Sorry that this is a long post. I don’t blame anyone who stops reading it before the end. Conserve your mental energy!
January 2016:
Conclude six visits to my neuro-therapist. During those visits, I notice that she frequently grabs my arm as I use my walker because she thinks I'm falling. At our last meeting she gives me a list of clinics that conduct Mobility & Wheelchair Seating Evaluations. She says she isn't telling me to get a power wheelchair; but that I might think about it. For the first time, I begin to consider a power wheelchair. (A standard, self-propelled wheelchair is impossible for me to use due to left arm weakness and MS fatigue.)
January - September 2016:
Even while using my trusty walker I repeatedly come close to falling, only recovering my balance by grabbing something or leaning into a wall. I do fall four times; but luckily have soft, injury free landings all four times. I worry about falling in the bathroom or kitchen where there is no soft landing zones. I notice that moving around my house with the walker demands more and more of my very limited energy.
Two reasons for getting a power wheelchair begin to form in my mind: (1) safety and (2) energy conservation. However, I still view a power wheelchair as "giving up." When I was first diagnosed in 2005, I promised myself that I would walk as long as I possibly could. A power wheelchair breaks a solemn oath I made to myself!
October 2016:
On vacation in Florida I rent a Pride front wheel power wheelchair. Simply moving around the condo takes so much less energy while being essentially free from falls! Even going down to the elevator to join people at the pool is extremely easy with a power wheelchair. The two things I don't care for on the Pride chair was maneuverability (I hit things with the rear wheels) and the inability for me to reach even the bottom shelf of the cupboard while seated in the chair.
Overall though, my experience with the Pride wheelchair convinces me that maybe it’s time to seriously consider getting a power wheelchair.
Near the end of October on a whim I make an appointment for a Mobility and Wheelchair Seating Evaluation at a local hospital, to which I know my neurologist refers wheelchair patients, as my father-in-law is undergoing hip surgery.
That turns out to be a very good decision, since appointments to any clinic in our area take months to schedule. Did I not make that appointment, my evaluation would've been moved out to at least March 2017.
January 2017:
A Mobility & Wheelchair Seating Evaluation is conducted at a local Hospital. There is Neurologist, medical students, a physical therapist, and a wheelchair equipment supplier from a local University. I request the University as my supplier because I know two people who use and recommend the University for obtaining power wheelchairs, the University works with a lot of wheelchair manufacturers, and the University is reasonably close to where we live.
Everyone is so kind during the appointment! My fears that they will criticize me for wanting a PWC were totally unfounded.
Anyhow, they are taking the steps to get me into a Group 3 Power Wheelchair. I told the supplier that we will pay for power seat and power leg lifts (maybe). Pleased to discover that the University offers a discount to their customers, plus an additional discount to patients of the University. Just by chance, I am being treated for glaucoma at the University’s Eye Center. I discover that my supplemental insurance (which is not cheap) will cover the 20% that Medicare does not pay.
There was a power chair at the evaluation. I loved the maneuverability of mid-wheel drive, the power lift seat and the tilt! I disliked the weight (around 400 lbs.).
Currently:
I am waiting for all the paperwork to rattle through the medical system. I am told to expect delivery no sooner than April but no later than July. There is not a single day when the is not an incident that reminds me how much I need a PWC.
My biggest worry is transporting the chair, since it is too heavy for the interior in our Minivan. We plan to meet with a mobility van expert before the delivery of the chair.
Also, I wonder how necessary and useful the power leg lifts will be. That option is over $1500 out of our pockets. The chair will have tilt and power seat lift. Do I need the leg lifts?
Any advice or comments from the MS community are always welcomed. I know many of you have made this journey before me.
Best regards,
Jim
January 2016:
Conclude six visits to my neuro-therapist. During those visits, I notice that she frequently grabs my arm as I use my walker because she thinks I'm falling. At our last meeting she gives me a list of clinics that conduct Mobility & Wheelchair Seating Evaluations. She says she isn't telling me to get a power wheelchair; but that I might think about it. For the first time, I begin to consider a power wheelchair. (A standard, self-propelled wheelchair is impossible for me to use due to left arm weakness and MS fatigue.)
January - September 2016:
Even while using my trusty walker I repeatedly come close to falling, only recovering my balance by grabbing something or leaning into a wall. I do fall four times; but luckily have soft, injury free landings all four times. I worry about falling in the bathroom or kitchen where there is no soft landing zones. I notice that moving around my house with the walker demands more and more of my very limited energy.
Two reasons for getting a power wheelchair begin to form in my mind: (1) safety and (2) energy conservation. However, I still view a power wheelchair as "giving up." When I was first diagnosed in 2005, I promised myself that I would walk as long as I possibly could. A power wheelchair breaks a solemn oath I made to myself!
October 2016:
On vacation in Florida I rent a Pride front wheel power wheelchair. Simply moving around the condo takes so much less energy while being essentially free from falls! Even going down to the elevator to join people at the pool is extremely easy with a power wheelchair. The two things I don't care for on the Pride chair was maneuverability (I hit things with the rear wheels) and the inability for me to reach even the bottom shelf of the cupboard while seated in the chair.
Overall though, my experience with the Pride wheelchair convinces me that maybe it’s time to seriously consider getting a power wheelchair.
Near the end of October on a whim I make an appointment for a Mobility and Wheelchair Seating Evaluation at a local hospital, to which I know my neurologist refers wheelchair patients, as my father-in-law is undergoing hip surgery.
That turns out to be a very good decision, since appointments to any clinic in our area take months to schedule. Did I not make that appointment, my evaluation would've been moved out to at least March 2017.
January 2017:
A Mobility & Wheelchair Seating Evaluation is conducted at a local Hospital. There is Neurologist, medical students, a physical therapist, and a wheelchair equipment supplier from a local University. I request the University as my supplier because I know two people who use and recommend the University for obtaining power wheelchairs, the University works with a lot of wheelchair manufacturers, and the University is reasonably close to where we live.
Everyone is so kind during the appointment! My fears that they will criticize me for wanting a PWC were totally unfounded.
Anyhow, they are taking the steps to get me into a Group 3 Power Wheelchair. I told the supplier that we will pay for power seat and power leg lifts (maybe). Pleased to discover that the University offers a discount to their customers, plus an additional discount to patients of the University. Just by chance, I am being treated for glaucoma at the University’s Eye Center. I discover that my supplemental insurance (which is not cheap) will cover the 20% that Medicare does not pay.
There was a power chair at the evaluation. I loved the maneuverability of mid-wheel drive, the power lift seat and the tilt! I disliked the weight (around 400 lbs.).
Currently:
I am waiting for all the paperwork to rattle through the medical system. I am told to expect delivery no sooner than April but no later than July. There is not a single day when the is not an incident that reminds me how much I need a PWC.
My biggest worry is transporting the chair, since it is too heavy for the interior in our Minivan. We plan to meet with a mobility van expert before the delivery of the chair.
Also, I wonder how necessary and useful the power leg lifts will be. That option is over $1500 out of our pockets. The chair will have tilt and power seat lift. Do I need the leg lifts?
Any advice or comments from the MS community are always welcomed. I know many of you have made this journey before me.
Best regards,
Jim
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