled lower body into the seat.

In the shower chair, I take the shower head from it’s hangar on the

wall, easily within my reach, and turn the hot spray on. First I’ll rinse

my body off all over, wetting my hair, then I grab my Lufa sponge and

squirt some body wash onto it. I start with my stumps, lifting one and

rubbing it down with the lufa, scrubbing it’s soft round end, then I do

the same for the other, lifting it up and washing it. It’s so strange not

to be able to feel anything from the waist down, seeing these little soft

fleshy stumps and not feeling them. Sometimes I wish I could feel

them, just to know what they would feel like.

I continue to wash myself, first my unfeeling lower body, then my

upper, scrubbing my stomach and arms and chest, then washing my

back with my world-famous ‘Lufa-on-a-stick’. Next I wash my hair

with a nice herbal shampoo. It smells like apricots, I think. Finally I

take the shower head again and turn it back on, rinsing myself off

completely. When I’m all rinsed off, I throw a big terry-cloth towel

onto my wheelchair- I hate a wet wheelchair- and transfer back into it.

I begin to dry myself off, first my little leg stumps and thighs, my

stomach and arms and chest. I dry my hair a little with the towel and

wrap the towel around my head, wheeling back into my bedroom.

I toss the towel from my head into the laundry basket and wheel

over to my dresser. I select some thong panties, some nylons, and a

bra and lay them out at the foot of the bed. I then go to my closet, also

modified for me, and get a gray skirt and matching blazer along with a

white blouse. As a receptionist, I have to dress professionally, and as a

woman I always like to dress nice, play up my assets.

I wheel back to my bed and lay the clothes out on it. I then transfer

back onto the bed, tossing the towel off my wheelchair, and grab my

panties. I slide them over my stumps and pull them up to my thighs,

then wiggle until I get them all the way up. Next comes the nylons.

Because my legs are amputated, I wear knee-hi’s, which come all the

way up on me. I lift one stump, then slide the soft nylon over the

round end. I pull the stocking up almost to my crotch and smooth it

out, putting my leg back down. I do the same for the other leg, pulling

the stocking up high, then smoothing it out and straightening the

seam. My stumps look cuter and firmer in the nylons, which is why I

love to wear them. Next I put on my bra. My breasts aren’t huge, but

they’re more than a mouthful, as the saying goes. I wear sport bras,

usually, because they’re much more comfortable for me. I go through

quite an upper-body workout every day, just getting around, so I try to

stay comfortable. I put on my blouse and button it up, then grab my

skirt. To put my skirt on, I pull it over my head and down to my

waist, so my blouse is already tucked into it, then I fasten it with a

zipper and a button on the side. I then scoot to the edge of the bed and

transfer back into my wheelchair, straightening my skirt as I do so.

not that difficult, when you get used to it.

Before I put the blazer on, I wheel back into the bathroom to do my

hair. I blow it dry, put a little mousse in it, make sure it looks just

right. I put on a drop of ‘Navy’ perfume and a little color on my

cheeks. I go mostly without makeup, but I wear a little blush now and

then.

I wheel back into the bedroom and put on the blazer, buttoning it

and making sure it looks right. I put on a small pair of gold hoop

earrings and a small gold chain to complete the outfit. I wheel out of

the bedroom and down the hall.

In the kitchen I drop a bagel into the toaster and pull some orange

juice and sour cream out of the fridge. The bagel pops up and I have

that and my OJ before heading out the door. I grab my purse and put

it on my lap, grab my car keys and head out the door. The front door

to my house has a ramp which follows a gentle slope to my driveway,

where my Saturn is parked. I love my Saturn, it’s all hand-controlled

and very easy for me to transfer in and out of, as well as drive. I open

the door and hold onto the doorjam and my wheelchair and transfer

into the seat. It’s easy because the seat is custom made, it swivels out

so it faces the door when I transfer in or out of the car. I sit squarely

in the seat, bringing my legs over and placing them right, then hit the

switch and the seat swivels into driving position. I then tug on the

strap on the back of my Quickie and the seat folds in on itself. I

release the wheels from the chair and put them over me into the back

seat, then I take the body of the chair and lift it into the seat beside me.

It only weighs 12 pounds, so it’s not difficult for me to move around.

My drive to work is about 25 minutes each day, not a bad commute,

and I make it into my designated handicapped parking spot with

plenty of time to spare. I pull my chair out of the car and put the

wheels back on it, locking it together and then pivoting my car seat

out. I love watching my stumps as I do this part, because they hang

there and wiggle a little as the seat pivots. They look so cute like that.

I transfer back into my wheelchair and lock the car, then wheel

into my building. I love working here, because although most people

don’t realize it, this place is almost as wheelchair-accessible as my

house. All the doors and entrances have ramps and automatically

open for me, all the restrooms have at least one handicapped accessible

stall and sink/mirror, and the lunchroom has a lower counter with a

microwave on it that I can use and reach. There are three other

women in wheelchairs here, one amputee and two paraplegics, as well

as one male paraplegic, two blind women, and several hearing

impaired people. Oh, and Roxanne down in accounting, who wears a

prosthetic arm. Al l in all a nice place to work for anyone, disabled or

not.

-Eight hours of boring secretary stuff go by, even my dream

disability couldn’t make this job exciting to the reader-

Back home at 5:30 from a day at work, I wheel back into my house

and toss my purse onto the chair by the door. In my bedroom, I slip

out of my blazer and shirt and transfer onto the bed. I take off my

skirt and nylons and get back into my wheelchair wearing only bra and

panties. I pull my sweatpants out of a drawer and a big Winnie the

Pooh sweatshirt from the closet. I pull the sweatshirt over my head

and start pulling the sweatpants over my stumps. The sweatpants are

sewed up at the legs where my stumps end, but they aren’t tight or

sexy or form-fitting. Of course, they are very comfortable and easy to

put on, even while sitting in my chair. Like my panties, all I have to

do is wiggle around a little and I can get them on allright. Now

comfortably dressed, I call to order a pizza and turn on the TV to

watch the news and whatever else is on. I love ‘Ellen’, ‘Mad About

You’, and ‘Friends’, but ‘Seinfeld’ I never really got into. Oh, I also

LOVE ‘The Simpsons’. Of course I wish there was at least ONE show

on TV that featured a girl in a wheelchair, you know??

The pizza arrives. I love the look on the Pizza girls’ (Or guys, it

was a girl tonight) face when I open the door. They never know what

to make of it, it takes them by suprise to see me grab the pizza from

my wheelchair, but I pay her and give her a tip and carry the pizza on

my lap into the kitchen to eat it.

-more time goes by, just watching TV and, of course, hanging out

on-line-

Finally ready for bed, I wheel into the bathroom to brush my teeth

and do what I need to do there. I wheel into the bedroom and park the

chair alongside the bed, transfer into bed, and strip all my clothes off.

I put my nightshirt on and move myself into a comfortable position,

lifting my stumps and putting them under the blanket. I set the alarm

and turn out the light, falling right to sleep.

-The End-