Wheelchair Assessment

[davidgillon]

Result!

Within the first 10 minutes the Wheelchair Assessment OT was saying "I think I'm going to recommend we provide you a Quickie Argon". I thought I'd have to fight far harder to get a lower spec chair!

She initially said "as a medium priority", but when she saw how I was using the existing monster she changed that to "high priority"

Apparently that should be another two appointments to sort it - I'm assuming one trial with an Argon of roughly the right size to check precise measurements and then a final fitting with the actual chair. Not certain how long that will take, she implied it wasn't likely to be fast, but that was before she switched to high priority.

She's not recommending an aftermarket back at the minute, but I talked her into a higher back than she was initially proposing - above the bottom of the shoulder blades as opposed to below it. Nice attention to detail/local issues as well, when I said I'd be spending most of my time in Rochester she said "Ah, cobbles, need a wider front tyre on the castors to avoid getting bogged down".

*And she said Helium not Argon at one point (c£2.5k vs c£2k), but I think that was just a slip of the tongue.
 

It's been a long afternoon, though. I left for my Wheelchair Assessment at 12:10, I got back home at 5:45 (it's a 10 minute drive). I actually got into the appointment 10 minutes early (apparently there was confusion at their end as to whether the appontment was 11AM or 1PM, but my paperwork clearly said 1PM), but they used up pretty much the whole allocated timeslot as well.

The rest of the afternoon I spent in A&E, seeing as a) I was up at the hospital anyway, and b) my infected toe was a bloody mess this morning. I was actually triaged almost immediately, but then had to wait until almost 5 before being seen. They were excellent once they had their hands on me, but the problem seemed to be they only had one nurse practitioner running the minor injuries section and deciding on the treatment her minions needed to implement and she was run off her feet.

 

Comments

[capri0mni]

\o/

Three cheers for people with (good) sense!

[kaberett]

HURRAH WHEELCHAIR SERVICES. EXCELLENT.

[davidgillon]

Thanks for the various advice. I handed her a copy of my written up notes at the start which she read through quite a chunk of, and she commented it was excellent and she would scan it and attach it to my file after we were done.

She was also fairly adamant I should be approaching Social Services to see about getting the path up to my house made more accessible - that's 4 feet of steeply sloped drive, then a kerb and two kerb height steps with a couple of flags between each across the front of the house. I don't think there's anything can be done about the drive (short of turning the entire front garden into a switchbacked ramp), but I'd always assumed I'd eventually have to sort out getting the path ramped, if I can get the council to sort some of that out then that's a bonus. OTOH I'm not sure she gave me the number she promised for that, so I may have to chase it up at the next appointment.

[kaberett]

Splendid. :-)

For what it's worth it took my manufacturer a fucking age to get my chair through, but I've no idea what priority I was set as.

I am so so glad for you and so happy I was useful -- and WELL FUCKING DONE YOU for managing to get the feckin' appointment scheduled and Happened.

(Did the nurse sort the toe out, one inquires sympathetically?)

[davidgillon]

Thanks. I'd really like the chair tomorrow, but knowing I'll have something decent in a few months is a huge relief.

As for the toe, it's more a holding strategy until I have it properly looked at in an appointment I've been waiting for since early February. They actually rang at 6PM Tuesday to say "We've got an appointment on Friday for you", so 2.5 days notice, but I had to tell them I'd be at the other end of the country on Friday (headed north for a fortnight, so I'll only be about intermittently). I then got a reminder for it this morning and had to ring them up again, but at least this time they rearranged it to the 18th.

The nurse-practitioner I saw was your classic nursing type, but the nurse she got to do the actual work was a grizzled ex-squaddie with muttonchop whiskers and 'tache (I kid you not) and the typical squaddie sense of humour. We had a great chat - he was trying to recruit me to play wheelchair rugby, which apparently he plays with a bunch of ex-squaddies, even though he's not a wheelchair user himself. I might have been tempted if he'd said wheelchair basketball, but murderball's too vicious for me with the typical set of players, never mind ex-squaddies!

The treatment is another course of flucloxacillin, and cover it with iodine infused mesh and a dressing - exactly the same treatment I had post gall-bladder surgery last year.

And thanks again. That's another result for Kab's wheelchair evangelism ;)

[jesse_the_k]

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!

I am so so glad to hear this good news! For once persistence is rewarded!

Haven't heard the Quickie naming strategy: makes me wonder what a "chlorine" chair looks like?

[davidgillon]

Thank you. It's taken long enough, but we seem to have gotten there in the end. I'll confess to loading the Argon brochure onto my kindle and looking through it several times a day ;)

I think Quickie are aiming for the Noble gases, though next up, IIRC are Krypton and Neon, one sounds like it belongs in a comic and fails in the presence of kryptonite, and the other just sounds flashy. If they move onto the halogens then I guess the Chlorine will make you green with envy, while the Bromine will just brown you off ;)

[lilysea]

Am very pleased for you!

Am very glad that all your hard work and determination and research paid off! ^_^

and that wheelchair services were competent and helpful.

[davidgillon]

Thanks!