Last night I took
advantage of a program offered by the University of Utah at the
senior center next door to our apartment complex– – I wrote about
it in last night's blog. Interestingly one of the participants at the
senior exercise class mentioned are asked what kind of mileage I got
with my batteries on my power chair. I wish I could just stop and
give a succinct answer but I always end up overthinking the response.
The lady went on to explain that she had been the mother of a
daughter with cerebral palsy who used a power chair and this is
really's quite some time ago back in the early days of powered
mobility. The ladies questions really got me thinking. I really do
enjoy my power chair and all the independents my power chair affords
me. I think about this a lot. I don't know if I could live
independently, in my own apartment, on my own as I do without the
power chair. I shudder to think what would happen if I was forced to
try to live out of my manual chair for one reason or another. I kind
of think I could do it but it would be very difficult but I think
I've regained enough strength that I could. Still though, I pour out
of my bed into my chair in the morning shuttle into the kitchen to
and on the coffee and NPR back to the kitchen as the coffee perks are
drains or whatever coffee does these days and shave and get ready for
the day. I dress sitting in my power chair getting my shorts on then
allowing the chair to lean back to the point where my leg spasm and
push me up and I'm able to polo shirts on. With the use of my sticks
and up play my feet up onto my lap one of the time and putting my
shoes on the Nepal on my shirt and I'm done. Then like today I'm off
to catch the bus first going to the Buffmire center then over to
Assist, Inc. from a Tuesday meeting. All this I'm doing zooming
around in my chair never even thinking that my chair will fail.
I told the lady yes the
batteries cost a lot but they're worth every penny and I'm constantly
out on the road with my power chair. She was suitably impressed when
I told her that I was closing in on 3000 miles on this chair. I think
her child was using when the first power chairs which were kind of
iffy at best. My first exposure to power chairs really was with my
buddy Eugene Diffendaffer (I love writing that name) who I met in
Rehab at the Elks rehab center in Boise in 1966. His neck break was
higher than mine so he was more severely affected. He did not get a
power chair until a few years after his trauma in pushing for him was
very difficult. But when he got is power chair I marveled how cool it
would be to have such device but was always counseled against it for
fear that it would rob me of what must what already had. This chair
is pretty delicate file and I know what this lady meant. I range all
over the city. My chairs filled the only minimally. I do charge the
chair every night even when I don't need to. These batteries now are
wearing out and significantly have lost their ability to hold a
charge but I still can count on them for 5 to 7 miles per charge
which is a great distance using public transit to get right need to
go. Today has been a fairly high intensity day as far as mileage goes
with trips to the end of Redwood Road then onto downtown Salt Lake
and back again. And I'm only at 2.7 miles distance on my odometer. If
I felt better today being Tuesday—cheap seat Tuesday at the
movies—I would've taken the bus up to the movies. However, I felt
to fragile after being in the elements all morning. I didn't take a
jacket with me which I wish I had and I think I got too cold. Maybe I
am just being a wuss. I'm just thinking of my power chair and how
thankful I am…
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