Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Nothing new here. Official status of basically everything in my life: still waiting. If you’re just tuning in to the Wheelchair Saga, you can find parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 at their respective links. This is going to be short.

Randy came out three weeks ago as of Tuesday around 3pm. The incorrect button was supposed to be shipped priority the day after he came out. It was shipped last week. I have had to be short in my emails to get updates. Yesterday, I asked for updates. The response was swift. Universal Med Supply has received the button and the new mounting hardware for the thigh pads, but there’s still no word on the thigh pads themselves. Mohamed called the wheelchair company and is waiting for them to get back to him about what’s going on with the pads. So, yeah. Still waiting.

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely first Wednesday of August? I’m grumpy and annoyed and haven’t been sleeping well at all. I called Medicaid yesterday and wasted an hour and a half of my life. Like 70 minutes of that was spent on hold. First girl was sweet but useless (they always are because I think their entire job is to transfer people to where they might need to go). She transferred me to the special escalation unit where they can answer basic questions or forward you to higher ups. I just wanted to know if my renewal was actually received. Second girl (less cheerful but also sweet) confirmed that it has been received and is actually under review. They have until November 12 to make their decision. But I really just wanted a recording saying it was received in case they try to screw me around like last year. Anyway, I’m mostly grumpy and annoyed about the wheelchair, so let’s update the Wheelchair Saga! Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 can be found at their respective links. I’ll try to be quick because (believe it or not) this is not the last installment.

A little over a week ago, a guy named Randy brought my new wheelchair out and proceeded to start setting it up for me. Yay? Not really. There were things that were wrong. First off, I can’t reach the buttons on the joystick box, so I have to order special programmable buttons just to turn my chair on and off or control the speed profiles and seating. I currently have huge buttons that I have always hated aesthetically speaking. When I found a smaller two-in-one version, I was super happy. They cost Dad $525 out of pocket, which is fucking ridiculous. But for some reason, they sent a set that only had one wire. You have to plug the buttons in to make them work. In two different ports. Otherwise, only one button works. I checked. I told Mohamed I wanted the button that had two wires, so not my fault. I don’t know if it was ordered wrong or if Sunrise (Quickie maker) sent the wrong one. Either way, Randy told Mohamed and a Quickie tech what we needed and it was supposed to be shipped the next day priority after Mohamed signed paperwork. A week ago.

Another thing wrong was that I ordered thigh support pads. I got tiny ass knee support pads. I don’t know if any of you have seen my thigh fat, but it will destroy those tiny circles the first pothole we hit that jostles me into them. They could’ve sent either of the thigh pads and it would’ve been fine. Why knee pads? Who screwed up? Probably Universal, but I can’t be positive, so all I can do is grit my teeth and wait for it to be fixed.

The only other unplanned concern I have is the arm pads. I repeatedly told Mohamed that I need wide and flat arm pads. He said he would send out some different styles and we could try to make them work because Quickie doesn’t really have wide ones. They max out at about 2, maybe 3in. But there are no extra arm pads in the stuff left behind and the ones on the chair are indeed super narrow, so that’s concerning.

Other than that stuff, the chair looks great and we will make it work. I still hate the footrest hangers. They aren’t as ugly in person, but they also don’t match anything else on the chair. It’s black, purple, and green. They’re just a couple of random silverish bars. But the reason I really don’t like them is because I can’t operate them myself. The old system (like the manual hangers pictured below) have a paddle style release on the side that I can brush against a corner and they flip the footrest out sideways. The new ones are operated by a trigger style latch, so someone has to pull the trigger and twist the footrests out. I won’t be able to do that by myself. Hopefully, that’s my only loss when I finally get in the new chair. At least it’s a pretty chair.

