Mia's new wheelchair and other news
Last Thursday, Mia went to Phoenix Children's Hospital to get an X-ray of her hips. As I've mentioned, her muscles have been so tight over the past months and we don't know exactly why, so we had to check to make sure that her femoral bones weren't coming out of her pelvic bone, which would cause some discomfort, obviously. When she saw the physiatrist a few weeks ago, she thought it would be a good idea to get an X-ray, so away we went!
It turns out that there's nothing wrong with her hips. The thigh bone is right where it should be, in the pelvic socket. The doctor didn't say anything about whether she's going through a growth spurt, but I didn't push it because what can he do about that? All I cared about was whether her bones were in the right place, and they were. It's good news, but it's also annoying because we still aren't sure why her muscle tone went haywire a few months ago. I guess we're still sticking with a growth spurt. We're still working on stretching her, and she's making a little bit of progress, so that's not bad.
On Friday her wheelchair finally arrived. We got her measured two months ago, and the guy who was working on it told me that if I paid for it myself (and waited for the insurance to reimburse me), it would get here in 2-3 weeks. If I waited for the insurance, it would take two months. So I paid for it, and it still took two months. Oh well. It's here now, and life is good. Check it out:
It's a nice chair for Mia. It has lateral supports by her chest, shoulder straps, and a chest strap. As she's been leaning to her left a lot these days, this helps keep her up. She also has lightweight wheels so she can move it better, and projections on the rims are there to help her move it with her left hand (the theory is that she can reach the projections and tap them instead of actually holding onto the rim, because she can't hold onto the rim). She also has a tray, which her last chair didn't have. So it's pretty neat. She hates it - it keeps her upright, which isn't a great stretch but it's better than what she usually gets, so after she's been in it a while, she starts to get really annoyed. But that's okay - she needs to stretch, after all. We'll see how it goes at school. I imagine they'll be happy because she has to sit up, and she's been having trouble working because she wants to bend over all the time.
She's a tiny bit stretchier than she has been, so maybe the baclofen is working. We'll see. We hope that we can start stretching her more and she figures out that she can move the chair more easily than she could her other one. That would be nice, especially if it makes her more amenable to actually eating. Oh, the hopes and dreams we have!
It turns out that there's nothing wrong with her hips. The thigh bone is right where it should be, in the pelvic socket. The doctor didn't say anything about whether she's going through a growth spurt, but I didn't push it because what can he do about that? All I cared about was whether her bones were in the right place, and they were. It's good news, but it's also annoying because we still aren't sure why her muscle tone went haywire a few months ago. I guess we're still sticking with a growth spurt. We're still working on stretching her, and she's making a little bit of progress, so that's not bad.
On Friday her wheelchair finally arrived. We got her measured two months ago, and the guy who was working on it told me that if I paid for it myself (and waited for the insurance to reimburse me), it would get here in 2-3 weeks. If I waited for the insurance, it would take two months. So I paid for it, and it still took two months. Oh well. It's here now, and life is good. Check it out:
It's a nice chair for Mia. It has lateral supports by her chest, shoulder straps, and a chest strap. As she's been leaning to her left a lot these days, this helps keep her up. She also has lightweight wheels so she can move it better, and projections on the rims are there to help her move it with her left hand (the theory is that she can reach the projections and tap them instead of actually holding onto the rim, because she can't hold onto the rim). She also has a tray, which her last chair didn't have. So it's pretty neat. She hates it - it keeps her upright, which isn't a great stretch but it's better than what she usually gets, so after she's been in it a while, she starts to get really annoyed. But that's okay - she needs to stretch, after all. We'll see how it goes at school. I imagine they'll be happy because she has to sit up, and she's been having trouble working because she wants to bend over all the time.
She's a tiny bit stretchier than she has been, so maybe the baclofen is working. We'll see. We hope that we can start stretching her more and she figures out that she can move the chair more easily than she could her other one. That would be nice, especially if it makes her more amenable to actually eating. Oh, the hopes and dreams we have!
posted by Greg at
1:19 PM
2 Comments:
tell her to stay off the highway with that thing.
By
Roger Owen Green, at 14/11/11 5:09 AM
Hey, very nice site. I came across this on Google, and I am stoked that I did. I will definitely be coming back here more often. Wish I could add to the conversation and bring a bit more to the table, but am just taking in as much info as I can at the moment. Thanks for sharing.
LIGHTWEIGHT WHEELCHAIR
Keep Posting:)
By
Manish Batra, at 16/2/15 11:26 PM
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