One of the snags of disability is you lack the normal means of exercise and therefore keeping up your circulation. And so your extremities get cold. Nowhere is this more true than going out in a wheelchair on cold days. I do have a sort of lower-body sleeping bag, cutely called a Cosy Toes. But that is not easy to get into and out of - and looks rather nursing-homey. I often go to bed with icy feet, which isn't kind for Jane - and sometimes wake me up.
Now I have a long prejudice against long johns. My lovely father used to wear old-fashioned thermal ones, you know the sort, cream-coloured, irritating to the skin and prone to going baggy at the knees. Sorry, I used to regard them as old men's underwear. Now, however, "layering" is all the trend in outdoor activities. I ordered the leggings. Very smart they were too - they just needed some surgery to make them suitable as male underpants. I tried them out one cold evening, and the result was a dream. Well, my legs weren't so cold.
So I explored further, and eureka!, discovered what I was really looking for. Really smart, full-length, denim blue, comfortable. I don't notice them when they're on, but as I sit and type my legs and feet are warm - and going outside to collect our new Motability car holds no fear. Hallelujah! I'm converted!
Do not be embarrassed about layering - I wore my thermals during the summer when we went for a five-hour river cruise on the River Tamar. We could have stayed in the cabin, but the views were better from the open deck, where it was breezy and we couldn't walk around very much.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you need some bed-socks for Jane's sake? ;-)
Indeed, David, she gave me some last Christmas. They seemed to keep the cold in, but at least protected her from my frozen feet!
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