Sunday 16th February 2026 - Mobility Aids and Independence

Well. It's Sunday today (at least, it was when I started drafting this post - it's taken a full 5 days to finish it).

The Ellyllons held an all-hands meeting last night, passed a unanimous motion to stage a hostile takeover of my nervous system, and adjourned for biscuits. HR has been notified. (HR is also an Ellyllon), So I'm stuffed.

Results: everything hurts, motion carried, no appeals process.

I'm still here, though. Completely beaten, flat out, not moving — but still here. And on days like today, "still here" is enough. "Still here" is everything.

Let me paint you a picture of Casa Taylor. I have a walker. I have grab rails and toilet rails. I have a perching stool in the kitchen. I have aids and adaptations dotted around this house that would make you think a stylish 89-year-old had moved in; if that 89-year-old also had a penchant for loud music, festival wristbands, and cats with no respect for personal boundaries after making a decision in her 50's to grow old disgracefully and to the full, Ellyllons allowing!

Does my home look like a care catalogue exploded in my hallway? Possibly. Do I care? Absolutely not. Because that walker gets me around the house. Those grab rails get me up the stairs and to the bathroom without waking Paul up at 3am to play human scaffolding. That perching stool means I can sit in the kitchen, and try to help with dinner... in my own time.

They give me life. Literally.

And that brings me to today's myth — because it's Myth-Busting Sunday, and I've got thoughts. Even if the rest of me isn't going anywhere today.

🚫 Myth-Busting Sunday

**Myth: Mobility aids make you weaker.**

**Truth: Mobility aids give you independence.**

For those of us living with FND, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and other chronic invisible conditions — a mobility aid isn't a "last resort." It's not giving up. It's not laziness. It's not going backwards.

It's independence.

Before my wheelchair, getting from A to B meant relying on someone else. Planning around other people's schedules. Asking for help with things I wanted to do myself. Sitting things out because the cost was just too high.

My wheels changed that.

Now I conserve energy. I protect my nervous system. I stop a bad day from becoming a catastrophic one. I show up — for gigs, for the people I love, for the daft, brilliant, messy business of being alive — on *my* terms.

Because sometimes every single step costs too many spoons. 🥄

And if conserving those spoons means I can get myself where I need to go, make my own choices, and still be *present* in my own life — that's not independence lost. That's independence *found*.

I turn up. When my Ellyllons allow, I turn up. I volunteer. I try to help my community. I sit on committees. I show up to meetings in my wheelchair with my brain firing on whatever cylinders it's managed to get started that day — and I contribute.

Not despite my wheels. *WITH* them.

Yes, our home looks like someone 89 years old lives here. But this particular 89-year-old is planning her next festival, thank you very much. 🤘

Strength isn't measured by how much pain you push through.

Strength is knowing what your body needs — and giving it that, without apology.

My aids don't limit me. They deliver me.

Radical thought for a Sunday morning: maybe we could all mind our own business about how other people get around. Can we all agree that using what works for your body is absolutely fine? No explanation needed. No justification required.

Access matters. Choice matters. What works for your body matters — full stop.

Three Good Things 💛

1. Still here. Completely beaten, not moving from my bed— but still here. On days like today, that absolutely counts as good thing number one.
2. The cats have taken up residence on the bed around me, which means I am either a human cat bed or deeply loved. Possibly both.
3. Sunday exists. That's it. That's the good thing. Sunday is basically the universe's way of saying "oi, stay in bed, have a biscuit." Today I am absolutely taking that advice.

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Today's Mantra 🙏

*Still here. Completely beaten — but still here. And on the days when that's all there is, it's enough. It has always been enough. Rest is not giving up. Rest is how we come back.*

Love Sha

KOKO, lovely people. 💛

#WheelyHappyDays #SundayDiary #MythBustingSunday #MobilityAid #ChronicIllness #FND #MECFS #Fibromyalgia #Spoonie #SpoonieLife