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Heste

Wheels

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Nick

Hi John,

 

Sounds pretty good. Its very interesting to hear just how you are getting on with the chair. Talking cars, we used to have the older Sharan and then a T5 VW and looked ourselves at the new Sharan when I had to get a modified car. Its a really nice vehicle!! We tried out the DSG gearbox which is what makes these cars so fuel efficient (for an automatic) This 'DSG' arrangement is I think the very best arrangement available, simply brilliant!!. The only thing we did not like were the seats!!! The top of the range seats were OK but the next models down were very disappointing. In the end we decided it was all a bit too expensive so ended up with a Renault Grand Scenic which is an all rounder but not nearly so much of a drivers car as the Sharan.


Just another Warrior...........

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Rama

Gosh that sounds like a very fancy chair! :wchair: It ia good that you are making progress. I hope everything continues to go smoothly.

 

Gill x

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Heste

The Sharan is the SE trim with the DSG Automatic gearbox. I took one for a test drive and I really like it. We are still looking but this one ticks all my boxes.

 

Regards,

 

John :cowboy:

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Heste

Gosh that sounds like a very fancy chair! :wchair: It ia good that you are making progress. I hope everything continues to go smoothly.

 

Gill x

 

Despite it's big wheels it can turn in it's own length (or spin). I can't wait ... but A2W are going to take a few days sorting out the funding and then there is the negotiating of who pays what.

It seems to all take so long. Then I also have to order the car to carry it and have the adaptions. I could do with a fast forward button on life (and a pause button for when its all sorted).

 

Regards,

 

John :cowboy:

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derby42

Hi John

I just want to say how much i have appreciated your very descriptive posts on this topic. Its been a very interesting and informative read.


derby x

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Heste

Well, I have ordered a VW Sharan. I am very much looking forward to it (but not holding my breath as it will take about 14 weeks to build).

It will have a hoist to load the Powerchair.

I have ordered the Powerchair. this will take 4 weeks but I will not be able to use it until I get the VW. The chair will be delivered to my home rather than the office as the hoist people need to have the chair near to where the car will be when they fit the hoist.

 

My company are putting in an automatic door and raising my desk a little.

They are also trying the lone worker alarm system again. I am to have a trial of it for two weeks. It looks like an ID badge holder on a lanyard round my neck. if I fall in the office when i am on my own I can press a button on the back of the badge it calls for help. Nurses and social works have them when they visit people at home. They are a good idea but they don't work very well at home where my mobile signal is very poor. But better safe than sorry.

 

Access to Work and my company are paying me their contribution and so I can buy the chair. You sort of expect that Access to Work would do all the buying and then just hand the equipment to you but they just direct the funding.

 

I have had two sessions with the strategy coach. This is done at my home office. She (very nice young lady half my age) offers ideas and strategies for helping me manage my tasks at work. I used to be able to keep a huge amount of information in my head but fatigue seems to break down my ability to access it. In a nutshell she tells me I should write stuff down. as a technocrat this means recording things in a database on my iPad and iPhone.

She has a nasty habit of communicating with my line manager 'to get a third person opinion of my progress' but this is OK. I am sure being scared to death is probably good for him.

 

She also suggested I turn off my email while I work and only check it once every couple of hours. This is quite radical. I live in a world of instant communication but email is distracting and distraction breaks my thought processes. If anyone wants me urgently they can always phone. Well, I am giving it a try.

 

So its all happening, slowly, but its happening.

 

Regards,

 

John :cowboy:

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Nick

Brilliant to hear the news John!

Wow you will be posh!

 

E mails need some control when it comes to MS ! I don't think I have quite such a serious problem but am always amazed at just how distracting they can be ! AND I'm not working for a living!!

I will be very interested to see what you think of the new Sharan once you get it (I seem to remember that even a standard model has a bit of a waiting list .

Anyway all the assistance you are getting from A to W is clearly working well, that alone is worth sharing as I am sure other people will be encouraged to go down this route.

 

Nick


Just another Warrior...........

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Rama

Hi John,

 

Wow it certainly is all happening for you at the moment. It's good to hear that A to W are so helpful.

 

I'll look forward to hearing you get on with the Shara, hoist and chair once they are all in place.

 

Gill x

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Heste

Just a little update.

I am now the proud owner of a Euroflex DX Compact Power-chair.

It does everything I need. It can turn in its own length (spin), it can rise so I can talk face to face with people standing, it goes quite fast.

post-303-0-17321700-1382209014_thumb.jpg

However, until I get my VW Sharan it is stuck at home. Mid November I should get the car with the hoist. In the meantime I can take it for a spin around the living room and tilt in space but thats about it.

 

I have also completed my "Strategy Coaching". This has given me various strategies for helping me to manage my workload and not forget things. These are the consequences of fatigue. One of the most interesting solutions is my FileMaker Pro database that is on my computer and my iPad and iPhone. Basically it is fully customisable database so when I get a request at work to do something I add a record that I can update with its progress and generally not forget it. I used to keep this sort of stuff in my head but that seems to have black holes in it these days.

 

I will let you know when I get the car.

