[nagdu] Going Downhill

[Lisa Irving]

Hello Tami and Julie, I get the vertigo thing. The first time I truly 
experienced this was when my seeing eye was bandaged after surgery. I went 
outside to walk with my cane. It was like walking on a balance board! The 
next time was when a bunch of us had climbed on to a family member's roof to 
watch fireworks. I lost the focal point of the horizon. I had to crawl 
around the top of the roof if I wanted to have a different view of the 
fireworks. The worst; perhaps the most disconcerting vertigo was when my 
friend and I were at the beach on a cloudy and hazy day. I walked to the 
water's edge. The sky and the ocean blended into a silvery mist. I was 
nauseous and worked hard to not loose my balance. Heaven help me if I ever 
loose the rest of my sight!

Lisa and Bernie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J" <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 11:30 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Going Downhill


> If the grade is really steep it might help to lean back a bit.  No other 
> real helpfulness though. *smile*
>
> I do experience some serious vertigo on stairs though.  I can empathize. 
> the thing that helped me the most was not to look.  My vertigo is 
> triggered by the visual effect of standing at the edge of a cliff, or so 
> it looks to me! *smile* If I don't look, no vertigo.  After a few years of 
> not looking going down stairs I seem to be mostly past my dizzy issues. 
> Every now and then it will cause me problems, but usually it's only when I 
> look over the railing or the stairs are the open sort.
>
> HTH
> Julie
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tamara Smith-Kinney" <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 10:43 AM
> Subject: [nagdu] Going Downhill
>
>
>> Hey!  How do all of you go down hills with your dogs without getting, you
>> know, seasick?  Or is that just me?  /lol/
>>
>> Now that I don't have rain as much for an excuse not to get my lazy 
>> backside
>> out with my dog, I'm looking for a route to walk on this side of the Road 
>> of
>> Certain Doom.  The best and safest route to get some decent walking 
>> exercise
>> -- with sidewalks part of the way! -- is up a fairly steep hill.  Good
>> exercise for the dog, too, since she has to drag me up the thing once I 
>> wear
>> out.  There's even a little spot where I can let her have some run play
>> before we turn around to come back down...  Supposing I don't break my 
>> neck
>> falling on my nose.  /lol/  How I didn't literally fall on my nose the 
>> first
>> time -- when the effect was a real surprise -- is beyond me.  I  had to 
>> sit
>> down right where I was while the whirling sensation just kept building 
>> and
>> building...  So I couldn't get up.  I've experienced the minor version of
>> that on gentle downslopes, but never like that!  The only reason I didn't
>> end up calling DD to come pick me up because I was too seasick to get 
>> home
>> is because I am just too dang stubborn and have way, way too much pride.
>>
>> So.  By this spring, it seems I can think about taking the hill on again
>> with getting seasick in advance, and I think this time I'll have a 
>> strategy.
>> /grin/
>>
>> So here's my plan, in general:
>>
>> 1.  Take dog on leash, use cane going up and coming down for added 
>> reference
>> point for balance to learn to maintain balance and proprioception on 
>> steep
>> grades.
>>
>> 2.  When ready, use guide dog to go up the hill.  Take cane out before
>> turning around, to use as reference point to judge grade.  Use cane to 
>> come
>> down.
>>
>> 3.  Repeat as necessary, removing cane tip from ground periodically to 
>> build
>> up number of steps to walk without reference point before falling on 
>> nose.
>>
>> 4.  Gradually build up until the cane on the ground is no longer 
>> necessary.
>>
>> 5.  Start using guide dog to come down and see what happens.  /smile/
>>
>> Any comments, helpful hints, strong advice, smart remarks about what a 
>> dolt
>> I am?  /lol/
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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