Standing up solutions

If you have been a regular reader of my blog - and I'm still amazed by the number of people reading this - you will be familiar with my trips to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), to see the physiotherapists and their efforts to get me standing.

 

My last trip up there wasn't very successful, as for some reason I didn't seem able to stand very well, and the changes I asked to be made to how we used the standing frame only highlighted the fact that using this piece of equipment at home wasn't going to be an option.

 

At NHNN they had suggested that we try using a tilt table to see how I would get along with this.  After doing some research on the internet I'm not sure that this is going to be the solution.

 

It seems that with both the standing frame and the tilt table, I would need some input from at least one other person to help me use them.  As I only have Mum with me here full-time, I ideally I want a solution where I can use a piece of equipment with as little input from anyone else.

 

You may remember sometime back that I had a demonstration of a stand up powered wheelchair called a Levo C3.  This had gone really well.  Standing it had been easy.  It was comfortable as a wheelchair, and apart from the transfer in and out of the chair, which I would need help with anyway, I could use it on my own.

 

Levo C3 stand up powered wheelchair

 



There were however two problems with this chair. 

 

Firstly, the cost.  I was quoted a price in excess of £14,000 for a new wheelchair, like the one demonstrated to me.  Although I could have spread this cost interest free over 5 years, it still seems an excessive amount.

 

The other problem was that after looking into the Levo C3 on the internet, there were questions raised about its reliability.  One guy had said that after purchasing a new Levo C3 he had needed to return this 9 times in the first 12 months to sort out problems.  There was a suggestion from one supplier of wheelchairs, that the stand up wheelchairs were best used only indoors, as the vibrations of running them over uneven ground could lead to bits becoming loose and the chair not working.

 

It sounded like buying an expensive car, but not being able to use it on the road.

 

After having thought about things for a bit, I started to look at alternative to the Levo C3, to see if there was a cheaper option that could do the same thing. 

 

I found one called The Genie, which is made by a company called EasyCare Products Ltd.  This looked promising, in that it did much the same as the Levo C3, but the retail price started at £6,500.  I tried calling the telephone number shown on the website, but it just rang and rang. 

 

Eventually I found out that the company was a one man band, who made each chair specifically to order, but that he had recently been taken seriously ill and the company was in liquidation.  So if you are thinking of buying a wheelchair from this company or a second hand chair from them, I would strongly advise against it, as parts will not be available should things go wrong.

 

Any other alternative makes of stand up wheelchairs, had a starting price about the same as the Levo C3.

 

So I then started to look at the possibility of a second hand chair.  Straightaway I found a Levo C3 about 5 years old being sold on eBay for a little under £2,000.  However, the seller was located quite some distance away, and so getting to see it, let alone collecting it, was going to be a problem.

 

I then started ringing round locally to suppliers of wheelchairs to see if they would collect the chair for me, and then service it and refurbish any bits that needed replacing.   Alternatively, I asked if the ever had any second hand stand up wheelchairs for sale.  In every case, they would happily collect it but the could not service or refurbish it as they didn't deal withstand up wheelchair models.  Most of them said they simply could not get the parts.

 

Eventually I rang up Gerald Simonds Healthcare Ltd, the company who had demonstrated the Levo C3 to me, to ask if they had access to any second hand chairs, or if they could refurbish and service a second hand chair for me.  The person who answered the phone advised that they did not deal with second hand chairs.

 

I seemed to be hitting a brick wall every way I turned.  Then about 30 minutes after getting off the phone from Gerald Simonds Healthcare Ltd, Sean, who had come out to demonstrate the Levo C3 to me called back.

 

He asked if I would be interested in buying the chair which had been demonstrated to me.  He advised that it had a few scuff marks on the paint work, but it was only a couple of years old and had actually only done about 20 miles in all that time.  He agreed that before supplying the chair to me they would give it a full service, and the chair would come with a 6 month warranty.  They would also do annual services - but at a cost.

 

We discussed the cost, and after a bit of haggling, agreed on a price of £5,500.  On Friday, I paid a deposit, and Sean, thinks that I should get the chair about the 3rd week of September.

 

Although its still quite a cost, it seems like the best deal that I'm going to get.  I know I can use this chair with the minimum of help from another person, and if I only use this indoors, and keep my other chair for going out, its much more justifiable at this sort of cost.

 

Standing up is important to me.  Not just because of the benefits to my health, but also because I just feel better being able to stand.  Having been given the opportunity to stand at NHNN, it would seem a waste to stop once I can no longer go there.  By buying the Levo C3, although its still quite an expense, it allows me to be able to continue to stand on a more regular basis.

 

I can't wait to get it, and watch out for my next video of me standing up in it.