Quads pushing manual chairs

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by fuentejps

LOL. GOOD STUFF. THIS KID HAS BALLS. HE WILL DO GREAT.

Because he's able to swear at people on the internet? I dont know Joan,your ''Got Balls'' meter seems set awfully low..

[fuentejps]

Originally Posted by Shaun

Because he's able to swear at people on the internet? I dont know Joan,your ''Got Balls'' meter seems set awfully low..

because e has balls. far to many sheep around here

[JGNI]

jbinny,

FWIW, I also think you over reacted with Davey who, it seams to me, is more trying to help here than others. With all those years spent in a wheelchair I think he can teach a few things to a lot of newbies here no matter if you care what he accomplished or not (some are bragging all the time here without getting those comments).

fuentejps,

Scorpion is right here, you should present yourself as a C6, which you are, I've been injured at C4-5 too but you don't see me saying I'm a C4-5. You should do that so that those that cannot see right away that you are a C6 (newbies) don't expect more than they should.

Finally, as for the question of looking more disabled or not in a powerchair, I think it's in our basic instincts to "feel" less disabled if we use a manual chair (I do) because we think that we can do without something that some have to use. But because we feel this way doesn't necessarily mean we are right and that everyone else perceive us that way, some will some won't, and I think that we are harder on each other than many AB's are toward us. I am not talking about the pragmatic pros and cons of using a manual chair here, just the look thing.

I give some credit to people like Davey that seem to have gone, to some extent, over the "look" thing and decided to go for what seems to work best for him, his situation, his activities, his work etc. To each his own but I think that, not that we should refrain ourselves to express our opinions just to be politically correct, we should be more careful in the way we say things because too often some comments here are as bad as things we can hear from some AB's that are condescending towards us. Feeling superior just for something like that reflects some insecurity somewhere else and unfortunately nobody is exempt from it.

forestranger52,

the chair I use:

[Davey]

Shaun & JGNI,

Thanks for your kind words and support. I'm also glad you're able to understand my intent in adding an "alternate viewpoint" to this thread. These guys that are newly injured have enough to deal with without feeling guilty about using a power wheelchair if they ultimately find they need to. Getting on with life using whatever is needed should be the ultimate goal, IMHO.

-- David

P.S. I really hope my previous posts weren't interpreted as bragging. I was only trying to make the point that you can have a full life no matter what you sit in.

[Scorpion]

Originally Posted by JGNI

You should do that so that those that cannot see right away that you are a C6 (newbies) don't expect more than they should.

Exactly. Otherwise, we'd be comparing apples and oranges, which helps no one. Newbies need to know that they can do more than most people think they can but that there is no shame in making choices, even unpopular choices, that improve their quality of life on a day-to-day basis. Cool chair, btw.

Davey, I didn't see your post as just patting yourself on the back. Like JGNI, I saw you offering a different perspective. A quad's masculinity and dignity is not dependent upon using a manual chair, as some would like to believe.

[Le Type Français]

Originally Posted by Davey

Shaun & JGNI,

Thanks for your kind words and support. I'm also glad you're able to understand my intent in adding an "alternate viewpoint" to this thread. These guys that are newly injured have enough to deal with without feeling guilty about using a power wheelchair if they ultimately find they need to. Getting on with life using whatever is needed should be the ultimate goal, IMHO.

-- David

P.S. I really hope my previous posts weren't interpreted as bragging. I was only trying to make the point that you can have a full life no matter what you sit in.

David,

You don't have to justify using a powerchair. The bravado from some of the people on this forum is such bullshit. I believe they're Hugh Heffners in a wheelchair the same way I believe celebrities go to Promises for authentic rehabiliation.

[JGNI]

Originally Posted by Scorpion

A quad's masculinity and dignity is not dependent upon using a manual chair, as some would like to believe.

Very true, there was a quad (PC user by the way) living here in Montreal (just died in a car accident last year) who was a physician (psychiatrist) and when interviewed on TV he once said something like this, translation is mine:

Once I had a SCI patient in my office telling me

"Doctor, since my accident, I feel less of a man because of my limitations"

and I told him that it was now that we were going to see if he is a real man

I hope it translates the spirit of it well in english.

