A Messy Monday Downtown Entry 3

On Monday, I hoped for a glorious adventure others might have judged as mundane. On my mission, I would have to tolerate possible crowds, fatigue, surprise vertigo and general overall weakness. It would be me, a bus pass, a cellphone back up and the walker with hand brakes and basket I still needed to rely on for walkabouts farther from my home.

Also, the day’s plan had a pick-your-own-path component like in stories where the reader determines the next choice of action and outcome.

The year and a half previous had the challenges of 24/7 pain and difficulty walking while waiting for hip replacement surgery. Then months of restricted movement about town during recovery – today was going to be a banner day. Me and my Mercedes, which is how I refer to my rolling vehicle, intended to go farther than we had in our unsteady and intermittent ambulation ability to date.

What would normally be an admin day creating checklists and attending to the cogs and wheels that keep life moving, now includes:

1. A walk to the lab to fulfil a standing order to test my inflammation levels every 3 weeks and to monitor the behaviour of my most recent layer of health issues: PMR or polymyalgia rheumatica.
2. Assess my ability to get on the #99 Express bus and disembark at the stop that was reinstated right in front of the Canada Line train station instead of several long blocks away.
3. Arrive at the Waterfront terminus and find my way to the Translink customer service centre.
4. Purchase my first packet ever of discounted Taxi Saver vouchers which would allow me to take a taxi on short notice to immerse myself in critical and badly lagging physio fun in the pool! This for times I didn’t plan in advance to use the Handi-Dart system or I didn’t think I could muster the energy to use public transport and had not booked
5. Retrace my train trip by one stop and peruse the clothing at The Bay in hopes of replacing the pants that did yeomen’s duty getting tugged on when actual dressing was inescapable during the waiting months.
6. Go home and celebrate with food AT home. The trick was not being seduced to squander calories or cash on unsafe, fatty or processed food that would render me tired or ill just for the old habit of it, or worse.. calling it a treat when all it would do is injure me.

Scenarios at the stops on my journey:

1. The staff at Lifelabs are amazing. I was ‘only’ an hour from the time I arrived to line up with the other walk-ins until I left having accomplished what I came for. The waiting room had 16 people present and more to come with appointments indicated in grey on the monitor that tracked our progress. I helped an older Chinese lady to whom the lab staff recommended making an appointment in advance online next time. Ripping the last blank page from the journal I brought to read and keep me occupied, I listed the steps for her to register online noting she can get her results too and not be waiting for days or weeks for her doctor to call. She asked about the interpretation and I listed the steps with tips to engage ChatGPT. All for free. She paid close attention. Then, they magically called my name many minutes ahead of schedule.

2.  The 99 which normally runs every 3-4 minutes was 15 minutes late by the time I came out and took my place right in front of the building. It would be crowded as more passengers would accumulate up and down the line like snowflakes sticking to the stop. We managed.

3.  The waterfront station as exciting as it is where it is located offers no convenient washrooms to its thousands of visitors heading to any one of 3 urban trains, a Sea Bus and the West Coast Express commuter train. Only my familiarity of 10.5 years living downtown and walking or working or recreating in the area kept the panic at bay. I found my way to relief walking many 100s of extra steps and bumping my walker backwards down steps while holding onto a railing because I couldn’t figure out the folded metal gizmo there to help me.  I might have been wielding walking poles the last time I was here, but the challenges of wheel-dependent transport were to show themselves several times on this day.

The return to the station was smoother as I exited through the dollar store, picking up a fave snack of the smallest bag of BBQ chips possible and using their built-in ramp to street level.

4. The Translink rep took my $50 and returned with $100 of ‘funny money’ vouchers.

5. Train boarding again just one stop to the Pacific Centre Mall and finding my way to The Bay in the hope of finding new plus size pants. To avoid escalators I chose exterior street level doors. Again, I didn’t know how to work the lifts at the stairs which was fine because at the end of my fruitless shopping, it turns out that the lifts I might have needed were out of order. On my return leg, I folded my walker and gripped tight to the moving escalator and hoped I would make it out of the Basement to the sub-basement, through the food court. A bathroom pit stop ‘just in case’ like you would take a kid then on to the parking lot elevator which got me to the lobby and the triumphant exit to any of 3 buses to take me home.

“Butt first”…. the disappointing retail therapy

Rolling around the massive 3rd floor negotiating clothing racks was not difficult as the store was empty. Sales help was scarce also, but one lady who directed me, without much hope in her tone to find pants in my size, came to find me – eventually – unbidden. I appreciated her attempts but to no avail.

The mannequins were plus size in the Levi jeans section, where I was willing to buy a pair just to have any pants that were not losing the integrity of their fabric after months of use in that waiting and recovery mode.

Nada. Big fake dummy women. Blown-up posters of hippy, happy, styling young women showing off their hips and the promise of better, bigger butts. Nothing even close to my size was available except for the ‘pre-ripped’ at the knee or distressed to show perfectly good thigh height material now threadbare. Ick.

By this time I was ready for only the 2nd meal of the day at 3:30 p.m. Hot, bothered, and without any clothes to show for my effort. Happy to be headed home.

Still, I accomplished the challenge I had intended to do. Yay.

As always, I encountered interesting, helpful or quirky folks along the way. Glad to have seen the outside world in all its diversity. A neighbourhood beyond the 20 blocks I functioned in during COVID-19 restrictions and then my hobbled existence before and after my hospital stay.

Hallelujah.. I am grateful for every new adventure in regaining mobility, social contact and self-determination.