New wheelchair

[agate]

God willing and the creek don't rise, a new wheelchair will arrive here in about 8 days. It should look like this. The photo doesn't show the armrests but I understand that there will be armrests, and the white parts will be blue..

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I will have waited 4 months for this but that seems to be par for the course.

I got my current chair only 8 years ago. The first chair lasted 30 years.

[Virginia]

The wheels look big. Can you push that around?

[agate]

I think the wheels look big because the photo shows the chair without the armrests. The armrests seem to be custom add-ons and are shown separately. I had to ask because it looked to me as if I was getting a chair without any armrests. The wheels aren't any bigger than the wheels I now have, I'm pretty sure. I was told that the whole chair is somewhat lighter and smaller than this one I'm using now.

[Snuggles]

Agate, are you in a wheelchair fulltime? I am sure you will appreciate the wheelchair being lighter and smaller that you are used to using. Enjoy your new ride!

[agate]

Except for the steps that I keep a record of, I am in a wheelchair. The bracing support it gives seems to help me to tire less easily than other seating would--and I can't sit in most types of ordinary chairs for more than a few minutes. The pain in my back sends me popping right out of whatever chair I'm in. I don't even consider ordinary chairs any more though for some reason I can sit in the passenger seat of a vehicle for longer.

There are people who believe that anyone who can still walk at all shouldn't have a wheelchair. I've run into this quite often though never from medical professionals. People will say to me, "I don't understand why you're in a wheelchair because I know you can still walk."

And yet I know of quite a few people who use wheelchairs the way I do, and my situation is acceptable when it comes to being medically qualified for a wheelchair. I've never had a problem.

[Snuggles]

I understand being in a wheelchair when you can still walk some.

If you saw me you would think I walk normally but I use a cane if I walk for long distances or if I have to on my feet for a good part of the day.

[Virginia]

Snuggles do you use a cane when you walk in the shopping mall. Unless it is a very small mall, that sounds like a lot of walking. Enjoy it and who knows it might last for the rest of your life. I could walk fairly long distances until I was in my very early 60s, and then it came to a halt.

[agate]

The wheelchair is here, and the old one has been taken away.

Since the link I posted earlier in this thread no longer works, I'll just say that this is a somewhat smaller and lighter-weight chair but otherwise quite similar to the one I had, with the added inflatable cushion. However, the back is probably going to be a huge improvement. It has padded "wings" on both sides that wrap partly around the ribcage and keep the person more upright if the person is apt to slump.

I was hoping for a chair that would do more for my wobbly spine, and this may be the way to go. Just having a chair that takes up less space is a big plus. And the person who brought the chair took plenty of time getting the adjustments right.

The two previous chairs were pretty much just delivered, with maybe a few minutes of tinkering and paperwork. This person was here about half an hour, making an effort at getting things adjusted right. I really appreciated this. If you spend most of your time sitting, it's nice to be comfortable and not numb or in pain. It's even nicer to realize that your back is being supported.

Going to try again to post a photo of the chair but the photos I've found don't ever show the armrests, and of course the back on mine doesn't look like the one shown here:

[Virginia]

Agate, so glad to hear you are so far well satisfied with your new wheels. Now, you can get it broken in.

[agate]

I'll start by trying to find out how much it actually weighs. I can't find that information anywhere on the Website. I'm hoping it will weigh less than the old one, which was about 32 lbs. I found one figure in tiny print indicating it might weigh 18 lbs. but it's not clear whether that's the weight of the entire chair or just part of it.

[Virginia]

Eighteen pounds sounds pretty good. I definitely couldn't handle 32 lbs. Not sure I could 18, but seems to me that it would be easier for someone to push.

[agate]

If something weighs 18 lbs. on this wheelchair, it's probably the mainframe--what is left after the rear wheels, legrests, armrests, and back and cushion are removed. I've tried lifting this wheelchair and would say offhand that taken as a unit, with all of its parts intact, it weighs no less than the previous one.

[Virginia]

Opps! That was not what you were expecting, I don't guess. Don't you sometime take your wheelchair when you go to certain Doctor's offices. I would think that would be quite heavy and cumbersome if if weighs 32 lbs. Would your walker work better?

[Snuggles]

Enjoy your new ride but I don't want to hear that you are doing wheelies in the halls of your building!

[agate]

I haven't been tempted to try a wheelie. The instruction manual actually tells how to do one but I'm skipping that part.