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Miriam:
Miriam>>she too uses
the Quickie 2--do you mind
me asking you a few questions about your chair?Krys is
just under 100lbs at 19 yrs old-we got a new quickie
2, and for some reason the chair is huge--comfty for
her but almost not workable in all aspects of her
world
I don’t mind at all J
Miriam>>--could we compair
chair sizes-so maybe we can
better understand why her chair had to be made so
large this time(new in Sept)thanks so very much
Sure: I can have my Current Q2 chair measured and have her write down the demensions when the PT comes back again for the remainder of the Evaluation, when she writes the Script. However, I am at a loss to explain why Krys would be using a Quickie 2 that is “huge.” They usually measure you when you are sitting in the chair so it fits well, as they would probably want you to be able to sit comfortably in the chair, rather then to be able to have so much room on the sides, as you would SLIDE or LEAN to far to one side. If this chair was purchased in September I would question the size and dimension measurements, and make sure they are accurate for her. Quickie 2 chairs are adjustable in many ways, and if she is a PT/OT patient, this would be something I would check with to see if the sizing Is correct for her use. I STILL can’t believe that Krys, a 19-year old, 100 POUND young lady would be measured for and fitted to a chair that is oversized – The only thing that would make sense would be if there was need to have extra space for adaptive equipment, such as positioning devices, or adaptive devices.
Note that I am NOT a doctor, and just a very interested Wheelchair User, so you’ll have to check to see why this is what she got – I would be INTERESTED in the reasons ;)
If there is a copy of Prescription for this new chair, that could help you as well.
If I remember correctly, they measure you also when laying down, and that way they know how tall you are, and they also measure Seat Height, Seat Width, Seat Depth (when you are not in the chair) and make sure that they are correct, and if NOT, they can be adjusted. They also may measure the seat length. I would question why her chair is so wide that it makes it hard to use. If you wish, I can take a picture of my chair as well, when I get the dimensions for you. I would think a wide chair like this could also hurt her shoulders if too wide, and also her back. What kind of Wheelchair seat cushion does Krys Use? Is she sitting Higher so that she can at least reach the rims and wheellocks?? The best setup for her would be one where she can be as mobile as possible, while as comfortable as possible. Chairs that are Bigger then they need to be can cause problems getting them in and out of vehicles, Houses, Doorways, and around other obstructions. Do you have a picture of the chair in question, so I can look at it???
If you have access to her Therapist that helped her get the chair, you could ask her why the chair was ordered like it was, and maybe the vendor can make adjustments to the chair to make it more usable for her environment. Mine has to be changed because my legs are no longer at 90 degrees, and I sit lower in my chair then I should be, and it hurts my back, shoulders arms and makes legs HURT while on the footrests. I think 90% of my problem was related to;
- The chair being 8 years old (They are supposed to have a useful life of 5 years)
- The seat cushion being depressed so much that the cushion does not feel comfortable, and that makes me sit lower then 8 years ago when chair was new.
- My legs are NOT currently at 90 Degrees to my body, which is supposed to be the way you should be sitting in any chair J
- My shoulder hurting because I would have to propel myself harder to move the chair with my weight gain over 8 years.
I am 36 and 185 pounds, btw – I have used chairs more often over the years and now it is even more important to have the chair I NEED, so I don’t cause a continuation of the shoulder problem I worked on. This is important because my apartment is FULLY ACCESSIBLE and a chair is needed for most mobility inside and out. I do walk, so I do have the Crutch Holder, Anti Tippers, and a seatbelt for travel and safety. Make SURE You get the Anti Tippers with ANY power wheels and have the wheels sensitivity adjusted for Krys, so she’ll not be wheelieing when she doesn’t want to ;)
Miriam>> we are
waiting for the model to come out that has a one arm drive--I understand it is in
the works(was told that in February)and we sure
hope they get the kinks worked out so that we can get it for Krys-
I have NEVER heard of a One arm Drive option – When I looked at the site for the Xtenders, they were not offered in that setup. However, if Krys uses one arm, I am sure that whatever options are available you will be able to mount the control for the Xtenders on her dominant side (Left or right) which would be similar to an electric wheelchair joystick control box. You are supposed to be able to Power the Wheels on and off, and change the mode with a button control that is a little smaller then a wheel lock handle, and I think it would be mounted to the right or left of the cushion, depending on the setup, and they may even have an option to mount the controls onto a control box as well, so she’ll be able to control it with her good arm. Good luck with this, and keep me advised J
Buddy
36/m/VT
-----Original Message-----
From:
cerebralpalsy@yahoogroups.com [mailto:cerebralpalsy@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of miriam weir
Sent: Sunday,
November 30, 2008 1:45 PM
To: cerebralpalsy@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [cerebralpalsy] RE:
Wheelchair Evaluation [E-Motion Wheels] on Test Chair
Buddy-thanks so much-this
is a huge amount of
information on an item we are waiting for the model to
come out that has a one arm drive--I understand it is
in the works(was told that in February)and we sure
hope they get the kinks worked out so that we can get
it for Krys--she too uses the Quickie 2--do you mind
me asking you a few questions about your chair?Krys is
just under 100lbs at 19 yrs old-we got a new quickie
2, and for some reason the chair is huge--comfty for
her but almost not workable in all aspects of her
world--could we compair chair sizes-so maybe we can
better understand why her chair had to be made so
large this time(new in Sept)thanks so very much,
Miriam
--- **Buddy** <bakerb33@verizon.
> Hello All:
>
>
>
> Just an update to what I had posted earlier RE: my
> Wheelchair Evaluation. I
> was asked to update you regarding the testing I have
> done with a Kuchall
> Chair (from Sweden) mounted with E-Motion Wheels.
