Tray Time

I go into the kitchen to get myself a cup of coffee, an orange, some prosciutto, and some Swiss cheese. I make the coffee, and open the fridge to get milk. With the door of the fridge open, I pour a bit of milk into my coffee as it sits there on the counter. I grab the prosciutto, cheese and an orange, and put them on the counter next to my coffee cup, after which I close the fridge door.

At this point I gather up my things in both hands and all of a sudden remember that I need at least one hand for the wheelchair. So I put down my coffee and wheel over to the table with my breakfast. I go back to the kitchen and get my coffee, then bring it to the table too. Two trips instead of one. Twice I wheel into and out of my kitchen. Twice I make the rotation.

This is a big part of the reason why nothing is fast, and nothing is easy. You might suggest I get a tray that can attach to my wheelchair. Sorry. Tried that. There is no tray which attaches to the arms I have on this wheelchair. I've ordered new wheelchair arms recently. A tray might attach to them, but that means putting the tray on and off. Another stage in a never ending process.

You might suggest that I just put a tray on my lap. I do that sometimes, if I can remember to find the tray and bring it into the kitchen. It always seems to end up in the living room, put aside to keep it out of the way. So I get it, put it on my lap, and roll into the kitchen. It's here that I notice even more the slope of my lap, falling away from me as atrophied muscles grow flatter and flabbier. The tray slides off my lap, so I have to be very careful, go very slow, holding the tray while I wheel the chair.

I have a pillow that goes under the tray. It can be squished into a shape which makes the tray slope inwards, so that it doesn't fall off my lap. So now I get the pillow, try to shape it so that it holds the tray, get the tray and set it up just so on the pillow, go into the kitchen and get my stuff, then, once delivery is complete, I put the tray and pillow back into the living room, out of the way.

It's easier to just make two trips. It's not easy, it's just easier than the other way. It's not fast, it's just faster than the other way.