WHEELS!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi to all you that consider getting a wheelchair, power or manual,

BTW, long time no see, CEDA-family....

I can't help myself when the subject of wheels come up. I have

learned so much on my way to getting good wheels myself...

I am really lucky when it comes to things like this. I live in Norway

and here the state covers such things. We also get the very best

things there are on the market. I am a happy girl having two neat

manual wheelchairs as well as two power wheelchairs. These the guy

who had a wheelchair workshop at the Winston-Salem conference, called

the Mercedes-Benz of wheelchairs. He was thrilled to hear that I had

both a Permobil Chairman 2k and a Permobil Trax. I think he

understood just how much of a differerence these can make in a

persons life, with these you can practically do anything you want. I

think everybody who has a need, should get it met like that, but

unfortunately that is not how things work.

But you can all do a lot yourself to describe your needs in a good

enough way so that you avoid getting the wrong chair!!!! It is not

just about the needs, but also about pointing out the right things

yourself. The best thing is to get help from an Occupational

Therapist (for adults that is often the best alternative, not a PT)

who specializes in wheelchairs. And if you on top of that learn a bit

yourself, you're set to start your road to get the perfect chair for

yourself. There's so much to consider.

Unfortunately I just don't have the energy to write a looooong mail

about this right now. I have a whooper of a double-sided pneumonia,

but I will soon feel better and more up to it. So if it is OK by you,

I could post in a few days. I think I have a few things I can fill in

which might make a difference.... I just got a question about this

from another woman, so I could just write one post that you all could

use. I did the same for a friend earlier. She first refused to take

any help, she was so sure she could do it all by herself. Then she

got a new OT straight from school, and ended up with a terrible chair

which she came nowhere with. Then she came to me. We went through

things and she prepared well before the meeting with the assistive

device central and the OT where she would ask for a new chair, and it

went fine because she knew what to say and also could explain why she

needed this and that of features. She is so happy with her new chair.

Oh well, it is not very new anymore, it is 2 years now I think...

I need to get one of my manual ones changed to a new one, I think.

Again the frame is bent, thanks to those wonderful airlines.... Oh

well... It is starting to look pretty bad, it has dents and such. You

don't feel that nice when you dress up to look nice and then sit down

in a dented wheelchair. So maybe it is great that it is bent now, so

I will get a shiny, new one. Next time I am going to travel, I think

I will " bandage " some parts of the chair with bubble wrap!!! I take

such good care of my chairs myself, why can't they? The worst part is

that I can't even get them to pay for it. The state pays for the new

chair, so the airline gets away with it... I have asked them, but

they can't send them a bill.... Stupid!!!

Talk to you later!!!!

hugs,

Aase Marit (in Norway)