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are usual. The waiting game. Medicaid decided it is time for me to renew, which basically just means proving I’m still poor as well as cripple. I got everything together and sent it in. Last year they screwed me around even though I had everything faxed to them within a day of each letter I received. I called them repeatedly and was told I was fine and they had everything. Got told I was denied because I didn’t send anything in. Had to have my CLASS case manager come call in with me. Luckily, we finally got in touch with someone who knew what they were doing and that lady input everything based on what I had in fact sent in and fast tracked my approval. So, to hopefully avoid all that drama, I submitted everything online this time. We’ll see if that goes any better. Anyway, I figured I would give you a small update on the Wheelchair Saga. You can check out parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in their respective links.

We’re still in the hurry up and wait phase. Which is partly my fault. I hate the footrests that come with the Q700, so I had emailed Sunrise (they make the Quickies) to see if they could put hangers and plates from the manual chairs on the Q700. They took forever to answer, but eventually said they could do that. My chair order had only been put in a couple of days before, so I decided to ask Universal to see if they could get me what I wanted instead of the ugly ones. They asked for a hold to be put on my chair and asked if it could be done. At first it seemed like it would be fine, but it would cost extra. Then it took a week for Sunrise to randomly say no they can’t do it. I don’t know why it took so long. No idea why they can’t do it. Whatever. So, that added an extra week of waiting for nothing. The original guesstimate for delivery was 2-3 weeks. That was June 1st. Throw in the week I waited for nothing. 3-4weeks. It’s been 6 weeks.

But I did get an email from Mohamed on July 10th saying that he was told my chair had shipped from Nashville and that they should get it this week. He did inform me that even though they couldn’t get the hangers I wanted, they could do the footplates. At least they won’t be as ugly/cheap looking. Anyway, they’ll then call me to schedule the appointment to bring it out and set everything up. More waiting! Maybe I’ll have something new to report next week.

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are slow. But first and foremost, Happy Pride! Stay safe and take care of each other. Anyway, I have a little news on the wheelchair front. If you want to catch up on the Wheelchair Saga, part 1 is here, 2 is here, 3 is here, and 4 is here. There’s not much news, so this will be short!

We were just entering the wait and see period at the end of part 4. On May 21st, I got the official letter from Universal Med Supply saying they had gathered and submitted everything to my insurance and that it should take 12 to 15 business days before we get a yes or no. That same day, I got a call from someone at Universal wanting to ask me a few questions to expedite the whole process. Of course they called before I was even out of bed, which I keep telling them I won’t answer before 2pm at the earliest. Usually 3pm. So, I called them back. The oh so important questions? They needed me to confirm my address. Again. For the ten thousandth time since I’ve been dealing with them and 50th time during this process alone. Anyway…

Surprisingly, it only took about 5 business days to get approval. Mohamed called me this previous Friday to let me know. He called early, but actually left an extension so I could call him back directly instead of playing phone tag. We went over everything that will be out of pocket and Dad paid for that stuff. Then, we went over everything else one more time. And he placed the order with Quickie on the 1st. The time frame guestimate for building the chair and getting it in is two to three weeks, so it’s still a waiting game on my end. Universal is supposed to call and schedule a delivery/set the chair up appointment when they get it. More after that happens!

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are usual. I wasn’t really planning on doing an update this week, but I’m running super late and have nothing to ramble about, so I thought a quick rant wouldn’t hurt. There’s actually A LOT I’d like to rant about, but I’ll try to keep it short. If you want to catch up on the Wheelchair Saga, part 1 is here, 2 is here, and 3 is here. We ended our journey last time waiting for an appointment with an ATP.

Dad and I thought we knew the ATP, which we did, but it was the wrong dude. The one we thought it was knew his stuff and if he didn’t, he knew how to find out. Sadly, it wasn’t him. It was the sales dude turned ATP from last time. In the 8 years since we last saw him, I will say he’s still more of a salesman than an ATP. Dude barely breathes lest someone else get a word in edgewise. He was completely unprepared for our meeting. Personally, if I were going to a meeting about a chair that I knew nothing about, I would’ve at the very least taken a few minutes to familiarize myself with the order forms in those two weeks before the appointment. Actually, I probably would’ve done stupid amounts of research and made a nuisance of myself to the Quickie sales people until they put me in touch with a tech I could at least video call during the appointment to help me and the client. But I’m super anal, so I don’t expect people to do what I would’ve done. I do expect a basic effort though. Dude just decided to wing it.

