NC visit & help w/equipment ideas

June 21, 2002

Jan,

This could be even less of a problem than you think in regards to Jerry's

mobility. and the case manager and my doctor put their heads

together last week. (Scary)! They send a skilled nurse to the house to

evaluate me for " mechanical " needs. (Actually, I think it was for home

health aids but mechanical needs sounds so much more intriguing. We got the

final paperwork signed by all parties and faxed to the case worker,

insurance company, home health place and doctor yesterday. So, all we have

to do is pick what we want and find a place who will deal with CIGNA, our

insurance company and we are good to go.

We were approved for a hoyer lift, an electric wheelchair, air mattress,

bed-side toilet and shower seat, electric lift recliner chair, food

processor, thick-it, electric blood pressure cuff. All we have to do now is

decide what model and which company we want to go with. We have Cigna

insurance. They won't pay for the ramps for the wheelchair to get in and

out of the house and/or car but is working on that.

Does anyone know which wheelchair, lift chair, lift machine, etc. is the

best or easiest to use? How did any of ya'll go about getting these things?

I'm too tired to research it all on the internet like I used to. I was

amazed at what can do once he sets his mind on something. If anyone

has any secrets that we should know before we purchase, please write

and tell him.

Also, if there is anything that we might need that we forgot, please let

us know. The case manager said it would be much easier to get this all done

at once than piece by piece in desperation.

So Jan, your turn for your next best excuse!

I kind of liked the Jazzy 1122 model because it can turn with only 18 "

needed where most take 23 " - 24 " or more.

Hugs,

Deborah aka Tenacity

_________________________________________________________________

Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

June 21, 2002

Deborah,

Sorry, I've forgotten where you live so refresh me and maybe someone near you

has experience with a local place. First look in your yellow pages under " home

health supplies " or " hospital supplies " . The doctor's office may also know of a

supplier. The case worker may have some ideas. You could also try talking to a

" discharge planning caseworker " at a local hospital to see if they have ideas.

Your local Agency on Aging is a good reference too.

Here is a nationwide source which seems to work well with insurance companies -

I think Relles first gave it to me.

http://spinlife.com/

On the ramps, most local zoning departments have specs and plans for " standard

decks " and mine even has plans for a standard ramp. Of course it costs you $40

for the building permit, but it is worth it to make sure it will not collapse on

you. For help to build it, people have used churches, local service

organizations, friends, relatives, etc. Ask your Area Agency on Aging for

ideas. Home Depot has a service group which just built a bunch of little league

covered dugouts for our local ballfields here in my town.

On equipment, beware of a power wheelchair which turns in a small radius as it

will be more unstable against falls and tipping over. It may also steer too

quick for you and you may have trouble steering it. TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY

IT!!!! If you are going for a power wheelchair - be sure to find one that can

have a remote or detachable control in case you find it impossible to control at

some point and someone else can walk behind the chair and control it for you.

Power chairs are not usually as comfortable as manual chairs can be so if you

have to be in it for hours at a time you need to consider that. Charlotte had a

very comfortable chair which a occupational therapist designed especially for

her. It offered side supports and padding in the correct places for long term

use and a very nice tray.

Good luck, Bill Werre

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Deborah Setzer wrote:

> Jan,

>

> This could be even less of a problem than you think in regards to Jerry's

> mobility. and the case manager and my doctor put their heads

> together last week. (Scary)! They send a skilled nurse to the house to

> evaluate me for " mechanical " needs. (Actually, I think it was for home

> health aids but mechanical needs sounds so much more intriguing. We got the

> final paperwork signed by all parties and faxed to the case worker,

> insurance company, home health place and doctor yesterday. So, all we have

> to do is pick what we want and find a place who will deal with CIGNA, our

> insurance company and we are good to go.

>

> We were approved for a hoyer lift, an electric wheelchair, air mattress,

> bed-side toilet and shower seat, electric lift recliner chair, food

> processor, thick-it, electric blood pressure cuff. All we have to do now is

> decide what model and which company we want to go with. We have Cigna

> insurance. They won't pay for the ramps for the wheelchair to get in and

> out of the house and/or car but is working on that.

>

> Does anyone know which wheelchair, lift chair, lift machine, etc. is the

> best or easiest to use? How did any of ya'll go about getting these things?

> I'm too tired to research it all on the internet like I used to. I was

> amazed at what can do once he sets his mind on something. If anyone

> has any secrets that we should know before we purchase, please write

> and tell him.

>

> Also, if there is anything that we might need that we forgot, please let

> us know. The case manager said it would be much easier to get this all done

> at once than piece by piece in desperation.

>

> So Jan, your turn for your next best excuse!

>

> I kind of liked the Jazzy 1122 model because it can turn with only 18 "

> needed where most take 23 " - 24 " or more.

>

> Hugs,

> Deborah aka Tenacity

>

> _________________________________________________________________

> Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

>

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> unsubscribe by sending a blank email to

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June 21, 2002

Deborah,

For a power wheelchair look at the Sunrise / Quickie P-222 as it offers more

comfort AND has a rating of 5 of 5.

I could not find the Jazzy 1122 but the 1120 got a rating of 4.04 of 5

Take care, Bill Werre

June 21, 2002

Wow Deborah, that is great! If it will work for us we will be with

you all the way. No excuses here!

