Author: Dan

MDA / Quest Vol 10 No 2 / As the Wheel Turns…

This article talks about the kind of wheelchair that I’d like, a manual chair that has power assist.

I have a scooter that I use to get around campus with, and I also have a manual chair. But once I start driving again all probably just use the manual chair. UT has some monster hills, and there are no flat places, there’s always a bit of an incline no matter where you are.

Unfortunately, these chairs cost around $6000. But around this campus it would definitely be worth it. There are also cheaper options.

I have a power chair that I’ve never used, simply because it’s hard to transport. Also, manual chairs, even power assisted ones, give you that sense of doing something, of not giving up.

Last week was a busy one. Between therapy and classes something had to give. So I cut back to one day a week of therapy and dropped the stats class I was taking. Now I don’t feel quite so stressed and hopefully I’ll be less exhausted.

I’ve also made progress on the quest to drive again. I have an on the road driving evaluation February 3. I’ve also made progress in getting state vocational rehabilitation to pay some of the costs of training and equipment.

Friday night through yesterday Stephanie and I went to an Engaged Encounter. It was a long weekend and 90% of the information and activities wasn’t helpful. The other 10% helped a lot. We talked about things that probably wouldn’t have come up otherwise. For example, if saw wielding aliens are after you, just make peace with your creator and give up.

Well, I finally made it to the eye doctor the driving evaluation people at Patricia Neal wanted me to see. And guess what? There isn’t a thing wrong with my eyes that should stop me from driving. My eyes work a little differently than most people’s, but that’s not a result of the wreck, that’s just me. I have a valid driver’s license and 20/20 or better vision and now a doctor has said my eyes are fine. So now maybe they’ll teach me how use hand controls.

I’ve wasted over a month waiting for a doctor to confirm what I’ve been saying all along. Now my only problem is how to pay for the lessons. I still haven’t been able to figure that out and haven’t been able to talk to the right people to help me figure it out either. At least I probably don’t have to play for the visit to the eye doctor today.

To top it off, it looks like I’m going to lose TennCare, or at least have my benefits reduced. But any changes to TennCare probably won’t happen until April, according to the state’s website. So we’ll see what happens.

I’m just glad that TennCare has gotten me this far. My medical bills since the wreck have been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. Thankfully all the major stuff is behind me (I hope) and the only thing TennCare is paying for now is a prescription or two, the occasional doctor visit and therapy. But therapy is still a major expense that I couldn’t pay myself. So I want to hang on to TennCare as long as I can, or at least have some kind of insurance if I lose TennCare.