Wheechairs

[westernind]

Does anyone know about wheelchairs? My mother has asked me to find out prices for 'a bog standard non motorised wheelchair'. The situation is that having lost a huge amount of weight rapidly through undiagnosed diabetes, muscle wastage means that her legs sometimes collapse beneath her without warning and she falls and hurts herself. Although physio makes things a bit better, she wants a wheelchair because she doesn't feel safe. Her arms are also not strong enough for sticks.

Finding out the basics isn't so hard, a google search brings up the Help the Aged site and Wheelchairs-R-Us(!). What I'd like to know is what makes a good wheelchair? Any review sites? She'd be pushed rather than propelling herself. In the meantime, Venice in four weeks' time arrrgggh. Finding a chair that can cope better with cobbles would be good. bigger wheels? But lightweight and transportable also necessary.

PS
Do not go on crash diets, kiddies. :-(

Comments

[rebby.livejournal.com]

If it's short term she might find a charity that will loan them out.
Supermarkets loan wheel chairs for shopping but some are better than others - space in isles & manoeuvring around displays. My mum likes sainsburies best.
Also look into the local towns & see what they do for motorbility. Although she doesn't want to buy a motor one a lot of towns centres hire out motorised ones while you are there shopping.

Having a good hunting stick maybe another help too, then when she does get tired she can sit.

I've asked my mum for other suggestions & will post when I get them.

More detail

[rebby.livejournal.com]

A bit more detail back from my mum.
It's Red cross that will loan them out.

She bought hers of ebay (which was the cheapest way of buying them) from Stay Mobile LTD 9, Mowat Industrial Estate, Sandown Rd., Watford, Herts.
01923 228070

Re: More detail

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Does she like it? they're incredibly cheap and lightweight!

Re: More detail

[rebby.livejournal.com]

She likes the light weight because that makes it easier to lift in & out of cars, which was one of her major requirements. She has the big wheel so she can push herself & has a cushion for suspension.

She's had very different experiences when travelling some countries have a very good disability policy some very bad. She hasn't been to venice though.

[clarisinda.livejournal.com]

I don't know about this, but my sister might well - she's an occupational therapist. Would you like me to ask her?

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Yes please. Direct experience of whether particular models and particular suppliers are good would be useful.

PS
eat some organic white chocolate for me!

[velvet-the-cat.livejournal.com]

PS Do not go on crash diets, kiddies. :-(

Oh. Does this mean the dreaded alterations or eating a lot of chocolate?

[westernind.livejournal.com]

no - just what happened to my mother. she's effectively gone on a crash diet, just not deliberately. And all the stuff the nutritionists warn about, i.e. don't lose weight too fast or muscle will go, that I didn't really believe - well I believe it now.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm here from idly looking at my friendsfriends view ;-) I needed to use a wheelchair for about five years due to chronic joint pain, and used a number of different types in different situations - I could talk for hours about pros and cons, but I have no recent experience with suppliers (5-10 years ago they all seemed much of a muchness).

What I'd like to know is what makes a good wheelchair?
That very much depends on how she wants to use it. I would recommend she tries a few models (through shopmobility, or at a wheelchair showroom) and see how she gets on with them. Key decisions are:
Electric/self-propelled (with those big back wheels)/manual (someone else pushing).
Comfortable to sit in (most chairs are a similar size so there is not a lot of flexibility in this - but it does mean a standard chair will fit through a standard door). You can always add cushions for support and comfort.
Try it on an outside surface - lino is easy and smooth to travel on, streets can be bumpy and have camber which throws off the steering, plush carpet or gravel can grind you to a halt. Which of these surfaces it it necessary to use the chair on?
Try a kerb or step - even a dropped kerb can be difficult to get up if it's not completely flush with the road.
There are knacks to getting up kerbs and through doors smoothly - I had so much pain and trouble from people who assumed you just ram the chair at the kerb and it will roll up, or that you can open a door by ramming the chair at it. Many times it is easier to reverse the chair and bring it up backwards. A level geometry will tell you that you cannot roll a wheel over a bump which is as high as its axle.

