Rolling with Sarah

So when you go to the doctor, one of the first things they do is weigh you, right? Well not me. Since I transitioned from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to the “adult world” of the Ottawa General, I had not had a weight done. Every time it would come up, they would just guess as there was no way to weigh me. Either they didn’t know where an accessible scale is in the hospital, or there are only a scarce few and they didn’t have access to one.

I was lucky that my weight didn’t really fluctuate too much so this didn’t cause too many problems for me, but imagine if you were in a chair and couldn’t stand for a weight and your weight had changed. All of your medications could be the wrong dose. I don’t even need to explain how dangerous this could be.

At my latest appointment, when they asked my weight I was ready to give the explanation that no one could weigh me. That’s when the nurse gave me the good news. The clinic had finally obtained their own roll-upon scale! Yes, you still need to know the exact weight of your chair for this to work, but most people do, and this is a big step up.

I am so happy to report this progress. It has been a long time coming. I am excited to see the difference it makes in the lives of patients at this particular clinic.