Equipment Repair

 Today was a trip to Ann Arbor to the Michigan Wheelchair Service facility. It is at least a month to get an appointment with this group. Makes you realize how many people there are wheelchair bound. And this is just one service facility associated with University of Michigan Medical! 

My appointment was to repair some of the functional aspects that did not work due to failed parts on my power chair. For good historical reasons I was concerned about how they would transfer me out of the chair while they worked on it. They put Ingrid and I in a room with a new (to us) piece of equipment. It was a motorized Hoyer Lift attached to a ceiling track. Neat. The technician just put a four point sling coming down from each shoulder, under my buttocks, and crisscrossed around my legs. He pressed the up button and out of the chair I came. I was suspended and flying. He brought me over to a thinly padded exam-like table and achieved a good three point landing. He announced they would be a while doing the repair. I was still celebrating such a successful transfer I hardly noticed how uncomfortable the table was. After fifteen minutes the discomfort began to settle in. 

Thank goodness Ingrid was along to reposition my legs. Repositioning the tilt of my back was manual raising or lowering the back. Not even a manual crank but rather like a poolside recliner. I guess I’m spoiled by my motorized bed and lift chair but it does seem strange to have such a wonderful electric Hoyer and such a primitive table on which to wait.

After two hours, the technician returned with my reconstructed chair. He was laughing and asked if I was in the chair when it broke? I said I was and it was pretty scary as I was tilted backwards. It was a loud crack and I was jolted to one side. I immediately positioned the chair upright as I was worried I may be stuck and unable to move up or even move at all. He agreed it must have been scary. As they disassembled the lower part of the chair assembly they found the parts had exploded and immediately were non-functional. Now all is fixed and all functionality working. I asked whether I should be worried about a repeat occurrence. His response was, it’s unlikely but possible. I guess that’s a Michigan answer. Not anything different from what I expected and is truthful.

So I’m happy to have my chair back to original factory condition and I got to fly using another piece of medical equipment. Wonder when we will have to graduate from the sit-to-stand to a Hoyer? I want the ceiling track kind!