Some places hire wheelchairs for a week at a time - this is what I did when I first needed to use a wheelchair for getting round a science fiction convention (at home I could potter by myself without a chair), and the learning curve, while steep, was very valuable. I discovered how difficult small steps and kerbs are, and how if I bought a pint I couldn't leave the bar until I'd drunk down half of it!
I eventually bought a self-propelled chair, which is sitting gathering dust in the garage, and I'd be happy to lend it to your mother if that would help. I really have no need for it any more, but can't bear to take it to the dump. I was very pleased with how lightweight it is (15kg), and it folds down to the size of a suitcase.

prices for 'a bog standard non motorised wheelchair'.
In 1995 it cost £50 to hire a manual, self-propelling chair for a week, and in 1997 I bought one for £150. Reconditioned is cheaper than new, and there are often bargains to be had on eBay for sadly "hardly used" chairs. The mechanical complexity is similar to a bicycle, but they do not have the economies of scale of bicycle manufacture.

she wants a wheelchair because she doesn't feel safe.
They can help a lot with that (speaking as someone who was extremely fragile and could not be bumped by people in the street). People in general move more carefully round a chair than they do round people with sticks. Do be aware in crowds that people behind the pusher will see the pusher and what appears to be a space in front of them - they try to nip round you into the "space" and trip into the chair.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

And my comment was too long for LJ, so here is the rest:

In the meantime, Venice in four weeks' time arrrgggh. Finding a chair that can cope better with cobbles would be good. bigger wheels? But lightweight and transportable also necessary.
Arrgh indeed! I have never found a chair that could cope with cobbles. Huge amounts of pain through the bumping (wheelchairs are not known for their smooth suspension), and hideous lurching as the wheels tip around on the cobbles. Or twist and spin sideways. Sitting in my comfortable office chair, I imagine the jolt I'd feel if the floor on one side suddenly dropped by an inch and half the chair thumped down onto it. Now repeat, in random directions, twice a second. And that's what it's like going over cobbles in a wheelchair ;-) A trick for the pusher to see how smooth the ride is, is to get the sitter to hold a glass of water and watch how turbulently it sloshes.

Wider tyres are better for bumpy surfaces (think "mountain bike" rather than "road bike"), the best bet for Venice may be to hire an electric wheelchair while out there. There may be an organisation which can help with resources for wheelchair-using travellers. Who would be pushing her in Venice? You, or would she rely on fellow travellers?

Don't take an electric chair on a plane! Do ask for wheelchair assistance at the airports. This will save prolonged standing in queues with people bumping luggage into her.

And I think this is quite enough for now! Do let me know if you'd like to borrow my old chair, or to talk about chairs. I live in Cambridge, so just up the road from Ilford.

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Thank-you so much for taking the time to give me all this useful information. A-Level geometry? O-level more like... but people don't think.

She's in Tenerife at the moment and back in a few days time. She lives in Letchworth - also convenient for Cambridge!

btw have had a nose around on your userinfo... what did you do at Manchester? I was there 1992-1997, first doing philosophy, then cognitive science.

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

Ah, Letchworth, home of Pebble Dashing... we thought about living there, but it was too freaky the way the houses all looked the same.

I did Physics at Manchester, and spent a lot of time with the SF club WARPED. Brief nostalgia attack: the Serpent Bar with cider at 98p a pint, Whitworth Park toblerone-shaped halls of residence, Odyssey 7 where I used to buy Sandman comic, getting burgled 4 times in a year when living in Rusholme.

I'm a Learning Support Assistant now, taking notes in lectures for students with disabilities. I worry sometimes that I'm the one doing all the learning and internalising, and they're missing out by not doing their own notes.

[richc.livejournal.com]

Another ex WARPED chairbeing, from Marcus and my 2nd year IIRC.

Hypothesis

[westernind.livejournal.com]

There are only 10,000 real people in the world and most of them have LJs. The rest are extras.

[westernind.livejournal.com]

Hi again,

My mother is home from Tenerife. If it's OK, then yes she would love to borrow your wheelchair. Is that still possible?

My email is roz at horton dot net, and my phone is 07977 543965.

cheers
Roz

Wheelchairs and recycled souls

[badgersandjam.livejournal.com]

Two things to look out for are weight, and padding in the seat area. Wheelchairs realy are very, very uncomfortable, and even just being pushed around an airport in an insufficiently padded one is enough to bring on my sciatica. I don't know if you can find somewhere that does demo models you can try for a day, but that might be worth asking.