>
>
>
> BACKGROUND
>
>
>
> I’ve had a Quickie 2 Manual Wheelchair for about 8
> years. I had injured my
> shoulder in 2005-2006, so I was experiencing pain,
> and I think it was due to
> overuse. Two or so months ago, I started the
> process to get me a new chair,
> after I reported that my seat cushion and chair were
> showing their age.
> During the Wheelchair Evaluation, I was told about
> “Power assisted Wheels.
> I was asked to TRY them and then if I liked them, I
> could possibly get
> these, which could help reduce shoulder strain and
> strain on my arms, back
> and other body parts. Here is my report
>
>
>
> I have been testing this chair for approximately 2
> ˝-3 weeks. The Wheels
> are mounted to an Ultra-Lite chair, with 24” rear
> spoked wheels. The front
> wheels on this chair are 2-3” in size, so they are
> quite small, and can get
> caught in holes and other obstacles you encounter.
> The chair is REALLY
> light, so the Vendor had to adjust the sensitivity
> of the wheels so that I
> can easily and safely move the chair without causing
> injury to myself.
>
>
>
>
>
> OPERATION: Chair is operated by pressing the
> buttons on the hub of each
> wheel. Press them both once to turn the chair ON,
> then again to turn the
> chair OFF. You will hear a BEEP, followed by ONE
> BEEP or TWO BEEPS. ONE
> BEEP means “INDOOR Mode” and TWO BEEPS means
> “OUTDOOR Mode”. There are 3
> buttons on each wheel - The Power Button, (On Each
> hub in the Center) The
> Battery Charge Level Indicator Button (to the Left
> or Right of the Power
> Button, depending on the wheel position, on the Dark
> Gray portion of the
> wheel), and the Mode Button (On the outside of the
> light gray portion of the
> wheel). Pressing this button changes the mode. You
> turn The chair OFF by
> pressing the buttons in the center of the wheel hub
> and when it is off, you
> hear a “Chirp”
>
>
>
> Note, that when you power the wheels OFF you can
> still move the chair, but
> it will be harder then if you had the wheels powered
> up, but not as hard as
> to push a manual chair.
>
>
>
> Once you select to power the wheels on, you can then
> adjust the sensitivity
> of the handrim’s sensors for each wheel (This is
> something that should be
> done by the vendor as he is watching you maneuver
> the chair.) Once he shows
> you how to do this, and explains the settings, you
> should be able to
> understand the way it works, and can adjust it as
> needed.
>
>
>
>
>
> CONTROL: Controlling these wheels takes a little
> practice and it took me
> about 2-3 days to get used to the way it moved
> around. This chair, being a
> demo chair had NO seatbelt, so I had to be extra
> careful when moving around.
> The wheels are adjustable for the user and can allow
> for differing arm
> strength and abilities. Each person using this
> chair should realize that
> you DO NOT have to push as HARD with the Emotion
> wheels as you would have to
> if you were using a manual chair. You can control
> the speed of the chair on
> a downgrade, such as a wheelchair ramp or small hill
> by either lightly
> holding the handrims as you decend the downgrade, or
> by simply lightly
> hitting the handrim with your hands as you decend.
>
>
>
>
>
> E-MOTION TESTS
>
>
>
> INDOOR CHAIR TEST: NO POWER TO EMOTION WHEELS:
> Doing this test was a
> no-brainer for me: The chair is a tad hard to push,
> but no harder then to
> push a manual chair. This would be a plus, because
> you don’t have to worry
> about the chair being hard to maneuver if power is
> off, or battery is low or
> dead. I was able to maneuver throughout my building
> quite well, including
> the ramp that I have to acend to get to my apartment
> (Less then 15 degrees)
>
>
>
> INDOOR CHAIR TEST: POWER APPLIED TO EMOTION WHEELS
> (INDOOR MODE): Indoor
> mode tests included me going up and down the hallway
> in my building, going
> up and down the ramp, and testing the responsiveness
> of the chair as I
> pushed myself through the building. Indoor Mode
> allows the user to push the
> chair as much as they need, but you have to push it
> more frequently, because
> you don’t have as much assistance, and the push does
> not go as far as in
> Outdoor Mode.(1 Push = ˝ a revolution or so in this
> mode)
>
>
>
> INDOOR CHAIR TEST: POWER APPLIED TO EMOTION WHEELS
> (OUTDOOR MODE): I
> performed the same tests in OUTDOOR Mode to
> determine the difference, and
> WHAT a difference. Chair was turning and stopping
> on a DIME, and when
> pushing with my arms, I was getting 2 ˝ revolutions
> of the wheels for each
> cycle with my arms. INCREDIBLE, and awesome,
> because I was NOT tired.
> However, I must WARN you that this chair is an
> UltraLite, and as such, when
> you take off, you can and I DID pop a wheelie, and
> this is why the
> antitippers are REQUIRED for this wheel package. I
> was even riding the
> tippers for 2 ˝ feet before coming down and to a
> stop. Outdoor Mode does
> hold the power longer, which means that you get more
> revolutions (1 push =
> to 2 ˝ revolutions or so in this mode.) Chair
> responds quicker in this
> mode, and has more speed.
>
>
>
> OUTDOOR CHAIR TEST: NO POWER APPLIED TO EMOTION
> WHEELS): Doing this test
> was about the same as you would expect for the
> Indoor Test, same results.
>
>
>
> OUTDOOR CHAIR TEST: POWER APPLIED TO EMOTION WHEELS
> (INDOOR MODE): Tests in
> This mode were similar: I went Up and Down a 15
> degree access ramp outside
> my building and went from my driveway to the bus
> stop in this mode. Only
> problem I had was that I had to be extra careful of
> deteriorating sidewalks,
> potholes and bumps. I quickly realized that I
> could handle this mode
>
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