Re: Advice about power scooters needed! (followup from April 2005)
- From: Carole <SeattleCarole@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 11:01:37 -0700
Out here in Washington, there are disabled spaces just for vans and they are marked "van accessible". There are wide stripes next to the parking space so that there is room for the ramp.
Carole
Gwen Love wrote:
Bob, I've ridden in a van with the power side door and ramp for a handicapped person, and they are really nice. You can get a sign to put on the outside asking people not to park nearby, but the best bet is to park over the line where there isn't room for someone to park beside! Good luck with what you decide. Gwen
"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Kp6dnZ2dnZ0-qYfXnZ2dnWxrbN-dnZ2dRVn-0J2dnZ0@xxxxxxxxxx
(I thought I'd follow up on a thread from the past . . .)
"Paul T. Holland" <pholland@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
just to clarify for first timers:
Medicare part b covers 80% of the 'predetermined' allowable amount.
'you'
don't pick the model - your doctor writes the order and the vendor
matches
your medical condition with the available - allowable - models that they 'know' will be paid for.
I've been busy E-baying away, and for about $600 total bought a used
Merits
rearwheel powerchair ($350), an Everest & Jennings folding powerchair
($100)
and a Shoprider 3-wheeled power scooter ($150). My doctor knows
absolutely
nothing about scooters so I thought I would take an approach that would be both practical and educational. It took tracking a lot of auctions, learning the various E-bay categories and search techniques like "search within 100 miles of my zipcode" and patience, patience, patience. Did I mention patience? :-)
It also meant learning the secret code of E-bay auctions:
"Well used" means "ground down to a stump" and "Like new" means "the severe wear and tear is not obvious" "Runs grate" isn't mispelt, there's a grating sound when running "Small stain" means previous owner was incontinent "Was working when put into storage" means "not working now."
All three came without some necessary parts but they all came with parts that didn't even belong to them! For an average cost of $200 per chair,
I'm
not really complaining. I was afraid if we got him a new scooter or
chair,
it would sit unused like the computer or the car we bought him for fear of "breaking something."
The biggest problem I ran into was people who had invoices for scooters
and
chairs in the $6,000 range who tried to sell their chairs for starting
bids
of $2,000 or more. While I tried to educate some as to the insanity of medical equipment costs and how the list prices are wildly inflated to
cover
the discounts demanded by insurers, it was mostly a futile practice. The seller who got more than $500 for a used chair or scooter was very rare, indeed. Most auctions ended with "reserve not met." Items were often relisted three or four times with the reserve price inched lower and lower each auction.
It's just like used PC's. People think something they bought 7 years ago for $5,000 should be worth at least $2,500. They are stunned to learn
that
in many cases, they'll be charged money to haul it to a recycling center because it has virtually no resale value. I don't think some people believed me when I said a dead battery was worse than useless because in many areas you have to pay a recycling fee to dispose of them. <sigh>
Anyway, once we got the equipment, I set up some benches in the basement
so
we could recondition them. Since dad's an engineer who's always been a tinkerer, I thought that having all three used chairs to "tune up" would
be
useful in a number of ways. First I told him we were going to repair them and resell them, but my real goal was to give him a reason to ride around
in
one and to overcome his aversion to them. I sensed a great reluctance for him to admit that he needs a wheelchair. He was the same way with his hearing aid, too.
With a little help from Paul, I called around discovered that the local Wal-Mart carries scooter batteries for less than the cheapest place I
could
find on the net. (They weigh a lot and UPS charges are about 2/3 the cost of the batteries themselves!) I got a couple of deep cycle batteries, we scraped and repainted the rust, cleaned and oiled all the working parts
and
finally dropped in the new cells. We were ready to take the first "test drive."
With the chair and cover off to the side, I stepped on board like a
chariot
driver, expecting to barely move. Instead, I rocketed down the street
like
a shot; it must have been at least 12 mph. Dad's eyes lit up and was as eager as a little kid to climb on board and take his turn. We remounted
the
seat and he took it up and down the street, over to the neighbors house,
all
around the house and back. I haven't seen him smile like that in a long, long time. When he dismounted he said he hadn't been out and around in
his
own neighborhood like that for at least 5 years. I could tell he felt he had just gotten back something that had been lost to him.
With its little horn, headlight and sideview mirror it was like a boy getting his first bike. I think a lot of the satisfaction came from bringing an old, dusty scooter that hardly moved back to life. Since my Dad's gotten older, restoring things has become psychologically important
to
him in a way I didn't realize until recently. I don't think he ever got over being forced to retire early. :-(
So, thanks to all, especially Paul, for their input. We're going to put
the
Merits chair in the basement for his workshop and keep the folding chair
in
case he needs to travel.
The next big issue to resolve is transporting the scooter. I've been researching all the lifts and ramps available and the options are overwhelming. I think of all the choices, I'd like to get him something like a van with a power sliding door and a powered ramp that automatically extends.
I've seen all the smiling pictures of seniors merrily attaching their
chairs
to swing arm lifts like the Bruno models, but I don't see my Dad doing all that. I'm afraid if it's too difficult, he'll use it once or twice to
prove
he can, and then just stop. A power sliding door and ramp seem to be
about
the easiest option, and it looks like only vans with lowered floors and maybe even high tops are the only option that would allow him to drive the chair into the vehicle. I'm a little worried about side-entry doors
because
of being "parked in."
I'd appreciate people telling me what works for them. One option I considered is a back-mounted lift. But that's got a number of
disadvantages
like fussing with locks, covers, driving a longer vehicle and driving one with seriously altered driving characteristics as a result of all that weight on the bumper. The lifting part is turning out to be far worse
than
the chair selection part. <sigh>
Well, thanks for listening. Any ideas on the least troublesome way to transport a 3-wheel scooter will be greatly appreciated!
-- Bobby G.
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