Re: Wheelchairs
Jo Ellen Finkelstein (ghellen(AT)ninenet.com)
Mon, 20 Oct 1997 01:21:36 -0500
Ellen Wilson wrote:
>
> I've been out of touch for a while. I started a new and better job. It
> makes me happy, but I had to break down and use a wheelchair. I'm in a
> huge office building and only being able to walk about 20 feet at a time is
> a distinct advantage. There are things to be said in favor of small
> business, whether they can pay the going rate for your services or not.
> Anyway, I'm renting a chair now and am looking for advice on what to
> purchase. I want to be as portable as possible. I like using a
> hand-propelled chair cause it keeps my upper body strength up. I need
> light-weight, easy to handle by myself getting it in and out of the
> backseat (yes I know that's not terribly high-tech), and I want it to be
> fairly capable of traveling on different surfaces. Not necessarily all
> terrain, but I don't want to be bogged down when I do have to cross gravel
> or dirt for a few feet. What can you guys tell me? I used to be at
> Pumpkin_Ridge(AT)msn.com, but am now at ellenwilson(AT)mindspring.com. I'd
> appreciate anything you might offer.... Including sites where I might
> learn more.
>
> By the way, I have put off doing this for years and would like to say that
> my increased mobility is wonderful. I can do things like shopping that I
> haven't really done a whole lot of in years. It was more an intellectual
> hurdle than anything else. Thanks, EllenHi Ellen, JO Ellen here! I recently had to buy my own wheelchair and I
found that the invacare hemiheight is great, I played comparison shopper
and got the price down from the 1300 that I was first quoted to 749& tax
came to just over 800. The arms swing-away, can be removed and the
height adjusts. The back adjusts for height and the legs
elevate,swing-away, and remove. It's very light and folds up to fit in
the back or the trunk. But you need to talk to your OT or PT people to
figure out what is right for you. Jo Ellen