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Wheelchair Update
A year and a half in and I’m still tweaking my “new” chair. Finally, I think I have it good enough. Are there still aspects I’m not crazy about? Absolutely. Next go round I don’t think I’ll be sticking with the fwd, but not much I can do about that misstep now. Finally, I got the joystick mount I wanted and a waterfall armrest! They do exist.
From the moment I got my chair, the Permobile F3, I hated the flat hard arm pads. Voicing my concern, they replaced them with flat, less but still hard and now grippy arm pads. Not cool. To get what I wanted took another consultation, lots of waiting and a little ingenuity at installation. I’m not mechanical whatsoever so can’t tell you exactly what they did, but with some kind of adapter they were able to give me the waterfall arm pad I wanted. No more armrest with corners to dig into me, yay!
The look of disappointment on my face indicated the new joystick mount wasn’t what I hoped for. Although it locked in position, it didn’t swing both ways and wasn’t spring loaded. Luckily the rep had the one I had in mind on his truck. I talked him into trading before he installed the bad one even though it meant finagling it to fit. Almost like Apollo 13, fitting a square peg into a round hole. Success! I think he liked the challenge and my expression when it worked made it worth the effort.
Of course, the new joystick mount meant adapting the Jaco control mount. He did the best he could, but after the rep left it basically fell off. With the help of my PCA and Velcro we moved the screen and switches. If everything holds it might be better now than originally.How long does it take for you to adapt a new chair? It might be a never-ending process, but for now I think it’s about as good as I can get it. Three and a half years to decide if I want to start all over again.
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9 Replies
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I also have the Permobile F3, my second.
The chair seems ok, but I am still not as comfortable going out in it. The first I was willing to go out, go shopping on my own, go for a nice roll through the woods near me, BUT this chair feels less stable somehow.
Perhaps I am weaker, maybe the lifting mechanism has changed, but whatever it might be, I don’t trust the chair not to tip when on uneven surfaces.Ultimately, I think it might just be that never ending frustration of not quite good enough.
Sorry for your continuing challenges, but glad you have been able to make some headway on getting the chair better for yourself.-
I don’t feel as stable with this chair either. Pinpointing why is challenging. Would you go with another F3 down the road or would you go for something different next time?
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I also have the Permobil F3 and don’t particularly care for it. Like Dennis said, it feels very unstable. When I got my chair I took the seat off my old wheelchair and put it onto this one. The only way I’d get a new wheelchair is if they allowed me to do that because I hate having to readjust and get comfortable with something new. Well, somehow it backfired because I don’t fit in the same seat on the new chair at all. I feel like I’m going to fall out of it all the time. Been trying to schedule an appointment for a new seat for months now and still waiting. I got my wheelchair right before the pandemic started so I put getting adjustments on hold for a while.
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Unstable is a good word. It’s so frustrating when you try so hard and it still isn’t right. Do you think they just have the angle wrong with how they installed it? Was your previous chair an F3? I have a few years to think on it but trying to decide if should switch it up or try to settle.
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My previous chair was an F3. The only difference was that with my last chair I had anterior tilt (chair tips forward). As I needed to pay out of pocket for that feature $7500, I decided to forego it. I now realize that I used it every single day and miss it terribly.
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My parents have tried to angle the seat cushions a thousand different ways but nothing has helped. I finally got an appointment for a new custom mold on September 8th. I didn’t want to go this route because I don’t like having to adjust to new things but I can’t take it anymore. My last chair was a C5.
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Gee, this topic resonates with me…A LOT. I can empathize with everyone here.
At a “seating modification/consultation” appointment a few weeks ago, the rep was adamant that my cushion was under-inflated. He was likely correct, but he then pumped up the cushion so much that I had hip pain after a few hours sitting on it. Sigh
He also strongly recommended a molded seating system, but I’m not convinced that will be comfortable, AND I would have to change the transfer method I’ve been using for decades…..so, no, no big changes for me….at least not yet.
I’ve had my chair and cushion since January 2019, and the biggest reason I did it then was because my scoliosis had gotten worse and since I needed a new seating arrangement I got the reclining back and leg elevators (finally, I saw the need!). I’ve probably had fewer wheelchairs in my life than most SMA adults and I really don’t look forward to picking out new ones at all!!!
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I’m not sure I could do a molded seat either. On the one hand it sounds enticing and I do love my molded backrest. On the other hand it seems like it could cause problems if I wasn’t sitting just right. Plus, like you mentioned transferring might pose a problem. Ugh, it’s so hard to know.
As my disability has progressed more and more I’m like bring on the bells and whistles where my chair is concerned. Curious, for someone who’s been ambulatory, do you think you’re more resistant to new features? I’m already finding I missed the boat on a few things that might’ve been beneficial, but at the time I was like I don’t need that.
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DeAnn, great question! (Sorry for a long reply, but I’m reminiscing.)
Yes, I think there’s only one time in my life that I absolutely “(figuratively) jumped” into a power wheelchair…..which was when I was in my sophomore year at college.
My freshman year, wayyyyy back in 1974, I walked the (Upstate New York) small college campus, and it was positively exhausting! I didn’t really consider any other means of getting around. Then, sadly, my younger brother with SMA type 2 died in March of 1975 and his (very expensive Everest and Jennings) power wheelchair was no longer being used.
In the Fall of 1975 my parents lugged that power wheelchair off to college with me, and I was overjoyed!! That heavy “beast” slipped on ice patches, BUT I was safely sitting down!!
After my undergraduate years, I left the “beast” at my parent’s house. It was probably the mid-1980s that “on a whim” my husband and I stopped at an out-of-town DME supply (while on vacation) and decided on-the-spot to purchase a “demo” small adult power wheelchair so I wouldn’t have to walk long distances (for instance, on vacations). We purchased an accessible minivan, too.
I used that power wheelchair in town on weekends (for Mall shopping, lol) and on vacations for probably 10 years (!!), before I became more comfortable using wheelchairs and started using one on a daily basis. Now I can’t live without it. Oh My, how my life has changed!!
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