I also like the big-wheeled kind, because it means that in a pinch I CAN propel myself, whereas the standard tiny-wheeled ones don't give that option. Plus I think the big wheels make for a better ride.

And there can't be as many as 10,000 people, surely? Three K at most.

[littleonions.livejournal.com]

Some of the bridges DO have chair lifts for people unable to walk, not seen any working and it looks like you need a key for them also, not got very far on wheelchair info, my Italian is basically rubbish:(

[binidj.livejournal.com]

I got my wheelchair through the NHS and I'm perfectly happy with it since it isn't used that often and I'm strong enough to get it in and out of the boot of my car (though it's by no means a lightweight).

One point that may not be obvious at first is the height of the handles. On the rare occasions he pushes me about, the Fox always complains that the handles are just a bit too low and that he gets backache after pushing me for a while ... and he's not a particularly tall man (maybe 5'10"). So I'd recommend having someone to test the pushability of any chair she's thinking of getting.

Other than that, fat wheels for cobbles = good; large wheels for self-propulsion = very good (even if she will be pushed for the most part, there are some circumstances when she may want to maneouvre herself a little).

[doglets.livejournal.com]

Hi, I came via Boglins LJ. You already have lots of good advice here.

The price for a new wheelchair (small wheels/outdoor suitable/foldy up but bog standard) seems to be about £150-£250. Though I expect we get ours VAT free.

In making your decision - consider how far you want it to go, how long is your Mum is going to be sat in it - the very lightweight models aren't so good for the person pushing, as the chair is carrying less of the persons weight. Inflatable wheels are better at coping with rougher outdoor terrain rather than the hard ones, and give a bit of suspension. Big wheels tend to caught up in other peoples shopping. If theres no self propelling expected - then certainly smaller wheels, much easier for the pusher to handle. Although you can cushion, some padding in the wheelchair is preferable, again to absorb some of the bumps.

I am not back at work till Monday but can dig out the brochures -

[doglets.livejournal.com]

http://www.essentialaids.com/

I think its here we get ours from

[esrunkatsu.livejournal.com]

What makes a good wheelchair for pushing:

Agree with Bin on checking out the handle height etc, but bear in mind when pushing up inclines you are not standing so upright.

Check the rubbery handle grips are securely fixed - one of my mum's chairs had a grip that swung round slightly as you went along putting the grip in the wrong place and making my hand sore. Every time I straightened it it slowly slid round again!

The kickbar on the back for tiping up - some are stupidly short and awkward, I recommend checking how easy it is to tip safely and comfortably with someone sitting in the chair not just empty.

Have whoever is going to push her have a practice go at manouvering - things like tipping up kerbs look easier than they actually are, so a little technique practice first makes it a smoother ride which will make her feel more secure.

Chairs designed for pushing rather than self propulsion have smaller wheels rather than the large central wheel with side rail grips on it. These wheels are often wider so may be more suitable for the cobbled surfaces?

If you may be going through narrow gaps then chairs without the big side wheel with rails are narrower. If she will not self-propel then you don't need them.

I think there is no substitute for trying it out personally - I would recommend trying shop mobility as she can try manual chairs with and without self propelling wheels to see if she will want to have the facility to self propel (she can also test electric ones which really are very good). My mum has a manual chair which she cannot self-propel and wishes she could (she ends up trying to tip-toe it along!).

Our top tip on self-propelling wheelchairs - some models need the arm removing so she can reach the wheel comfortably. My mum's first wheelchair was like this and we never realised, so she gave up as she could not get a comfortable hold which she could put enough power into on the rail round the wheel.

Remember travelling in a wheelchair is colder than walking - she may need a warm cape which is smart, as my Mum had vanity issues with blankets being for grannies. Also a sheepskin seat pad is comfy and warming.

Some advice on testing out the one she gets (a try before you buy or travel):

Check the brakes actually stop the chair properly - sometimes they are not fitting right so you can drift - if one wheel drifts it is very disconcerting.

Check the brakes do not stick after they have been put on.

check you can use the kickbar comfortably (we had one which was ridiculously small).

Check how she is comfortable going up slopes etc - my mum is terrified of falling out (wheelchairs can be very disconcerting in that respect) so prefers to go up some inclines and kerbs backwards.

Lots of warm best wishes - I tore my hair out hiring an electric chair for my wedding for my Mum to use so I empathise very much and really hope it all works out well.