tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504811174838510506.post4135665425564094073..comments2024-03-26T05:19:02.375-04:00Comments on @LawyeronWheels: Electric or manual?RStrzalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397163144935580422noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504811174838510506.post-49516896487412028682013-05-20T20:26:37.420-04:002013-05-20T20:26:37.420-04:00Not everyone who is in a chair is there because of...Not everyone who is in a chair is there because of a muscular or neurological disorder. For those of us with Joint disorders - a wheelchair is meant to assist mobility in a cartilage sparing manner. I can't have joint replacement surgery, my synovial fluid is screwed up and the more I exercise the worse the degeneration gets. <br /><br />I stayed "on my feet" for 3 decades after diagnosis: doing all those things the doctors said - exercise, keep the tendons and ligaments strong, keep the weight down. But at 60% bone-on-bone, knee surgery failed (and almost killed me). <br /><br />So now I have a motorized chair. It is like a car - you have to keep an eye on the "fuel tank" and remember to "fill up" when you have the time to sit still during the day. Also, like cars, there are high quality and low quality cars. My chair, a fairly high quality model, will do 4-6 hours straight at 6 miles an hour before needing a full (8 hour) charge. Off-and-on travel patterns (which is a normal day at the office, go to lunch, commute, stop by the store on the way home) only require a plug in at night when I go to bed. If I'm going to be doing a lot of stuff, I just take my charger with me and plug in during idle moments... a lot like you do with your cell phone. <br /><br />I don't find my electric chair a limitation because it needs charging (anymore than I would find a car limiting because it needs gas). I probably feel this way because if I didn't have an electric chair, I would have a manual chair AND need someone to push me - AND that would be a limitation on my freedom that is unacceptable!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15063430462980146126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504811174838510506.post-11146585440111523552012-06-29T11:39:58.123-04:002012-06-29T11:39:58.123-04:00Agreed... but watch out for carpel tunnel. THAT is...Agreed... but watch out for carpel tunnel. THAT is also my big issue. I have carpel tunnel in both wrists. Major bummer, and when I first started treating it, I was in handsplints. You do NOT push a wheelchair with those on, It's impossible. <br /><br />And heh, I tried jumping a curb when I DID use a manual wheelchair and managed to dislocate my right shoulder. hard to push after having your arm strapped to your side for 6 weeks.Dana Marshall/DanaWheelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14936374687605094574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504811174838510506.post-54339491579604140812012-06-26T17:13:58.916-04:002012-06-26T17:13:58.916-04:00I've always said that it's a personal choi...I've always said that it's a personal choice and we are all different. it's about the type and extent of disability but also the type of lifestyle we decide on, comfort and extent of control we are happy with. This is just my thought process and my motivation.RStrzalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09258059866273368347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8504811174838510506.post-44449616008642213942012-06-26T16:56:55.822-04:002012-06-26T16:56:55.822-04:00I can see why you'd say that, but it's a p...I can see why you'd say that, but it's a personal choice. I use a motorized wheelchair, and yes, I have CP, and yes, I'm overweight, but I also have lymphedema, and require pressure release control to be given by the wheelchair... mostly, though, I live 3 miles from the nearest store, with NO sidewalks, and pushing in a manual wheelchair just tired me out too much.Dana Marshall/DanaWheelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14936374687605094574noreply@blogger.com