Connor's physical therapist caught us while we were on the way out the door from Eden's PT session today; she had an opening and thought we might want to go ahead and do his session early. Normally he has physical therapy tomorrow. I jumped all over it-- it's always nice not to have to make another trip up to the hospital! Connor was a bit perturbed by the schedule change, but he perked up a bit when he got the chance to go bowling with a new friend. Really-- they have a switch-activated bowling set. It's awesome. Connor refused to push any of the buttons with his hands, but he did hit the switch very deliberately with his head. Hey, we'll take what we can get!
We might have to try bowling down at the local place with the kids sometime. Connor seemed to get a kick out of it, Eden would probably enjoy it too and I'm pretty sure that they have a modified bowling set down there.
Eden's physical therapy session was a bit unusual today as well; she spent a good portion of it choosing a model and getting fitted for a wheelchair. Long distances are very difficult for her to walk, and having the chair is going to open up a lot of opportunities for her to participate in more activities. She used a chair occasionally in Thailand, but it was far too large for her. This will be the first one fitted specifically for her.
It will be a fairly lightweight, bare-bones model. I'm not exactly sure what particular one was settled on in the end, but I believe it's in the TiLite series. We don't want this to be a lounging chair or something that becomes her primary mode of transportation-- we only want her to use it when walking just isn't going to work. So we got it without arm rests or push bars. Right now she's making huge gains in terms of balance and leg function, and we want to make sure she continues to push herself while still having that support when she needs it. She'll probably always need the chair for longer distances, but as far as we're concerned the more upright mobility she has, the better.
Eden was less concerned about the chair's functionality and more concerned with whether or not she could get it entirely in black. Because she's a teenager, and that sort of stuff is important. Also, believe it or not, they may actually have an option that involves skulls, and the only thing this kid likes better than black is skulls. So she's pretty gung ho about the chair. If we don't end up with a skull option I may have to find her a skull pin to put on the back or something.
It will probably be a few weeks before we're actually ordering the chair though as we've got to wait for the authorization to go through, so we've got some time before we're going to be picking out that sort of nitty-gritty detail!
~Jess
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5 years ago
5 comments:
Hi Jessie
I used to work with the TiLite chairs and I'm sure they had an option of parts that fits in the center of the wheels with sculls on! In the States you should be able to get nice accessories for the chair with sculls or other prints! xxx Lovely chair! Love Zanda
Black fingerless gloves would look good with skulls stenciled on them, too...
Duct tape comes in patterns now, and you can get it with skulls (google "duct tape skulls" to find sources), so Eden can customize her chair as she pleases. Plus, if her taste changes, she can replace the skulls with other prints--nerdy black-and-white plaid, camouflage, lace, cutesy hearts, solid colors--whatever.
Here's a skull:
http://www.tilite.com/tattoo.php
What a great company!
I always smile when you write about Eden's penchant for black and other dark colors. When I was her age (wow, writing that makes me feel ancient), I ONLY wanted to wear black, navy, or dark grey. My mother despaired, and always tried to buy me brightly colored things like other teenagers. Now that I'm an adult, I still ONLY want to wear black, navy, or dark grey. I think it's awesome that you accept Eden just the way she is! (And I also think it sounds like she has excellent taste!)
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