I was so depressed by being told “You will never be able to walk.” But a wheel chair can be used as a substitute for my legs and feet.
If you order a hand-made wheelchair (Module wheelchair), you can customize some parts in some ways as you like. For example, you can choose an armrest to be long or short, or can set up steps (Leg rests) as combined or spring up types and so on.
The Module wheelchair has the advantage of capability to replace and adjust parts in many ways. (Needless to say, the problem is it costs a lot.)
It is important to know the width of your lower back.
Because… for example, a wheelchair whose seat has 32 cm in width sounds a quite compact wheelchair.
It certainly can pass through narrow space, but in my case, I sometimes fell over from this compact wheelchair for its poor balance.In order to choose the suitable wheelchair, consider its width, carrying in a car, the width of slope and doors in your house and whether you can turn around in the entrance with the wheelchair.
And fold up the wheelchair when you don’t use it.
From now on, you may stay on a seat for longer time since you cannot walk. That means you need to take care of a pressure ulcers.
A cushion for wheelchair users, ROHO, J2 and J3, can prevent from pressure ulcers effectively. Besides them, recent cushions sold in the market come in variations under development.I used the J2 cushion for 10 years, and am using ROHO now.
ROHO has different height, and you can choose from 10cm・7.5cm・5cm. If you worry about a risk of pressure ulcers, I recommend 10cm.
With a cervical spine injury, my hand movement is limited. As a result, I cannot grip a handrims nor push them forward to wheel myself.
Therefore, I need to use the palm of the hands to push the handrims, but palm is not sweaty part and slippery to push wheels.
Naturally, a wheelchair does not move forward without transmitting power.
Especially, the wheelchair whose handrims have vinyl coating is well matched with these gloves, and do not slip at all.
With these gloves, I can wheel myself, and can easily carry the wheelchair into a car.
They are also useful when I use a smartphone or turn the pages of a magazine.