I am taking the time to go through the photos I've been taking the past couple of weeks and realize there are quite a few things I've missed putting up here.
Getting equipment for Max is always a bit of a shot in the dark. We request the insurance company for the new equipment, and hope that in half a year or so we'll get the equipment. Max started growing so aggressively this past autumn, so we had to order quite a lot since he was very quickly outgrowing his existing equipment.
We ordered a new stander, and a hospital bed so accommodate his size. On both of these pieces of equipment, I was unsure we would get them approved. So, I was quite surprised when they called us a couple of weeks before the end of the year to let us know they would be in and delivered before the end of the year!
The new stander is the brand new design of the EasyStand Bantam Medium Sit to Stand Stander. We are so pleased with the new design and new features. Max had the smaller size for five years and loved standing with it. But, he outgrew it and we didn't want to go to the adult size quite yet. We had to wait for this to be ready for market, but we're glad it wasn't too long of a wait. Max had to go a couple of months without standing because his old one just didn't fit him anymore.
When our equipment guy came out, Max wasn't altogether sure he was ready to stand up again. It's a lot of work, you know!
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| Max telling us he was "all done" as soon as we got him in the stander. |
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| With all hands on, we got him in a good position. |
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| He finally settled...and let that bubba belly hang loose! |
He got to try it out again this week in therapy. We set up his drum he got for Christmas to try to get him to focus on the music instead of the work of standing. He did a wonderful job of standing for about 20 minutes without a break.
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| He was a blur of drumming fun! |
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| Supporting Max's hand for drumming, checking out his legs for positioning advice to the new PT, and taking photos...no wonder it's a blurry photo!
The same day we got the stander delivered, they came out to deliver Max's new bed. It was quite a busy afternoon!
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| George found his way up in it pretty much as soon as we put the rail down. He doesn't like that he can't see Max when he's in there, so he'll get up in it with a leap, or will simply lay under it while we're getting Max ready for bed at night. |
And finally, we've been on the lookout for a while for a recliner that we could adapt for Max, since he's outgrown his beanbag chair, and chill-out chair. We tried a couple of times to get this recliner from a local giant furniture store, but as it turns out, their sales-people aren't all that responsive to people who have a child in a wheelchair. We complained heartedly to the manager, the two times we attempted to purchase the chair there, and wound up getting it from a lady on Craigslist.org. She was selling it for half the price brand new, which was a huge bonus. The chair is in near perfect condition, and less than a year old. When Steve met up with her to pick up the chair, she asked what we were going to do with it, and he told her about Max. She dropped the price again so all we ended up paying was $100 for this brand new chair. She said she had a son who was in an accident and in a wheelchair for 5 years, and our journey was much longer than ours. A little New Year's act of kindness!
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| It's a power recliner that lays all the way flat, and stands up. |
We've put a wedge at his knees, and a couple of bolsters on his side to keep him in well. He's loving it. He's able to sit up tall, or lean back for a rest. He's been liking visiting with his friends too. Here he is chatting with a friend on Saturday over the computer.
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| Chatting with his friend on a cold Saturday. |
We're getting there. Max likes all his new "robot helpers." He's still steadily growing, and still putting on weight. We are continuing to work at raising the funds to purchase a lift that will help us with transfers. If you have a place to share, would you help us get the word out? You can share this link: https://fundly.com/give-max-a-lift
2 comments:
Love all the new (and needed) equipment. It was awesome to see Max standing and playing the drum. Love the chair--that will be something Max really enjoys I know. How awesome for Abba to make sure you got it cheaper. The bed looks really cool too. Praying about the lift.
Max you are looking awesome in your new stander and your new bed is very cool.
Such a blessing that you were able to get a new recliner, that is on our wish list for Junior.
Wish I had money to donate towards Max lift, we will sure be praying that he can get one very soon. Junior's lifts system has made such a difference in life.
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