Clinic Day Today

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hope all goes well
 
Oh my what a few days you have had. I so feel all of your pain. Been through so much of it. However, Brian was much better about not launching himself from the chair. However, my one nurse I had, her Dad is a paraplegic and launches himself on a regular basis. Please know I'm sending hugs and prayers. None of this is easy.

Hugs,

Sue
 
Nuts, your day was certainly testing. A Big salute to you. You just seem to take it all in your stride! ( what else can you do I guess)
We can't get to our clinics anymore. Too far away in the city. We use tele health at our local hospital (18kms away). I miss the chance to feel as if we matter to the medical world. I always cling onto hope that there will be an invite to a trial or even a chance to measure or document my Jim's progress,but, no, nothing. My Pals is so anxious and careful with his movements thank heavens after reading about Matts adventures in his chair. Now Jim's hand cannot manoeuvre the joy stick for too long so he is content t just stay in front of the tele. I usually have to take over steering only after a few minutes. Today we only got outside and went 100 metres and we had to turn back.
Too hot,and too bumpy on our driveway now...... What next?
 
Sue, the one disadvantage to these wonderful chairs is their weight (267 lbs). When it lands on him, things get really dicey!

Aussie, you seem to be just ahead of us. Matt is asking about having the controller switched to the other arm so he can start practicing with the stronger hand. We have also noticed that long rides in the van exhaust him because of the bumping and motion. He still wants to travel, so we are working on a larger van that will have a much smoother ride. I hope he gets as much use out if it as the one we have (53,000 miles so far).

Well, after three days of sleep, Matt is ready to get up and into the chair again. The shoulder pain seems to be gone on the "new" side. Whew. The Permobile rep is due out Tuesday to install some new parts, so perhaps he'll tighten things back up.

Becky
 
Becky - have you considered having the front passenger seat removed so he can sit in the wheelchair when you are traveling? I think you keep the seat and can put it back in when you want to though I'm not sure. We have a Sienna. We had the Odyssey first, and then went to the Sienna because it has more headroom. The body of it is also wide enough that he can turn the chair around in it. We use the tie downs now because he doesn't have as much control on the joystick and was having a heck of a time getting it into the easy lock. It was like being in a bumper car when he had to do that.
 
Mary, we have the front passenger seat out and also the driver's side of the bench seat in back (so I can get the hoyer lift in there to travel). It takes a lot of jockeying to get him tilted back, and he never really gets full comfortable. Also, every bump in the road fatigues him.

He wanted the easy lock in the larger van, but I think we've convinced him to just go for the tie downs. I think he'll be more stable and I won't be tripping over the easylock when he's not in the van.
 
Ohhh, I understand. The tie downs are easy to use. I use to trip over the easy lock as well. The tie downs will give you flexibility with the positioning the chair. Tom's ridden in his chair with the tie downs. He says it's more stable.
 
Mary, he's done it both ways, but I think the biggest thing is that with the lowered floor the van just feels every bump, crack, turn in the road. A larger wheel base will hopefully give him a smoother ride (and will allow me to stand p when tending him.


We're off to the VA for two appointments today. Time to get him up!
 
Hi Becky, same as Matt, my Jim feels every bump in the road. We were advised to reduce the tyre pressure and that made it a little easier for a while. Our van is in danger of losing charge in the battery due to lack of use. Pity! Last trip Jim's neck brace dislodged his breathing mask and reduced the air flow. Thank heavens, I noticed his distress.we stopped, readjusted and then returned home. Jim was relieved to be home & I was disapointed.
 
I don't use them but pneumatic tires on his wheelchair might reduce some of the bumpiness of the van ride. Any thoughts on this from someone with pneumatic tires? I have heard that easy lock tie downs tend to chew up pneumatic tires. We have a Sprinter van with the high roof and although I love it, it certainly rides like a truck in my position behind the driver. It really helps to go all out on wheelchair body supports -- lateral trunk supports, lateral thigh supports, chest seat belt, trough type of arm rests that your arms don't bounce off of as easily, and, above all, a well fitted head rest to prevent the worst of the bobble head effect. I don't have all of these but they are on my list to get.
 
Sorry Becky, I am not remembering what van you have. The Sienna is big. It sits high even though the floor is dropped. Lots of blind spots and lots of sensing movement. You have to take corners really slow to get rid of that movement feeling. We had to use the tie downs and keep steve in the middle because his chair needed to be so reclined he didnt have enough room to turn.
 
We have the permoblie WC too and don't let them roll over one of your feet, give a whole new meaning to that weight that they are. Having them on top of you is definitely no better.

We have the Sienna that now sits in the garage with a trickle charger on the battery to keep it charged. DH liked that headroom as he's 6'2. He drove it initially when he could transfer and we have the easy lock. However, he can no longer stand to even be in the wheelchair and before that, it as just too much jostling in the van during a ride no matter what we did. It's pity, but he won't let me sell the van, incase I need to get him out of here. That, I silently laugh at because I could not get him in his chair alone no matter what, even with the lift we have. It definitely takes 2 due to his size. Enjoy what you can, while you can.

Hugs,

Sue
 
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