CAREGIVING: On Thursday Bob our new physical therapist came with a wheelchair expert named John to assess and hopefully get us a new chair for Kathy. The idea will be to convince Medicare, MassHealth (Medicaid) and probably Health New England (her Medicare Advantage plan) that it is a necessary piece of equipment due to her Huntington’s Disease. Best case is it will get approved and we can have it eventually. It could take two or three months to get all the approvals.
I was pretty amazed by all the possibilities. It is a little like buying a new car. The actual type of chair was pre-determined by Kathy’s disease. No need for a power chair; Or a chair with hand wheels; Or a racing or basketball wheelchair. This one looks like a cross between our little transport chair and a scooter without a motor. Rather than being a reclining chair, it rotates in space so I will be able to make her more comfortable. And clean her teeth better, too. We picked the color (purple). The cushions and parts are all selected à la carte. You decide the width and height off the ground. The back will have side support panels to keep her straight. Because we are not getting hand wheels it will still go through the doors in the house. It will fit through the bathroom door as far as the toilet. It won’t go past the toilet to the bath tub. So, we will need to use the chair we have for that. Realistically, it probably won’t leave the house too often. To get it into the RAV I will need to knock it down and take it apart to make it light enough to lift. It is easy to do, but I have enough trouble just getting Kathy to her appointments. At that point a wheelchair van or bus might need to pick us up. Now we just wait and hope we have many days to use it down the road. 🙂 