Seating...

We met Max's DME guy this week, along with his PT to talk about next seating options for Max.

In the year and a half that we've had his wheelchair, he's gotten to the extent of it's growing and we're having to reorder a new seat for it. The base will grow two more times, so maybe a couple more years.

We're changing the foot plate,since he likes to kick constantly, with a more rubbery piece. The seat will be changed out for a custom seat that will hopefully keep him in place for longer. The more he kicks and thrusts his pelvis forward, the more out of position he gets. And changing out the pelvic strap for a four point strap to hold those hips back into place.

This is how he always looks in his wheelchair. Scooched forward too much, a gap in the back of the seat, and him kicking at the footplate.


Then we talked about more comfy seating. Max doesn't go to school because of his allergies to immunizations. So we're home all the time with him. That means we need more seating options than just his wheelchair. In fact, his wheelchair is probably his last choice of place he likes to sit. But because his "comfy" seating is absolutely not working for us these days, we have to keep him there more often.

Because this is how he's sitting in his "comfy" seats...




Safe looking, huh? Yeah...both of these photos were taking after I had left the living room for minutes...literally long enough to walk into my bedroom to get something and back out. I always keep the camera close by because I never know what he's going to do next.

So, I can't leave him unoccupied (for a shower, or to do house-work) in his wheelchair, because he'll kick at the foot plate and hurt himself, and get out of position. And his chill-out chair is just not safe for him to sit in without us right beside him, repositioning him literally every few minutes.

And then, there is his wedge chair. This photo is extra wonderful, since the owner of Unishape had just left after helping us with positioning, and Max wouldn't show him or his PT how he gets all wonky in his wedge chair! This is Max strapped in...


We've since gotten a pelvic strap for the wedges, but he wriggles right out of it the same way.

We decided on the next size up of his Special Tomato seat. He's outgrown the one he has for a while now. We've tried Frankensteining a couple of pieces together to make it work longer, because this chair has by and large been the best one we've ever had. But it is just too small for him, and not comfortable.


We're ordering the large size. It will be the same as his original one, in that it will go from house, to car, to wheelchair, to airplane, all in one.

Then we started talking about strollers. The wheelchair is good, when it fits him...but sometimes we just feel like strolling, jogging, being out in the sun! That means we need a jogger type stroller. It goes over the grass and trails easier. Which is something we have in Colorado!

Here is the jolly green giant in his stroller now...

Just call him Fred Flinstone! He'll be propelling that thing with his feet in no time!

We are going to try out an Axiom stroller, which is like a donkey cart, but big enough to hold him. We're waiting on the sample to get in so we can fit him in it and see if I can see over the top of it to push him. You think I'm kidding? It's actually a "con" of the chair in every review I've read!

So, we've got that all on order...and still we're sitting here with nothing new. And we likely won't have anything for months. Because it will all have to be ordered...then denied...then re-submitted...then denied...then re-submitted again and USUALLY approved. But if not, then we'll have to appeal in court, which is happening more and more when it comes to durable medical equipment.

In the meantime, we'll keep him in his wheelchair as long as he'll tolerate it, and will be on the lookout for some sort of recliner type chair big enough to hold him!