Anita's New Wheelchair: Size And Shape Matters

Watch Below Our Bracket Investigation Video

Okay, it has been ten days  since my last wheelchair update (click here to see.) Wanting to be able to review the various components to this complex Power chair, I thought I would share where we are at so far. It isn't fair to give any reviews because some components like the back, still needs adjustments. However, I can say what I think so far.

More than just I, Benefit from a comfortable fitting headrest

It is important to remember that when sitting in a new wheelchair, to not to make judgment calls immediately. For instance, the day I got to go back into the "saddle," I told my sales person everything felt pretty comfortable. She knows from experience, and I too am learning, that you can't tell if something is going to be comfortable until you have used it or sat in or on it, for at least 24 to 48 hours. Perfect case in point. Remember the story of the first cushion we tried? Within minutes I thought it would be okay, but after one hour, I was pleading to get off of it!
Today I want to focus on the state of my newest headrest...
Talk About The Headrest 

The newest one: Now why won't this go in easily?

I mentioned in the last post about my new chair, it was my third attempt, trying out a new headrest and bracket. The first two headrest pads that we tried, caused my head to have numb spots and even pain at times when tilting for any length of time. We've all had our legs or arms fall asleep, imagine it happening to your scalp! Who knew pins and needles could happen there too. I am happy to report, the new larger size, along with a deeper curve has left my head with all of its feeling intact, at all times. :o)  That's a good thing in a headrest.

Clearly my lumpy and large head needed more support and padding. We went from a ten inch to a fourteen inch wide "PLUSH" model from Whitmyer. Size matters when it comes to headrests. Having the right size, is a huge improvement. Ten days later and still loving the comfort of it.  Still waiting for the sheepskin cover, then it will stand up for it's name, PLUSH!

The rectangle hole that
should be a square.

ONE PIECE, MANY PARTS...Headrest pads don't stand alone. They need to be mounted on brackets, that make them removable from the chair's back, as well as adjustable. For instance we remove my head rest every time I need to transfer, in or out of my wheelchair. It is in the way otherwise.

Shape Matters
Unfortunately on day two,   when I went to tilt my wheelchair back, the headrest moved back and forth, not locking, no matter how tight we turned the lever knob. Puzzled and surprised, we tried to figure out what was going on. Wanting to see what was happening, I got Craig to film it (watch my poor quality video at top of the post)
Turns out, as you can see in the video at the top of this page (sorry for the quality- still waiting for my YouTube appeal to come through) and photos,

the post is square and is inserted into a rectangle shape, therefore leaving too much room so the headrest cannot be properly secured, leaving room to shift back and forth.
Solution
For now, we have been making it work.
As soon as my salesperson returns from vacation, hopefully they can get the correct part and my comfy sheepskin cover will be in!


Next time for my chair Update...I want to have some Back Talk!

Thanks for stopping by!

Old Faithful- My 12 Year Old Invacare Arrow Power Chair In Motion!

For research purposes, I just made a video (down below) of how perfectly my "Old Faithful" Invacare Arrow." TT (True Trac), Gearless Brushless motors, with Power Tilt Seating (there is a 2GT sticker on the base-not sure what that means), can manoeuvre and stop perfectly and smoothly when going downhill.

Old faithful when it was new!

Old Faithful definitely in need of new seating, 

but motors and controls work great after all these years.

Yes, I am still loving my brand new Invacare Arrow GT (NOT gearless brushless motors - can't remember the type right now.) My new one is a great chair, seating is better for my back. Like I mentioned before, it takes time to get everything fitted and the settings all programmed to the client's needs. It may be the newness, since mine was so old, the brakes are super super "grabby," when I even release the joystick a teeny weeny bit. So we are trying to figure out why and how to adjust it. It works fine on level surfaces and even up hills. I am sure it is just on of those things and will be all fixed up soon. It is at the shop now getting checked out. The great thing is, I have a reliable chair for back up when the other one needs to be worked on :0)

I don't have a video of the new one in motion, but see how smooth O.F. is!

Watch The Smooth Ride Below