Antonio's New Wheel Chair!!

After waiting for many months and a long drawn out fight with Medicaid it is finally here!

Antonio's old chair had gotten way to small and was a brand of chair we had not ever used before.  We have had to tighten every screw and bolt on it constantly and fix it, from the first month we got it, years ago.  It did not hold up to normal wear and tare of a child.  I have had to patch and repatch places.  I have been embarrassed of his chair for a long time because it looked so bad.  Antonio wore thru the seat, back and head rest padding in a very short period of time.  We have limped along with that chair for years. 

This time we went back with a brand of chair we really love.  It is called Quickie Zippy.  We have had many of them and they have been great.  We went with a different brand of chair last time because it was the only chair that would fit in our van. This time around Quicky Zippy came out with a new lower chair called the IRIS.  Praise God! 

Vans with wheel chair lifts are very expensive.  Especially, ones that will also fit our very large family.  We have, over the years, bought many run down vans and buses with lifts that we could afford but had to really put a lot of work into them constantly to keep them running.  Some with no heat or air conditioning.We drove them into the ground till there was hardly any fixing left.

Two of our old buses we drove years ago next to my son Stephens truck.

My favorite bus we ever owned.  The kids called him Clifford the big red bus.  

The van we have now, we found for sale by a family that had taken a regular large family van and put the lift in themselves, for their handicap daughter.  When their daugher sadly passed away, they sold the van to us.  I could tell it was a hard thing for them to sell this van but it brought them a little joy to know it was going to a family that would use the lift for a child, like their daughter.  Their daughter was very young and had a very small wheel chair.  So she didnt need much head space in the van.  It is a great van and the best, most newish, large, wheel chair accessable, vehicle I have ever owned.  I feel very pampered driving it. 

We are very grateful for this van.  It has both heat and air, something that we really need here in the deep south.  Especially, with handicap children that are heat sensitive.  

What we have run into now, that Antonio is the size of an adult and grown, is that most handicap vehicles have a raised roof or lowered floor to have more head space.  This one does not.  It was simply a normal van with a lift put in it.  Antonio barely fits in this van.  But praise God he does fit with a little work, so we are grateful.  We are all grateful that this new IRIS does barely fit.  We have to tip Antonio back to get him in and then set him up inside and push him forward.  His feet go under the seat ahead of him or the back door won't close.  The ceiling is pretty close to his head but a safe distance.  One tight squeeze.  We also are a tight squeeze seatwise.  All 9 seats are now occupied (more on that at the end of this post!) including the jumpseat that folds down next to Antono's wheel chair.  In order to put the jump seat down next to his chair, we have to manually lift and shift Antonio's chair over a few inches.

So here is Antonio's new Quickie Zippy IRIS! 

It fits his body perfectly and he is more comfortable than he has been in years!  We are so very grateful for it and it has made a huge differnece in his comfort and stamina during the day hours.  The whole seat tilts in space to give him presure release from bony areas that bother him from sitting all day.

We give glory to God for this wonderful blessing in our life!

Now for the promise of why the extra seat is now taken in the van.

But more on this later. :)

May the Lord God in heaven lend an ear to your prayers, answering them in the best way possible for your life.  May He help you where you need help and give peace to your heart.  May He lead and guide you in all you do as you live and grow in Him.

1 Peter 1:7 KJV  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

Blessings,

susan