Wheelchairs

saving_pennies wrote: »

I'm sorry your feeling tired and low. Look after yourself, there is no pressure to post straight away, (or ever for that matter). Just know that if you do want to post I'm happy to read it.

Thank you.

Hospital transport was late picking me up, then we had to pick up two other people so I was 45 minutes late for my appointment, but that's OK because my mum rang as she was concerned and the lady said if you're late because of hospital transport then they have to see you.

When I got to the clinic I was seen straight away, the man was very good. I was weighed and my measurements taken. Unfortunately my GP had only referred me for a manual chair, he explained that for a powerchair assessment he would need two other members of staff that weren't available but that I did probably meet the requirements of a powerchair, but only a GP or OT can refer for it now because the system had changed. He said the best thing to do was to go ahead with the manual chair assessment and then go back to my GP in two months or so (after having the manual a month) and explain that the manual one isn't providing for my needs, once they get the referral they send out forms to fill in and I will be assessed for use indoors only (to start with) of an EPIOC chair because of my weight, but after a period of time I will then be assessed for use outdoors (which a third of applicants fail! Although he agreed that would be unlikely for me).

So we went ahead with the manual chair assessment and he tried me on a 20" Breeze, or Breezy, chair where the wheels come off and he said that my posture was quite good in it. Considering it was without a cushion it felt quite comfortable, I asked for a cushion because although I don't get pressure sores, my lower back and buttock muscles are very sensitive due to my fibromyalgia.

When assessing my posture he mentioned that I have more muscle tone on my right than I do on my left (in my back) which I was unaware of, and he also said that I generate a lot of heat and that's probably due to the fibromyalgia too; this was a complete revelation to me as I have been suffering with extremes of heat and cold since I was about 17, in the summer even on a mildly warm day I will sweat profusely to the point where I take extra clothes with me on a day out. In the spring/autumn/winter I can get very cold, especially my feet, and have to wear specific synthetic 'fluffy' socks as they are the only thing that stop my feet from being so cold they hurt.

Anyway, he said I am slightly over the weight limit on that chair but he wouldn't want to give me the next weight up as it is a lot heavier, which I agreed with as to be of any use I need my attendant to be able to put it in or take it out of the car, and the assessor (who was a fairly slight man, slim, not particularly muscular) could pick up with one hand so pretty much all of my friends/family could do it with no real problems on this model.

The whole process was very quick, I think I was probably in and out within 20 minutes but I didn't feel rushed or that any of my issues were overlooked. I think I was just a simple manual case. He made the point that he didn't want to give me a high performance manual chair because I was then less likely to get a powerchair in the near future and I agreed that I can't self propel so as long as the frame is as light as possible for the best price then there's no point having a high performance chair when an attendant is pushing me. He said he had been doing this for 30 years and he seemed to know the system, he advised me to 'play' the system the best way to get what I need, although he didn't say it like that. I'm perfectly happy to play their system if I get the right result at the end of it. This whole process is going to take a year I suspect but that's alright, I can cope with that.

So, to sum up, I'm going to have a 20" Breezy manual chair with a cushion and a sheep's wool back (he said this would be better than a cushion for my back as a cushion would alter my posture and the sheep's wool will also help with heat distribution) which will be delivered to my house within 4-6 weeks.

The reason I was low, other than it being a physically and emotionally stressful day anyway, was that I got my housing association registration document through and they have put me in band D, the lowest possible, when my advisor said I should be in A. Personally I think I should be in band B but when your life is a struggle day to day anyway you tend to gloss over some things when it is obvious to others, just like DLA forms make you think about everything you can't do whereas you don't think of it on a day to day basis. I contacted the person who is helping me with my housing problem and he said he would deal with it, he is great, but it still means yet another fight which I don't know where I'll get the energy for from.

When I got home I got a call from the OT and I have an appointment for an assessment on tuesday. I don't really know what will happen and what I should expect, so that's another worry and if anyone on here has any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry it was an essay, but it feels good to get it all out and feel free to comment, I am new to all this so would like all the help and support I can get. This board is so great at doing that :T

We've had a couple of OT students at work for several weeks, and I know one through my lipreading class, and all I can say is that they are all lovely! So please try not to worry about it, as they will hopefully be very helpful and informative.

an OT assessment should include taking a look at your identified difficulties, stregnths (resources like friends etc)
goals (like maximizing indendepence and safety) and steps they/you will take to achieve this.

so basically it is an informal discussion where you can talk about your lifestyle and difficulties and agree what can be done about it.
if it is the social work ot coming, then it will probably be only about equipment and/or home adaptations.

people go into OT because they in general are 'people orientated' and therefore 'nice' is usually a good description in general.
they may have large list sizes though and be stressed, and have limited resources so have to cope with inflated expectations from folk about what they can 'give'.

if you want to prepare, have a good idea of your own about what things you are finding difficult and want to change.
they may come up with ideas you have never thought of before.
done well, it should be a partnership between you and the ot.