I was so upset when an affluent friend of mine exchanged his volvo with heated bucket seats for a swankly looking Mercedes.

The wheelchair has been lent to me, and, hopefully, it's not something I'll be needing in a couple of months. I was the main breadwinner until health problems forced me to stop working, so major purchases are out of the question.

Due to the peculiarities of my condition (they feel peculiar to me anyhow) the sling seat is actually extremely comfortable for me. The addition of anything more spongey between me and it (apart from the puffy coat which lacks any real 'substance') just makes the chair more painful. That nerve on my left thigh/leg is outrageously tender.

I hope this advice will be useful for anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation or who needs to borrow or rent a wheelchair for a friend or relative, but I am completely satisfied with my current arrangements. It WAS considerably colder yesterday and yet I still felt warm throughout our excursion around Primrose Hill.

Being pushed by other people made me also appreciate how much stamina and how strong and capable my own husband is, he wheels me like a pro- handling slopes, kerbs and obstacles with apparant ease. But then, he did spend the past few years in Tokyo hauling around all kinds of wheeled equipment and as he says, I'm much less fragile than a Baroque art piece.

The upshot to all this is that my condition is keeping my husband lovely and fit!

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If anybody reads this and wants to work on their upperbody strength whilst giving themselves a cardio vascular workout, forget the gym. Become a volunteer for a local community centre and push someone around for an hour or two. There must be far too many people languishing indoors who'd love the chance of an excursion.