GardeningMSer
02-26-2009, 06:17 PM
With the arrival of winter in November and the someday completion of my accessible kitchen (work started around Thanksgiving) I became more and more aware that I would need an electric wheelchair at home.
Why (he asked rhetorically)? Have you tried moving pots and pans from sink to stove and back again, not to mention full plates of soup from cook top to the table? I'd love to see a movie featuring me in my aged aqua wheel chair holding a large bowl of soup in my right hand while wheeling with my left and using my right foot to steer :) . With or without your permission I'll add my periodic need to rapidly get from kitchen to bathroom.
I spoke to my neuro in December and got a script for an electric wheelchair, he was certain that it would be turned down. He sent it to the insurance co and it disappeared. Surprise!
By chance my co.'s HR person showed up at my office earlier this month asking "is there anything I can help you with?". I asked her to track down what had happened to the scrip. Two days later she said "call so and so at 800 ... " and I did. He took some info and said that I should hear from Joe at xyz co.
Joe called two weeks ago and scheduled an in home visit from Frank who works at yet another company. Frank showed up this afternoon, asked a million or so questions, saw my accessible bathroom, the hallway that has been widened, the 15 year old beatup Quickie manual chair next to me and ended up saying that he would recommend the purchase of a chair that would be usable both indoors and out as well as accomodate my current disability as well as others that might occur over the next five or so years.
Oddly enough the ins. co. has decided that it is cheaper in the long run to spend money once rather than supplying a chair that might need replacing in a year or two.
The next step in the process is a copy of Frank's report will go to my neuro who will sign off on it, then go to the ins. co. and the chair will be ordered. Delivery may take two months or so, but I can wait. The chair will be center wheel driven, elevate, tilt, dance, sing and play the piano badly.
On top of all this, Frank pointed out that CT's Bureau of Rehab Services, might, if asked nicely, pay for ramps in the house and out, as well as equip a van if I ever need and get one with lifts - the BRS really wants people to keep working.
As my luck has been good this month, it turns out that one of the carpenters (a very fine fellow) working on my house, through his Good Deeds club, is a good friend of the chairman of the county agency that is the BRS' local point of contact.
As Frank was leaving I asked him if he had any suggestions for grab bars in the kitchen. He said no, but he would have someone in his firm who specializes in making rooms accessible give me a call and set up an appointment.
If this isn't enough to make me glad, seeing my wife/companion of 24+ years happy and smiling when she looks at me, children and grandchildren happy although living on a distant coast, would do it.
All in all a very good day when Spring is hinting at returning.
I hope everyone reading this and our country will have even better days in the very near future.
G
waiting for crocus and snowdrops in coastal CT.
Why (he asked rhetorically)? Have you tried moving pots and pans from sink to stove and back again, not to mention full plates of soup from cook top to the table? I'd love to see a movie featuring me in my aged aqua wheel chair holding a large bowl of soup in my right hand while wheeling with my left and using my right foot to steer :) . With or without your permission I'll add my periodic need to rapidly get from kitchen to bathroom.
I spoke to my neuro in December and got a script for an electric wheelchair, he was certain that it would be turned down. He sent it to the insurance co and it disappeared. Surprise!
By chance my co.'s HR person showed up at my office earlier this month asking "is there anything I can help you with?". I asked her to track down what had happened to the scrip. Two days later she said "call so and so at 800 ... " and I did. He took some info and said that I should hear from Joe at xyz co.
Joe called two weeks ago and scheduled an in home visit from Frank who works at yet another company. Frank showed up this afternoon, asked a million or so questions, saw my accessible bathroom, the hallway that has been widened, the 15 year old beatup Quickie manual chair next to me and ended up saying that he would recommend the purchase of a chair that would be usable both indoors and out as well as accomodate my current disability as well as others that might occur over the next five or so years.
Oddly enough the ins. co. has decided that it is cheaper in the long run to spend money once rather than supplying a chair that might need replacing in a year or two.
The next step in the process is a copy of Frank's report will go to my neuro who will sign off on it, then go to the ins. co. and the chair will be ordered. Delivery may take two months or so, but I can wait. The chair will be center wheel driven, elevate, tilt, dance, sing and play the piano badly.
On top of all this, Frank pointed out that CT's Bureau of Rehab Services, might, if asked nicely, pay for ramps in the house and out, as well as equip a van if I ever need and get one with lifts - the BRS really wants people to keep working.
As my luck has been good this month, it turns out that one of the carpenters (a very fine fellow) working on my house, through his Good Deeds club, is a good friend of the chairman of the county agency that is the BRS' local point of contact.
As Frank was leaving I asked him if he had any suggestions for grab bars in the kitchen. He said no, but he would have someone in his firm who specializes in making rooms accessible give me a call and set up an appointment.
If this isn't enough to make me glad, seeing my wife/companion of 24+ years happy and smiling when she looks at me, children and grandchildren happy although living on a distant coast, would do it.
All in all a very good day when Spring is hinting at returning.
I hope everyone reading this and our country will have even better days in the very near future.
G
waiting for crocus and snowdrops in coastal CT.