my brand new (& newly decorated) Ti-Lite wheelchair

[Fiona-Jane]

hiya,

i got my wheelchair on monday and cant quite believe how much easier it is to get around! planned on taking it easy for the first few weeks but failed miserably by lunchtime on monday (cracked after only 1 hour ) and so now i'm very achey, but not as bad as i thought i'd be and it's all muscle ache so will go away soon. i expect to have totally crippled myself with pain by now but obviously the exercising, physio and the crutches have been working the necessary muscles. sooo glad cos it means that i'll get the hang of getting up ramps and kerbs etc quicker. now i need to learn how to wheely without the blasted 'training wheels' (anti-tip bars that have been re-named by some of my pals), they make it harder to get over kerbs etc and got me beached as i wheeled down a dropped kerb - my training wheels and casters where on the road but my big wheels weren't! apparently it was very funny to watch me struggle.... my pals left me that way for ages before they rescued me!


i'm still totally overexcited about it! but lost track of the amount of people that decided to be wheelchair experts and decide that i'd have been better with a folding one.... totally ignoring my comments (the rigid being easier to customise (useful if you've got shorter legs and arms than normal), more stable, more hardwearing, less wiggle through the frame to dislocate my pelvis, lighter to push, easier to transfer into a car and put the chair into the car unaided... etc etc). and they seemed surprised that it's so 'sporty'. methinks they think all chairs are like the NHS tanks!


but it was boring black (no colour option available on the NHS) so i've decorated it in stickers, and some that glow in the dark! and put spoke runners and spoke stars on the wheels- the runners make a plink plink sound like a kids bike out of the 80's, and makes people look around to see where the noise is coming from- so more people notice me, decreasing the risk of me running someone over cos they walked infront of me (or stopped suddenly when i was behind them). just HAD to share my photos!

fi xx

[nemonie]

Very snazzy

[Rosie]

Just a few stickers then Fi

Rosie

[Fiona-Jane]

yep! started off as just a few but then got a tad carried away! but lots of them fell straight off (as they're cheap ) so doesnt look QUITE as crazy now.


and i don't believe in doing things in halves.... all or nothing!


fi xx

[Rosie]

no lights yet then?

[Fiona-Jane]

not yet......

[sheppeyescapee]

That looks really snazzy! How you finding pushing it so far? My worry about manual chair is wether my shoulders and wrists would be able to handle it? I tried a lightweight one with the e-motion wheels at naidex and that was fab.

[Stone]

My top tip for customising metal objects is to take them to a local place that refurbishes alloy wheels - trust me, there will be a local one They can usually bead-blast and powdercoat pretty much any size or shape of metal object, and it's not mega-expensive...OK, you may be saving up for a while but it's not remortgage-your-grandmother pricey. (guesstimate £150-200 for a wheelchair frame, it's normally about £40 a wheel)

Powdercoating is a bit like paint but made out of a rubbery plastic that is baked on once applied, so it's rock-solid and hard-wearing. Also it comes in all sorts of finishes, from shiny chrome to ludicrous dayglo colours I can see it working in neon orange...

Something to think about for the future. The hardest bit would be doing without it for a week while it's all sorted!

Stone

[DeeNJai]

Nice chair and love the stickers. I agree with you about fixed frame chairs they are easier to push than a folding chair. You use less energy by about 30% as you arent trying to the chair rigid. i wont go back to a folding chair. My NHS chair will be 7 years old in November. I need a new one but I dont think i will get one as this one is still in good condition. I also agree about the anti-tips they can be a pain in the but it stops you gets tipped out backwards. My chair is very tippy so the anti-tips are necessary because the config of the chair makes it dangerous not have them.
Dee

[Fiona-Jane]

How you finding pushing it so far? My worry about manual chair is wether my shoulders and wrists would be able to handle it? I tried a lightweight one with the e-motion wheels at naidex and that was fab.

hiya,

it's really easy to push, even on the thick carpet in my flat, but i think thats mainly to do with the spinergy wheels that are sooo much easier to push than the wheels on the kuschall i tried. and the frame is really light- only about 12lbs without the wheels (and the frame is smaller cos i've got weeny legs). i've only noticed that i struggle to get up kerbs and steep inclines but i dont hurt that much when i need to push harder so i expect it's just a matter of time to develop the necessary strength.

but my pain is sooo much lower than it used to be and so my painkillers actually work now! when i have to use the sticks the pain comes back with avengance so i expect i'm just not designed to stand! and i've noticed that as i dont have to walk into church and get dizzy on the way in, i dont get quite as dizzy when i sing. sang at mass this morning (and used the chair for the 1st time) and only got a weeny bit dizzy rather than my usual dizzy spell that means i end up on the verge of fainting. so i'm very happy today! it means i can sing more often- woo!

stone- i'd love to get that done but i'm not allowed to do anything that would permanently alter the chair, or it's appearance and as i give it back for it's services i'd have to keep getting it made back to it's original black colour. so the stickers are my next best alternative! may consider nail polish in the future but for now i'm liking the stickers

DeeNJai- my chair is naturally quite tippy too, but it's set up to be less so as i'm a beginner. but when i've been wheeling around i haven't needed to go back as far as the anti-tips yet, and when i wheely i often find the balance without using them (but they're there as backup ) so i expect i'll be able to remove them after a few months.


was sooo good to be able to sing and actually enjoy it today, and be able to get into the hall for a cup of coffee without the same stress about finding a seat, being able to stay upright long enough to find one etc. and i could move around the room and talk to various people rather than feeling stuck at my table cos i was too tired and sore to move. and several people said i looked loads more relaxed and at ease, and i feel it too. just wish i'd asked for the chair earlier- i've been missing out on the fun parts of life for so long now but not anymore! yaaaaay!


fi xx

[Stone]

Ah, in my naiveity I thought once you'd got it made up to your spec it was yours! If I need any more splints made I'm totally going to break out my emergency can of neon orange spray paint...

I'm glad it's working out for you, hope it stays good as you get more used to it

Stone

[Rosie]

Hiya

Fi, just had athought, how about little tubular socks/covers to decorate the metal bits. These could be made in bright colours and attach with something like velcro and would therefore be temporary, and washable. My wheelchair is electric blue but at 2 years old it is looking rather battered so I might have a go at something like this, I am thinking bright pruple would be good I am off on a cruise for a week soon so it ,might stop the metal bits heating up too much as well.
Hum............ off to have a think

Rosie

[Blaadyblah]

Haha... Funny, just as I was drifting off to sleep last night I was thinking about covering my wheelchair and crutches in crochet, Olek style.

[Flora]

Crochet wheels would definitely be different.
sticky back plastic? I don't see why it wouldn't work on a chair, as it works on crutches quite nicely. Mine are a lovely lilac with sparkly silver glitter bits!!

[Makeoohsothoughtful]

I would suppose mind you that puddles etc would affect these things, like stickers falling off in rain or any fabrics getting muddy or dirty, so as such that type would definitivly need to be easy removed,

i think the sticky back plastic idea sounds neat, well done