[KVP612]

just to add my 2 cents on a couple of points.

C6-Inc. Ti-Lite ZRA w/ Karma Carbon fiber wheels, 4inch soft-roll casters & frog legs.

Rehab told me to get both power & manual, said screw the pc because I refused to drive a van (fodder for another thread). Am closing in on 2yrs post and can contribute alot of strength to the manual chair.

As far as looking more or less disabled in a pc vs a manual. I feel less disabled because I take up less space and can navigate tight spaces w/ ease. My sister also commented that visually when I was in the pc all she saw was the chair, in the manual she saw me.

There are times I would absolutely love to have a power chair, ie going to red sox games @ "historic" fenway park and navigating steep grades, rough pavement and drunken fans.

I've considered e-motions, but worry that I would run the batteries dead all too frequently on long days where I'm out of the house for 14+ hours, or that they'd break down and I'd be stuck pushing an extra 40lbs.

I got to briefly play w/ a set of magic wheels @ my outpatient rehab pretty cool. (www.magicwheels.com) quick facts:
No batteries or motors
Easily adapts to fit most manual wheelchairs
Adds no width to a wheelchair with standard spokes
Added weight to your chair per pair of wheels with standard handrims is less than 10 lbs.
Provides 2-speed drive
1 to 1 pushes the same as a standard wheel
2 to 1 provides 50% easier pushing, has automatic hill-holding feature, plus added braking power when descending
quick release standard

Definitely cool, buuuuuut, I think they look like crap, and I don't have $5,000+ to spend on wheels, although they do provide medical necessity letters, my insurance blows as far as dme is concerned.

I would like to try out the wijit (www.wijit.com) as well.

Definitely would rather rely on a mechanical setup m.wheels/wijit vs electric e-motions.

I push off of vinyl coated handrims w/ the butt of my hand on the rim for easy pushing, and the rim & tire for steep or tough terrain ie door thresholds.

As far as braking goes I wear adi gloves (which also keep my hands clean) and put my hands on the rims & tires, gloves are easier to replace than skin. For steep downhills I will completely brake one wheel, pivot w/ the other, so I am perpendicular to the slope I'm descending, then switch and lock up the other wheel and pivot off the other........ kind of like a real slow & tight downhill slalom.

I am also a huge, I repeat HUGE FAN, of what I call the wall turn or friction turn. Say you're going down a hallway and you want to make a 90 degree turn into a room or other hallway. Before I learned this trick I used to try to make the turn by braking one wheel and pushing faster on the other wheel, makes sense, but competely inefficient. So here's what you do as you come up to your turn stick your hand out on the side where you're making the turn and let it lightly trail along the wall, you won't lose too much speed and you'll turn right in. As you get better you'll be able to do it quicker and closer to the corner, and you'll find you don't trail your hand but just give a quick press against the wall. I use this everywhere and on everything to turn and direct myself walls, pillars, railings, the bumper of my pickup truck. Best advice I ever got from a quad on pushing a manual. Disclaimer be careful going around blind corners, I almost took out an old woman w/ a walker and oxygen tank @rehab when I came around a corner all humchuck fire one day.

Small castors are fine on hard surfaces, but will dig in and get stuck on anything relatively soft ie grass, dirt, gravel.

[MioaraD]

Originally Posted by forestranger52

How do Quads push manual chairs? I am C5/6, no triceps, hands and fingers don't work.
VA tossed me in a used power chair and that was it. My thumbs are always in the way. How do you keep thumbs from getting caught in the rims? How do your hands hold on to the rims? Tired off being limited with this large power chair. Am working hard to build enough muscles to transfer.
I'm familiar with quad knobs. Kind of tacky. E-motions sound great in this forum.
Need to start driving, but would like to have something other than a raised roof, full size van. Head height 58" in power chair.
Thanks

Kevin uses special gloves that have a rubber grip on the palm.
Pushes the rim with that area.
The gloves protect the thumb from being caught.
He has w/c (Quickie R 2) , post accident early stages he had massive muscle loss(in hosp for 8 months) & not a lot of power.

[fuentejps]

i like rollerblade frt wheels. as long as u keep your chair tippy they work on all terrain, of course some better than others.