Where I'm currently living, its not wheelchair accessible so I use joint bracing and forearm crutches. Mostly wrist, ankle, and left knee bracing.
Whenever I leave the house I use my manual chair. I have a quickie Q7 set up perfectly for me and I love it. I'm still limited as I can't push myself for very far on asphalt, sidewalk, some carpets, or inclines and so need assistance. I'm hoping to get a smart drive power assist through vocational rehabilitation, along with a vehicle lift so I'm fully independent.
But for now I recently was given a powerchair, just a basic Invacare pronto m50. It seems it was programmed for someone who only used it indoors, as right now the max speed is only 2mph but I'm having trouble finding someplace to reprogram it for less than 75 bucks! At this speed, its difficult for my dogs to walk alongside it as well as my boyfriend. I took it to the state fair with my bf since he isn't able to push me in my manual but he'd have to walk ahead and meet up with me at destinations as the day went on because it was hurting him to try to walk so slowly/short strided. I'm also working on getting it set up for my needs, with better back support, I'm going to add foam to the armrests. I currently stick my manual cushion on top of the seat, but I think at some point I'll remove the seat (van type) and replace it with a piece of plywood as a platform for the cushion. Its 18x18 seat, and I have a 18x18 vicair vector cushion that I removed enough air cells to fit it in a 16x16 cover (my manual is 15x16) so I just swap it back into the large cover and set it on top of the seat for enough pressure reduction.
lin..i hope you find someone who can help with this for you...DJ is very technical minded...maybe he can give some advice? Is there no one in your area who would come adjust it for you or any services in the are?
DJ...thankyou....i thought with your Admin powers you could have fixed it but oh no... ..so mean! lol
lin, it's good to see that you have options when it comes to using mobility aids Having independance is a great thing and I hope you do get power assist wheels and a wheelchair vehicle lift. It's great to hear that you've got a new power chair but it's too bad it isn't fast enough. Lαrα, thanks you, I suppose I am technical minded! lin, I see that the chair can reach a max speed of 4.3 m.p.h. The electronic control unit (ECU) can be adjusted by a technican who has an ECU programmer. With the programmer they're able to set top speed, acceleration rate, turning speed, etc. Have you tried contacting a vendor that supplies power chairs? They'd surely have an ECU programmer and should only take 20 minutes tops to program I think charging anything over $20 is rediculous for such an easy modification.
The smart drive isn't power assist wheels actually, its a completely new type of power assist. The wheels like emotions wouldn't actually meet my needs.
Yep, I've been trying to find someplace with a programmer. Really it can be done in probably 5-10 minutes! But so far the lowest I've been quoted for doing it (the so called labor charge) is $75 bucks. So I'm trying to contact as many places as I can and hopefully find one thats willing to do it for cheap. When I get quoted back the ridiculous prices I've replied that its way out of my price range, I'm trying to find either the cheapest or the first price that I could afford to pay today. But so far no one has gotten back with me offering a lower price.
I have a genetic connective tissue disorder called EDS with neuro complications
The smart drive isn't power assist wheels actually, its a completely new type of power assist. The wheels like emotions wouldn't actually meet my needs.
Oh that's very interesting! How exactly does it work lin? I've been interested in the power assist wheels myself but if there's something better I'll give it a shot!
Its completely different. Its got a powered wheel that hooks on to your camber bar, and the battery clips to your seat sling or hangs in a sling underneath, then theres a cord from the battery to the drive wheel. Theres a button on the front of the battery for push button use, and they're working on a wireless bluetooth button. You can also request for the battery to come with a jack wired to the button so you can attach a button elsewhere, like say on your brake or somewhere handy to reach without removing your hands from your pushrims.
Its literally a "smart" drive, with programming and there have been changes already with even how new of a product it is. The owner is developing it along with the feedback from users. Theres a huge thread on Care Cure. If you push on your push rims, it will automatically continue you at whatever speed you reach. You can also push the button to start moving without using your push rims at all. If you change the speed by either the rims, or button use it will continue that speed. There are things like power boost to help with getting up steep inclines. I've followed all of the talk about it, but since I don't actually have one I can't think of everything to say about it lol. When its turned off, people report not even noticing its on the chair. Its only 20 lbs total with both the battery and the drivewheel, the battery being the heavier part at around 11 lbs.
For power assist, I really wanted something that would assist me when I needed it (for me inclines, sidewalk, asphalt, some carpet, distance) but also not get in the way when I was able to push myself, like say perfectly smooth floors while shopping or at a museum. Also something that I can use to be more independent, power assist wheels are incredibly heavy. They're also on all the time, so you're never just propelling as if they weren't there. I knew what I wanted before the smart drive ever came out, and it meets ALL my needs. Its literally perfect for everything I'd been thinking about in regards to power assist. I was interested in the zx1 as well, because you can use it when you need it and just take it off when you don't. But its 70 lbs, so has requirements similar to power chairs for transport, and its not as if you could say hook it up to go a mile to the grocery store, disconnect it and leave an 8 grand piece of medical equipment attached to a bike rack or something and propel yourself. But with the smart drive when you don't need it, you just turn it off.
lin I remember hearing about this but I've never really looked into it before. It sounds like a really smart piece of technology and will be very helpful to many! It's perfect for any condition and in the long run is good for our shoulders. This looks much better that the power assist wheels (for my needs atleast) and I'll see if I can give them a try. Thanks for sharing, it'll surely be helpful to other members as well!
I use my push chair mainly and sometimes my walker.
Maybe you will be able to work towards crutches iloveellisse at some point in the future? I remember when i first came off my walker and started using crutches...it was strange..i literally had forgotten how to walk.....but it now i dont think about it so much, its more natural even though my feet are still pretty much numb
I use my push chair mainly and sometimes my walker.
Maybe you will be able to work towards crutches iloveellisse at some point in the future? I remember when i first came off my walker and started using crutches...it was strange..i literally had forgotten how to walk.....but it now i dont think about it so much, its more natural even though my feet are still pretty much numb
I hope so. At this rate its not looking too good but as youve mentioned before, the 1 year recovery isnt always true. Well I hope it isnt for me!
iloveellisse, we'll all continue to recover for a long time. We can only get better! When people start getting really old it my slow them down a little but until then we just have to keep working at it