hipfake08;4469756 said:
Cost aside. What do you think about every day navigation in the real world with non flat areas.
Say from parking lot to car.
House to car.
Going over door lips - bottom bumps.
Keeping it erect.
Storing it in car.
Get to a place with a power outlet.
Would it be better to adapt it to the Segway type of ride?
It makes me wonder why they didn't show him going up any curb cutouts, ramps, lips, etc. I would think you would have to be in the sitting position for those type of things based on the tipping factor of it. And to pull yourself up like he did you have to have a lot of upper body strength because you are pulling your body and part of the machine up with you. They hydraulics on it looked pretty decent though.
Power Chairs can weigh anywhere from 2-300 lbs so if this thing has a motor/battery pack like one of them it is going to be heavy to move. My stander is pretty heavy, but it's bigger than this thing, but no way I could move it into a car. This thing would have to collapse and remove the battery for us to fit it into any type of vehicle. You have to factor in the time it takes to do all that and factor how many times a day do you really want to do that. A lot of manual chairs can be collapsed down in seconds and/or are small enough to just pull across you into the passenger seat or seat behind you. I'd have to see more of it to rule on it for car purposes.
Functionally, it would be great around the house to reach things, cooking, etc. I reorganized my closet this weekend with a reacher. OMG -- what a pain in the butt that was, but I did it. Be nice to be able to reach the top and move clothes with out my reacher.
I think I can wheel faster then that thing moves from what I saw in the video. And you are SOL if you run out of power or batteries. You can usually find an outlet somewhere, but then you have to sit there and wait for it to charge. That's why I refuse to move into a power chair. At least in my manual if I can't push it myself, someone can help me if need be. Someday, when I am OLD I'll probably be in one, but hoping it's a while before I am forced into a power chair. The weight gain alone keeps me out of one.
Hostile;4469870 said:
Kristi, I agree that it is a pretty cool invention. Can you ever see yourself using something like that? I couldn't for my Mom, who was also confined to a wheelchair the last 7 years of her life. I hope people who want them are able to get them. I see where especially around the house and cabinets that it could be such a boon.
I don't see myself in something like that since I can't stand without passing out. My blood pressure on a good day runs 90/50ish. If I'm lucky I can get over a 100. I was in a spinal cord study for 8 weeks and got me in a stander 3 times a week and we tried everything to keep me standing. Working out first, eating something salty before I came, etc. At one point I had a therapist and blood pressure cuff on each arm and neither could get a reading. Put the blood pressure machine on me and bottomed out and zero. That's when they say OK -- it's time for you to sit down and get some color back in your face!
I have asked doc to put me on a BP med so I can have a higher BP to stand, but since I am so healthy from a Lupus stand point he doesn't want me to put on anything. Just told me to eat more salt and I hate salt on anything! Standing is good for bone density and since I have broken my leg twice now you would think they would encourage it more. It's funny, before I got paralyzed I was on medication for high blood pressure and when I got hurt they were pumping me full of straight ephedrine just so I could sit in a chair without passing out.
As zrinkill said -- technology has come along ways. There are these robotic legs you can hook yourself up into now. It looks robotic so I don't think that's for everyone either.
And then there is scientific research too. It's not going to help everyone, but I hope it helps someone. I don't put all my eggs in one basket, but I hope there is a cure or at least some function back in my future. A little bit would go a LONG ways. I also don't think about this often -- life's too short. I don't want to rush research and risk something like getting cancer, etc.
