My electric chair (much like the one above) has been a major factor in me becoming more independant. Without it i would have struggled. Of that, i'm sure. It becomes very tiring to propel a wheelchair around all day. I could cope without one at the hospital in Leamington because it was very flat over there. Here in Hinckley, though, i need something to get me up the ramps in the home. Hinckley is very hilly too. An electric chair is an ideal solution for that. Speeds vary from 1 (very slow) to 5 (lewis Hamilton-speed). There's a place in Leicester that does them and i went there (when i was at Leamington) to get the chair sorted out.
It upsets me a bit to know that i've gone from somebody who used to walk everywhere, to a person who is reliant on a wheelchair to get about. I can't do anything about it. Anyway, the chair is charged-up at nighttime when i'm in bed. In the morning it's fully-charged and ready for me to use. I've become an expert in driving it (despite what Pauline might think) and can handle any situation thrown at me. I don't live in an ideal situation, but we make the most of what we can.
The electric chair is like a part of me that i'd really miss if it was taken away from me and i hope that day doesn't come too soon. The controls are situated where my left hand can reach them. There's a joystick which i use to go forwards or backwards. I can use it to adjust to adjust my seating position too. Obviously, there are things i can't do (like go fishing, for instance). The chair is comfortable to use. It has to be when you when you consider how much i use it. There comes a time, however, when enough is enough (usually bedtime) and you have to be transferred somewhere else.
So far nothing has gone with my electric wheelchair. Well, except for the day it wasn't charging up. This was quite worrying for a couple of days. Until we realised that somebody had forgotten to turn the charger on. Apart from that little scare it's been ok, but you just know that somewhere down the line it won't work. When that day comes i will be the one to suffer. Even though i'm mentally incapacitated ( according to SALT) i will have to find out why it isn't working. I knew i was a genius, but nobody listened to me. Ever!
My daughter uses a similar chair. Wonderful inventions. Fingers crossed it continues to work well for you.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a great invention. I wonder how they would've coped without it a hundred years ago? I guess we're just lucky when we are born. People who had strokes then could consider themselves very unlucky. Like the Monkees would never had existed a hundred years ago. No electricity. No amplifiers. No Monkees. "Hey, hey we're the Monkees". It's a classic case of someone being born in the wrong era. I'm just glad the Electric Chair was around when I needed it. That I didn't predate it.
DeleteHi Treey, that looks like a good chair. I think that being reliant on anything doesn't sit well (so to speak) with me either but you're attitude is great, you're making it work. We do our best right? Btw, according to the workman's compensation board here, I'm disabled and (in French) "inept". They pay my indemnities, so I won't argue, but I certainly don't feel that way simply because I burned out and live with mental health issues. I hate labels! Hmmm...is there a dock you can visit to go fishing? That's one thing that Alex and I do enjoy, we do catch and release. We haven't gone nearly enough this year, but I hope we can do more fishing in July and August. We don't have a boat, but we do have a few spots where we can shore-fish. It's a hot day here in the mountains! I'm trying to stay out as long as possible with the dogs before I melt in the humidity! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Rain, I've got you to thank for showing me that perseverance pays off and that we do the best with what we have got.
DeleteYour cheese-making has been great to watch and it has definitely inspired me to do better things. I don't feel that anything's too much to learn now, especially a wheelchair.
I don't trust myself anywhere near water though, as falling in would result in one outcome. It might be okay for you and Alex to go fishing but it's not for me. I'm not THAT brave.
That's very nice! I'm happy to read that! :) But I do understand about the water and possibly falling in. Some things are worth the risk.
DeleteIf my wheelchair goes under then so do I...
DeleteI'm glad you have an electric wheelchair to help you get around. My father wasn't put in one because they felt the added speed could be a danger for himself and others. He had limited vision in one side due to his stroke, but didn't remember that fact, and often ran into doorways on that side. It's good you can get around, but it must be a constant worry in the back of your mind - what if the chair doesn't work tomorrow? All any of us can do is try to take one day at a time, I guess.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenny,
ReplyDeleteThey could ban the chair, but there again it's the only thing they haven't banned me from so far. I've seriously had enough of them and I want to take to take court action against dols to try and get my rights back. I've already seen a legal representative and am very hopeful of what comes out of it. How the dols representative can say that I have no mental capacity is very misleading. In fact it's a downright lie.
I see Elephant's Child has had the same idea I had when I read your comment - if you showed your blog posts to your legal representative it would show what you are capable of doing. It might set the dols rep back on his/her heels.
DeleteThey think I don't understand the risks involved. I fucking do.
DeleteNo mental capacity? Hiss and spit. Your blog posts are convincing evidence to the contrary (you might like to mention them to your legal representative).
ReplyDeleteMy mother refused an electric wheelchair. Which made me sad for her. Her choice, but...
Hi EC electric wheelchairs are the way forward for people who have no mobility
ReplyDelete.
The BBC are investigating a 'right to die' situation at the moment, trying fto get a change in the law concerning this At the moment, anyone found guilty of assisted dying will get 14 years imprisonment. It's all wrong Anyone of a sound mind should be given the right to decide for themselves.
I just realized the joke in your title today, Terry :)
ReplyDeleteSo have I...
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing to have. You have mobility and a bit of freedom. Must make your life much brighter.
ReplyDeleteLike our friend here , a stroke survivor, with his specially adapted quad bike. He lives up the mountain near us and can now get into town and back by himself.
Sounds as though it has opened up your life a lot.
It's opened up my life a lot. I'd be lost without it.
ReplyDeleteI think we are stronger that we think we are. We often wonder throughout the day "wow, what would I do without my car/phone/computer/microwave oven, etc" and yet we and our ancestors did without them. Was life harder for them...damn straight, but it's no picnic for us either.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was telling me over the weekend that she remembers she and her siblings coming to work in the fields in California from Arizona when she was about 16 years old. She said when they got to California there were no more cabins left so the farmer just set up tents that were about the size of our normal living rooms in our homes and how there was no electricity, no running water, they all had so sleep on the floor and work in the blazing sun all day and they survived and she looks back on those days with fondness because she was surrounded by her family.
I'm sure you will still continue to worry about the day something happens to your chair, but you are strong and resilient and a bit of a genius...so you will figure something out.
I had to laugh when you called me a "genius"., Alicia.
DeleteMentally incapacitated? I dunno...it doesn't sound that way to me after reading all your blog posts. I'm glad you've got a way to get around that is comfortable.
ReplyDeleteThanks Martha, it's nice of you to say so. It's so depressing being disabled without them having the nerve to call me incapacitated. Today, after years of eating them, SALT have banned me eating wotsits. What else can they ban? I'm sure they'll think of something.
DeleteMentally incapacitated? I don't know about that. You sure seem mentally all there to me. While you may having trouble speaking what you want to say, you have a way to write it out which is good.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary. They don't trust me because I'm disabled. If only I could talk properly. They have no idea what I can do!
ReplyDeleteFor we able-bodied people there's a problem with these electric wheelchairs. They are too damned quiet and when Lewis Hamilton comes speeding up from behind it can be a hell of a shock as I am sure it once was for Nicole Scherzinger.
ReplyDeleteLol very good.
DeleteI'm always very careful and consider myself to be a very good driver.
It feels so nice to getting around, it bounds along regarding others. I know not living scooter, it a lovely.
ReplyDeleteI rarely use the full speed on it...
ReplyDelete