At some point, he asked why I was getting a new chair. When I told him it was because something was draining my batteries, he proceeded to mansplain how to charge batteries like five different times. Not just to me. To Dad. Like Dad hasn’t spent the majority of his life maintaining batteries for me and his tools and everything else that uses them. Grrrr. It didn’t help that he didn’t really know much about how chargers work.

But yeah. He’s now on vacation for a week. So, I’ve been emailing with the Mohamed dude about corrections and last minute changes. I got most of what I need supposedly except a flat back, so I’m at the point where I’m tired and don’t really care anymore. I’ll figure it out when everything gets here. Once everything is settled about what’s possible and what needs changes, they will submit everything to Medicare/Medicaid for authorization. That means more waiting. I’ll update when I know things!

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are busy, yet slow. It’s weird. Anyway, I promised you an update on the Wheelchair Saga, so updated you shall be. If you want to catch up on the whole thing, you can find part 1 here and part 2 here. Yeah, it’s still going. We haven’t even gotten to the fun part (picking colors and going over everything I need). Last time, I had just had my “Mobility Evaluation” and we were waiting on next steps. Let’s go from there.

First, I waited for emails that never came. When I finally got frustrated, I sent an email to the sales eligibility address asking what was going on. Sales dude no longer worked for the company. I found out on April 28th. Today, I found out he was actually the lead dude of his department and was well liked and pretty much the most knowledgeable dude there, but he resigned for unknown reasons. I completely don’t blame him, but I wish someone would’ve let me know. Anyway, now I’m in touch with someone called Kajal who is nice and gets things to whoever can answer my questions if he can’t. So far, anyway. There’s still a long way to go in the process.

While I was waiting for emails that never came, Universal Med Supply did get me scheduled for a PT assessment. Yet another instance of proving I’m cripple enough. It was a video visit, so at least I didn’t have to be touched or anything. That was on April 22nd. The dude was nice enough, but I guess he didn’t read the pre-check-in paperwork because he had no fucking clue I have one of the Muscular Dystrophies even though I mentioned it on every single page. I was talking to him for 20 minutes under the assumption he knew my diagnosis when he finally asked what had brought all my symptoms about. Me: “… I have Muscular Dystrophy.” Him: “Well, that explains everything.” No duh, my dude. Read your paperwork next time. It’s like doctors and everyone else think we fill out that paperwork for fun or something. Ugh.

Once that was done, apparently Universal sent even more paperwork to my PCP for signatures and supporting documentation to really reinforce the fact that I’m cripple. She bitched about it at our appointment (check-up, not chair related). Dad kind of thinks she was upset about it, but I think I’m just her first severely cripple patient and she had no idea we go through so much just to prove we’re cripple. It flabbergasts people, even doctors, the shit we have to go through because of insurance and the state just to get basic needs met. It’s a lot.

Anyway, Universal said the last step before everything can be submitted for approval is for an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) to come out. Originally they said it was to make sure the house was wheelchair friendly, which is stupid. I’ve been here all my life. Of course Dad made it accessible. They called on April 29th to set up the visit for May 1st. I told them I needed an afternoon appointment, preferably after 3pm. They were supposed to call me back to confirm. Nada. I called them on the 30th. No one knew what was going on, so they were supposed to call me back by the end of the day. Still nothing. On the 1st, after I figured no one was coming, I sent an email to Kajal that laid out my availability for this week. Nothing. On the 5th, I sent a tersely worded “what’s going on?” He emailed me to ask if this Friday would work. Nope. I already have an appointment that day which is why it wasn’t an option on my list of availabilities. Eye twitch.