I don't know much about the equipment and I've never seen or used the

Hoyer Lift, although I think we are going to be at the point of

needing one in the near future. Guess I'll see it in action at your

house. We own some of the other equipment, like the Jazzy chair, but

Jerry can no longer drive the thing. He runs over feet, into walls,

off sidewalks (I didn't know you could tip those things until he went

over in it) so his chair license has been suspended. He also has one

of those larger four wheel (more like an outdoor chair) electric

scooters with the handles in front. That works better for him but it

is too big for indoors and he is really not safe transferring from

wheelchair to scooter. His balance is really, really poor. When we

were using the equipment we had a bruno lift installed in our car for

the power chair. The lift was easy for me to use by myself. Hands

down better than the ramp, but much more costly. We have now sold

two of the bruno lifts " used " so someone got a bargain. Maybe you

should check the paper or mobility dealer for used equipment.

My brother-in-law was faced with the ramp problem when my dad came

to live with them. He went into his workshop and made ramps for the

house.....they were great! Maybe you can find a handyman that can

make ramps for the house. As for the car, when we first got the

scooter we had no lift so we rented a metal folding ramp from the

mobility dealer in town until we could get the lift installed. They

are not light but they do work and I could do it myself (with a few

choice words at times). I know you can purchase them on the internet

or from a dealer. They come in all different sizes, some are made

for getting in and out of the house and some are long enough to drive

the scooter up and into a van.

Did you know they make a light weight electric scooter (3 wheel)

that comes apart into three pieces? The heaviest piece is 26lbs. and

it will fit in the rear of a compact car. It is made by a company

called No Boundries. You can take the battery off and bring it into

the house to charge if you were traveling. It has a range of about

10 miles (much less than the larger models which have a 20 mi range

but Jerry never went very far to start with.) It is pretty compact

and would most likely work in the house unless you have lots of tight

corners. Check it out. I would love one for travel with Jerry but

the transferr issue is still unsolved. Right now I have two other

power chairs to sell. Do you know of a large man who would like a

scooter or two?

They just approved us for the shower chair and the best thing I did

was get one with wheels. Now I get Jerry into the chair in a place

he can use grab bars and then wheel him in and out of the shower. It

can also be wheeled right over the toilet which has been wonderful

when loose bowels came to visit. We already have a bench in our

shower and it is a roll in shower but Jerry can no longer transfer

safely.

is doing great with the computer and communicating. I'll

bet he figures all of this out in no time. Go ! There are so

many people with much more knowledge than I. They will answer his

questions. I am just happy that they approved the equipment you

need. I don't know what I would do without some of the equipment we

have. Can't wait to see you in late July. Let's see, that gives

about 5 weeks to figure all of this out.

Hugs for both of you, Jan

> Jan,

>

> This could be even less of a problem than you think in regards to

Jerry's

> mobility. and the case manager and my doctor put their

heads

> together last week. (Scary)! They send a skilled nurse to the

house to

> evaluate me for " mechanical " needs. (Actually, I think it was for

home

> health aids but mechanical needs sounds so much more intriguing.

We got the

> final paperwork signed by all parties and faxed to the case worker,

> insurance company, home health place and doctor yesterday. So, all

we have

> to do is pick what we want and find a place who will deal with

CIGNA, our

> insurance company and we are good to go.

>

> We were approved for a hoyer lift, an electric wheelchair, air

mattress,

> bed-side toilet and shower seat, electric lift recliner chair, food

> processor, thick-it, electric blood pressure cuff. All we have to

do now is

> decide what model and which company we want to go with. We have

Cigna

> insurance. They won't pay for the ramps for the wheelchair to get

in and

> out of the house and/or car but is working on that.

>

> Does anyone know which wheelchair, lift chair, lift machine, etc.

is the

> best or easiest to use? How did any of ya'll go about getting

these things?

> I'm too tired to research it all on the internet like I used to.

I was

> amazed at what can do once he sets his mind on something. If

anyone

> has any secrets that we should know before we purchase, please

write

> and tell him.

>

> Also, if there is anything that we might need that we forgot,

please let

> us know. The case manager said it would be much easier to get this

all done

> at once than piece by piece in desperation.

>

> So Jan, your turn for your next best excuse!

>

> I kind of liked the Jazzy 1122 model because it can turn with

only 18 "

> needed where most take 23 " - 24 " or more.

>

> Hugs,

> Deborah aka Tenacity

>

> _________________________________________________________________

> Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger:

http://messenger.msn.com

June 30, 2002

RAMPS --WE MADE OURSELVES. HOWEVER, MY HUSBAND IS A PROF IN

STRUCTUAL/CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. MY DAD TAUGHT ME THE

CARPENTRY SIDE.

CALL THE LOCAL CARPENTRY UNION FOR A LIST OF JOURNEY MEN OR LOCAL LUMBER

YARD WILL HAVE CARPENTERS WHO LEAVE THEIR BUSINESS CARDS.

OH...COATINGS ARE VERY IMPORTANT ALSO WHEN HAVING A RAMP OUTDOORS- COLD

OR HEAT. RUBBER OR SOME KIND OF ATTACHED SURFACE TO KEEP ONE FROM

FALLING AND SLIPPING.

I DID BUY ONE 3' RAMP --WITH HINGES FOR FOLDING IN HALF WITH A HANDLE -

275 BUCKS.

NANCY