Wheelchair Lifestyle Hacks

Your Resource for Wheelchair Living

  • Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis

    As an undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska, Al applied to medical school. When he wasn’t accepted, he was devastated. Shortly after, he began to have right arm weakness. It was so severe, he was unable to write with his right hand. When he went to his doctor, he was diagnosed with hysterical paralysis….

  • Introducing My “Wheelchair Lifestyle Hacks” Blog

    Hi, my name is Lesa. My husband is Al. He was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 1988. In 2003, he had a severe relapse of his disease which left him unable to walk long distances. At that time, he was a Pediatric Oncologist (Kid’s Cancer Doctor). His professions required a lot of walking. It…

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@Lesagrovas

This is who we are …

Hi! I am Lesa. I am a newly retired Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. Al is a retired Pediatric Oncologist, who at the height of his career, was the director of Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. We first met while working at UCLA. We fell in love and got engaged just two months after our first date in 1987. Nine months later, they were married. It was like a dream come true.

Shortly after our honeymoon, Al began experiencing numbness in his legs. After undergoing extensive testing, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.). At first, his M.S. symptoms were not noticeable, and he was fortunate to have many years without physical symptoms of the disease. In time, his disease worsened, rendering him too weak to walk.

Despite his physical limitations, Al loved his job. He continued to work at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in a wheelchair for six more years. Eventually, the stress of the job became too much. He retired in the fall of 2009 at the age of 53. Since then, he has dabbled in teaching at the medical school and spent time traveling. He is a life long learner. Each day you will find him studying nature through observation, reading, or watching a documentary.

Throughout all of this, we have worked to keep their lives, home, and travel as normal as possible. I am a natural at organizeing. I also proclaim to be somewhat of a “cozy minimalist”. These qualities have help us achieve many things we would have never dreamed possible when Al was diagnosed with MS. Living and caring for someone with a physical challange is hard. I have learned and experienced so much. I created this blog to share with you how we have lived full, satisfying lives despite Al’s need for a wheelchair. I hope this information blesses you.

Lesa Grovas

Blogger & Caregiver