As you can probably guess, I’m super annoyed by now. Finally, some dude named Mohamed calls me. He’s rambling about how they need to send two ATPs because I have some seating thing called PinDot. It takes me a couple of tries to stop his monologue long enough to tell him I don’t have that. They tried to coerce me into getting it with my last chair despite me telling everyone that I despise molded seats and they don’t work for me. Ultimately, I tried to do the fitting, but stopped there once the guy doing the fitting finally realized it wasn’t going to work for me. Just listen to me in the first place, please. So, I finally got it through to Mohamed that I don’t have that, I just have a Roho Quattro bottom seat and standard flat back. Apparently, that made everything easier. They’re supposed to send out an ATP on Friday the 15th after 2pm. It’s someone we’ve worked with before who knows his stuff, so that makes me feel much better. He’s supposed to fill out the order forms and go over everything I need and want. Also, Mohamed confirmed all by himself that they’re ordering a Quickie Q700 M and sent me the order forms so I can go through them beforehand (I’ve been researching this chair for months, so I have them, but I appreciate the confirmation that he’s looking at the correct chair).

In summary: there were some annoyances, but not as many as I was expecting. It’s not over, though. They have most of what they need to prove I’m cripple enough besides what the ATP needs. Other than some lapses in communication, things are going suspiciously smooth. After the ATP, there will be a waiting game. Waiting for insurance approval. Waiting for the chair to be built. Waiting for any adjustments to make it possible for me to use the chair. Then, the period where my body adjusts to everything. But right now, I just need to get through the ATP appointment on the 15th. More later!

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are happening. Dad’s been trying to get a generator installed and everything is happening all at once with that this week. I also had my “Mobility Evaluation” with my PCP yesterday (April 14th). So, I thought I would give you all a quick update on the Wheelchair Saga (part 1 is here). Don’t worry. The post will be almost as quick as my appointment!

According to my previous post, we left off after my phone interview with Universal Med Supply. After that, I received like ten reminders to go to my doctor’s appointment. As if I’m the unreliable one in this situation. Although, I will admit that Universal surprisingly did what they said they were supposed to do. They sent the doctor the paperwork and even got in touch with the office to explain exactly what is needed. Before the actual appointment. Color me impressed. Not that I would’ve known any of this if I was relying on them to keep me updated. Luckily, my doctor’s office has been fabulous about letting me know when they receive things and generally keeping me updated on their end, so I didn’t bother the sales dude at Universal too much. I did send him one email over the two week wait to let him know my doctor had confirmed she’d gotten the paperwork for my appointment. But not my usual amount of pestering people for updates.

The appointment itself was super short. We got in early and were out within 30 minutes (total). Everything the doctor needs was stuff she could pull from my chart. Granted, I’ve only been seeing her a year and a half or so, but she took over the practice from my previous doctor. The doctor who delivered me. So, new doctor has 40 years worth of charts on me if she needs them. Mostly, Universal insisted she get a height and weight for me, both of which are in my charts. Apparently she asked if she could just use my last visit info so I wouldn’t have to come in (I saw her for a 3 month check up in February and go back for another in May), but that wasn’t acceptable. And what do you think the paperwork was all about? That’s right. It’s to prove that I’m cripple enough that I deserve a wheelchair (the only means of existing outside of a bed for me), but not so cripple that I should just be put of my (read: everyone else’s) misery. The doctor seemed surprised by this, but it’s the same thing I have to prove every single time I need something. It doesn’t matter what I need. I have to prove I’m cripple enough. Even though my diagnosis is one of the “never getting better” ones. It’s like insurance makes things as difficult as possible in the hopes that you to get tired of fighting and just fade away. Oh wait. They do. But anyway, the appointment went well.

I have an email out to the sales dude asking what the next step is, whether they have behind the scenes stuff to do, what I have to do, etc. It was after 6:30pm when I sent it, though, so maybe I’ll hear back tomorrow (today?). Wednesday, as I sent it on Tuesday. We’ll see. I’ll do another update when I know what’s going on.

