Woman with MS grateful to get home renos

In just five years, Bonnie Gorski has lost all use of her legs; she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, transitioning to the point of needing to be carried around her north Regina bungalow.

Her husband, Stu, and her two sons were quick to help out with that, but she said it wasn’t an easy transition.

“It’s hard on me, because I was always the one — the doer, the planner, the cleaner, the cooker. So to give up that control is really hard,” she said. “It’s just heartbreaking to see my family pick up everything that I can’t do.”

Bonnie said she now spends most of her time sitting in her kitchen when she’s at home.

Since she has lost her mobility, she misses what she calls the “little things that people take for granted all the time,” like sitting by the window to enjoy the view outside, or actually going outside to enjoy some warm weather.

“I sit in this chair all day from 7 a.m. until 10:30 at night. If I have to go to the bathroom or go to bed, I get carried to bed,” she said.

She lost complete mobility in October last year, but she said she always struggled with it leading up to that point.

Unable to afford building a new, wheelchair-friendly home, she and her family were worried that she’d need to move into a long-term care home on a full-time basis.

Instead, the 50-year-old is the most recent recipient of a local charity program called Build Love.

Each year, Build Love selects one home reno project to help improve “the quality of life for a family who lives with non-typical challenges” in Regina, its website states.

Co-founder Trevor Anderson said Bonnie’s sister applied on her behalf.

Eventually, the Gorskis’ home was chosen for this year’s renovations.

It’ll get a full makeover so that Bonnie can use a motorized wheelchair throughout, on the main level and in the basement. The final result won’t be revealed to the Gorskis until everything’s done.

Anderson said they’ve scheduled three to 3 1/2 months for the projects, meaning they’ll be done by mid- to late-September.

“It’s just going to take a world of difference to me,” Bonnie said. “They’ll just allow me to engage more in my family and engage more with life in general, instead of just sitting there all day. I can maybe plan on doing a few more things that might make their life a little more easier.”

And she wants to get back to some of her hobbies.

“My photography, I love doing photography,” she said. “Little things mean so much … coming outside in the front yard, by myself, instead of always waiting for someone to help me. That would mean a lot.”