 

Regards,

 

John :cowboy:

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Rama

There will be no stopping you John once you are out and about with this. It looks very smart and very comfortable. I hope it opens up many avenues for you.

 

Gill x

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Heste

I collect my new VW Sharan next Tuesday.

Sadly I will have to hand back my lovely little BMW.

 

I just had my BMW serviced. I had asked Motability if they still wanted me to get it serviced as its so close to handing it back but they said if its due then do it. I had it serviced while I waited. Normally they collect and return but that takes longer and I might not have the car by then. After the service BMW reported that I must get two of the run-flat tyres replaced. Again I asked Motability if they really wanted me to do this just before returning the car but they said, yes, even if it was the last day it must have good tyres.

 

I also just had a letter from Kwik Fit saying that they now offer a mobile tyre replacement service thus making life even easier for Motability customers. How good is that? I just had to wait nearly two hours in their waiting room while they replaced my two run-flats.

 

Fortunately both BMW and Kwik Fit have free public wifi so I could work while I waited.

 

Friday the 22nd will be my first day with the VW and wheelchair in London. This is where I discover how easy it will be to park in the company garage. Fortunately the VW has front and rear parking sensors. It might not be popular with the other garage users who will have to put up with this rather long Sharan (bus) squeezed in with them.

 

One week to go!

 

Regards

 

John :cowboy:

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Great Dane

The very best of luck for the 22nd, hope you have a safe journey and that parking will not be a problem, John. Glad to hear you now have what you need to carry on working.

 

Best wishes

 

Great Dane

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Heste

I now have my new VW Sharan. Affectionately called "Thunderbird 2" or "The Hurse" or "The Bus".

"Thunderbird 2" because it delivers my power chair by means of a hoist out the back (and yes, I call my power chair "Thunderbird 4").

"The Hurse" because the VW is black with tinted rear windows.

"The Bus" because it is enormous. If it had been any wider I would not have got it down the driveway. It is so long that my little Yaris has been religated to the road outside my house.

 

On Friday I took it to the office in London for the first time. It fits in the car park OK (phew!). I then drove in my power chair from the car park to the loading bay and then up a ramp to the goods lift. The lift drops me at my floor. I go down the corridor to the now automatically opening office door and up to my desk. Easy.

 

My colleagues had stapled a "Disabled Parking Only" sign to the floor by my desk (I do like to tell people I work with children).

 

Sadly I had to give back my little BMW 1Series Sports Coupe but happily Motability just sent me a "Good Condition Bonus" of £250 in return for it.

 

So everything is just dandy....except....the hoist needed brackets added to chair. Today, while out shopping at waitrose I had to raise the chair seat a little to add clearance for the foot rests but it didn't rise up. It used to. It rises up quite high to you can talk to people who are standing face to face rather than face to belly-button. But since they fitted the brackets it now doesn't rise at all. On Monday the adaption people will be getting a call.

 

I am loving the car. It has Blue Motion Technology so the engine cuts out when you stop with your foot on the brake. As soon as you lift your foot the engine restarts. In London stop-start traffic the engine is frequently stopped. The VW salesman make a big point of showing me how to switch this feature off if I find in annoying but given that diesel is the only thing I have to pay for I love the idea of it not wasting it sitting in traffic. If the car thinks it needs the power then it don't cut the engine so on a cold morning when you are running the heaters it keeps the engine running but once its warmed the car up it starts cutting the engine whenever I stop.

 

Access to Work have been chasing me for the paperwork. There are some forms and copies of receipts I need to send them.

 

Regards,

 

John :cowboy:

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Great Dane

Hi John

 

So glad to hear your trip into work was successful and that your colleagues have a sense of humour! Hope the adaption people sort out the bracket problem.

 

Thunderbirds are Go!!!!!!!

 

Great Dane

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Nick

Good to hear your update John,

 

The Sharan sounds fab! Your niggling problems with the Chair sound very annoying and let's hope you can get them sorted quickly.

 

Nick


Just another Warrior...........

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Heste

The problem with the power chair rising was not a problem at all. Before calling the adaption people I spoke to the chair supplier about a manual (it didn't have one so they are emailing me a pdf) and I mentioned the problem of the chair not rising. They asked if I had been leaning forward while operating it. Well, I thought, yes I probably was. I was looking at the ground clearance of the foot rests. I tried sitting back in the chair and it rose up with no problem. Apparently it is a safety feature to make sure I am properly balanced. Well at least they couldn't say I should RTFM as I didn't have one.

 

So all is well.

 

The chair only just fits in the Sharan. I had an option of having ramps and a winch but I prefer the hoist. I will be getting a rubber mat for the back of the Sharan so I don't wear holes in the carpet. My BMW had worn holes in its boot space carpet from my scooter.

 

I also will need to add a protective barrier to stop the winch from rubbing on the chair while in transit before that rubs holes in the chair. It's all a bit of a steep learning curve.

 

I am getting used to the chair steering now. The furniture and walls of the office are now a little safer.

 

On Monday I took it out of its first trip through the streets in London. I went to the bank. Apart from a hole in the road that was big enough for a chair wheel to fall down (avoided) it was quite easy. You don't feel as self conscious as you might have expected.

 

Regards,

 

John :cowboy:

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