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this lovely first day of April? Things here are okay, I guess. We aren’t doing April Fool’s because this year has been enough of a joke. Anyway, I recently mentioned that I was going to try to get a new chair soon. My current chair is starting to throw random hissy fits and being a general drama queen. She’s almost 8 years old and I’m not exactly the easiest person to live with, so it’s time for a new one. I’ve just been putting it off. I tried to find a new supplier, but ended up just asking the one who got me my current chair. I had reasons for not wanting to work with them again (mainly because they try to foist Invacare chairs off on people, namely me), but the other companies I reached out to either didn’t answer emails or were beyond useless, so I just stuck with the company that I know. I just have to be firm about what I need and want. So, here’s how it’s going so far…

On March 26th (we’ll call that day 1 of the process), I emailed Universal Med Supply (the company that got me my current chair). My Quickie S636 is no longer in production, so I did research and ended up deciding I want a Quickie Q700 M with basically what I have on my current chair. There are a couple of things I couldn’t find online (the back cushion I currently have and the light up wheelie bar casters, for example), so they might not be available anymore, but most of it seems doable. Medicare/Medicaid is supposed to cover Quickies. Anyway, I explained what I wanted in my email and asked if they could do it. The service department forwarded my email to the sales department. I guess they didn’t realize I was CCed because they hemmed and hawed and ended the email by saying if they couldn’t get the chair, they would just tell the patient (me) that they only had Jazzy chairs. I wrote back that I know my chair isn’t made anymore and that the one I want is a new model and don’t try to foist a Jazzy off on me. Again, this is the company that tried to pawn off an Invacare chair they had in stock on me last time. After I called them out, I got an email, text, and phone call from a sales dude who thinks they can get the chair. He did apologize and informed me they don’t even have Jazzy chairs, then he mentioned another chair I’ve never heard of that they have in stock as a back up. In no uncertain terms, I politely told him I want a Quickie and nothing else. He believes they can do it.

The first step in the process was to schedule a “Mobility Evaluation” with my PCP (primary care physician). Sales dude said to schedule it for two weeks out because Universal is supposed to use that time to interview me, get the paperwork together that the doctor will need, then get in touch with the doctor to go over everything. I made my appointment on Monday for a couple of weeks from now. Universal called me yesterday (the 31st) to ask a bunch of questions they should already have the answers to. The woman who did the interview did explain that she had to go over everything because it’s been 8 years since I got a chair, so Medicare/Medicaid requires updated information even though I’m never going to get any better. She then proceeded to text me a picture of an Invacare chair to make sure it was what I wanted. I told her I want the Quickie Q700 M and texted her a link to the Sunrise Medical page. Explained that was what I want with tilt and recline. She said okay.

I emailed sales dude right after the interview to find out what my next steps are and make sure they’re going to get in touch with the doctor and why that lady had an Invacare chair listed instead of the Quickie. He didn’t know why she had the wrong chair, but assured me that he has told everyone what I want and that the “field operations” team definitely knows. Supposedly, they’ll be getting in touch soon for some reason. It’s unclear to me why at the moment. But for now, I just have to wait until the doctor appointment. That means I’ll probably pester sales guy next week to make sure they got in touch with the doctor. But mostly, I’ll be spending the next few days making a list of everything I want and need, plus any questions we have, so I don’t forget anything when they come out to prepare to actually order the chair.

Initial summary of the process thus far: this is the main part where I have to prove I’m cripple enough. I have to do this so very often that it is tedious and annoying. Also, throughout the entire process, I will have to metaphorically stand my ground about wanting a Quickie and not let them try to give me something I don’t want. Yes, I’m a Quckie girl. Yes, it’s basically like Ford vs. Chevy. But also, Quickie is still the only legit brand I found that offers motors that go 8 mph. Sure, you can get something that looks like a manual chair strapped to a riding lawn mower base that says it goes 12 mph. I mean, I’m Texan, but I’m not that particular brand of Texan. A legit company covered by insurance and 8 mph motor upgrades (probably not covered, but I’ll try) is good enough for me!