I have had two different appointments with my physical therapist, Jeremy, over the last month so I thought I would share with you the “why”.
Reason 1:
A couple of months ago, I hurt my shoulder pretty bad transferring out of my van. My chiropractor told me to try and not use that arm for awhile. Yes, I laughed right then and there. It starts feeling better and then I hurt it again with the next transfer. I have to see an orthopedic doctor about it in a couple of weeks. It made me start thinking how bad it would be to ruin these shoulders of mine too early. So, I want to take care of them. They have invented an amazing new gadget called a Smart Drive that attaches to your wheelchair very simply and gives you some extra power in the places you need to help spare your shoulders (like hilly or bumpy terrain, steep ramps, carpeted malls, etc.) My PT is trying to help me get one of these and I am praying that it works out. I got to try it on my chair yesterday at therapy and it is SO awesome!! Check out this video to see it in action: Smart Drive Power Assist
Reason 2:
When you stand and walk and put weight on your bones, that is what makes them strong. When you are not weight bearing, your bones can get weak and brittle over time. My thigh bones are already showing early signs of osteoporosis so we are trying to also get me a standing frame. It stands you up and holds you in place so you won’t fall. It has a tray on it so that while you are standing, you can do computer work or something like that. You have to work on how long you can stand up. I stood for about 10 minutes yesterday in one. It felt so good to be vertical!! But…I was sweating like crazy and felt faint by the end. So, my body will have to get used to being up again. However, it is an amazing piece of equipment and will be good for my long-term health. Here is a video of the stander that I would love to get: Easy Stand Glider
Both of these pieces of equipment would cost me over $10,000 (I wish disabilities were cheaper!). So, please help me pray that insurance will cover the cost of these so that I can get and use them.
This is a pic of me and my therapist. We were together 3 times a week for over a year and he helped me learn SO much to get back into life independently. We definitely bonded and it has been good to see him again.
Alicia Reagan 
Thanks for posting the info about Smart Drive. It looks like it would help prevent shoulder stress and would relieve my hubby and daughter from having to push
me when my arms get tired. 🙂
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You are very welcome! They code under power assist wheels so insurance is already accustomed to that coding so it is not impossible to get it approved (well, you know after you jump through 50 hoops!!) It is an amazing product and SO fun to try. I went up a long ramp yesterday that would have been a good workout to get up and by holding the button down, it gave me 100% power and I never even pushed. The other option was that it will assist you in power and I went up in only 2 pushes. That just doesn’t happen! Also, it only adds about 10 extra pounds to your chair and comes on and off very easily so you don’t have to use it unless you want to.
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