Wheelchair Troubles

This past week has been a little hectic regarding my wheelchair. On Tuesday, the battery for my Tongue Touch Keypad (how I run my wheelchair) ran out. It would have been okay if I had had my other one here. I have two Tongue Touches, however, a couple weeks ago I sent my other one to California to get the battery replaced because it had run out. So Tuesday, when the other Tongue Touch battery ran out, I was stuck having someone else drive me around using the joystick on the back of my wheelchair.

Well, I received my first Tongue Touch that ran out of battery Friday afternoon. That would've been great news, however, earlier that day I went to a doctor's appointment and had some more wheelchair trouble. For one of the procedures I had to recline my chair back. I also have a tilt mechanism that I wasn't using at that time. When the procedure was finished, I went to have someone recline me back up but it wouldn't go. I was stuck in that position. We had some people from the hospital try working on it for a while but couldn't get it to go. I also had someone from the company that I got the chair from come to the hospital to see if they could fix it. No luck. I had to call for a ride home and asked them for the biggest van possible. They said it was 45 minutes away. Needless to say I was away from home for seven hours and stuck in a recline position for most of the time.

I am now using my backup manual wheelchair. It is extremely uncomfortable. I can't believe I used to use this thing. I went from being independent and using my Tongue Touch Keypad to get myself around to having someone drive me with the joystick and then ultimately having someone push me around. I am miserable but I am surviving. Reliable, the company that I got my chair from, is supposed to be coming out on Monday to pick up my wheelchair to see if they can fix it in the shop. I'm hoping they can get it done soon so that I don't have to use my manual chair anymore. It isn't fun having to be pushed everywhere. Oh well, what can I do. I guess I can make some light of the situation. At least I have a wheelchair at all and I'm not stuck in bed.

Jenni