Wheelchair Woes

Brooke got her new wheelchair Wednesday. A delivery boy brought it from Albuquerque (not the actual therapist who measured her for it). Since I didn't get a call to let me know they were here, I didn't see it until I came home. I believe the phrase I uttered was, "OH CRAP! IT'S BIG." Funny thing is, Mike said the exact same thing 10 minutes later when he saw it. Big is an understatement. It swallows Brooke. It's like putting a mouse up next to a car tire. Or putting a pinto bean next to a bathtub. It's REALLY big. OK, I know what you must be thinking..."Didn't you know it was going to be big?" Yes. And no. Looking at a picture online and hearing 18" wide is one thing...seeing it is another. Doesn't really help that I'm such a visual person.

So here's this ginormous pink and black monster truck of a wheelchair and two people with no idea how to use it, how to fold it or how to operate it. Pretty much...we don't know how to do anything with it. Thankfully, Brooke's teacher was here and offered to call in help from the school. So on Thursday, a school therapist (who does the same thing that this company out of Albq. does) comes over and her reation was pretty much the same as ours. She even thought it was beastly. She gets on the phone and calls the guy in Albq. who measured Brooke and asks for help to get it adjusted to fit. Brooke can't even climb up into it. If we remove the nice, thick cushion - Brooke can get in it. But the wheelchair isn't made to be without a cushion because of metal crossbars. Hard to explain. There is a thinner cushion we can get, which might help some. Then she discussed tires with him. The back tires are really big. Turns out - that's the only tire that comes with this wheelchair. The thinking was that a smaller tire would bring the height of the chair down some. Being the innovator that I am, I brought in the old wheelchair and offered to loan the monster truck two of its tires. Like a low-rider. That suggestion didn't fly! Did I mention this thing is so heavy I wouldn't be able to load it! That sort of defeats the purpose of being mobile! And yes, I knew it would weigh 50 pounds instead of the 32 pounds like the cruiser, but I think 50 pounds is short. This chair is heavy!

Long story short...we're hoping they will take the wheelchair back since we had only had it 1 day with zero miles on it before we determined it wouldn't work for Brooke. It's frustrating because of all the mess I had to go through to get this particular type of wheelchair approved for Brooke. And I would still like to have one that reclines, but it seems this is a "hole" in the wheelchair market. Once again, Brooke doesn't quiet fit on the left side in the cruiser like she had in the past, but apparently she also doesn't fit on the right side in the safari tilt that we ordered. And by "fit" I mean they don't seem to have what she needs. I suggested that they need a parent advisory board to help with their designs and needs. It's a little like buying a car and finding that something in the design doesn't fit your needs, like the cupholder locations in the back of my van. Whoever designed the van, must not have kids because 4 of the 5 cupholders in the back by Brooke aren't really in places where she can even reach them. It's crazy!

The plan is to see what can be done with the wheelchair. I'm hoping they can send it back and give us another Cruiser. Please pray for this situation to work out like it needs to. I feel really bad because I pushed for this chair, but I was trying to get Brooke what would make her the most comfortable. And while she would be comfortable laying back in this chair...if Mike and I can't lift it into the van and if we have to lift her into the chair...we've defeated the purpose. Sometimes things just don't go like you wish they would.