In-House Maintenance

When you own something, it will need maintenance of some sort to keep functioning. That's especially true when it comes to medical equipment.

On Thursday, I had a hair cut scheduled late in the morning. About half an hour before the appointment, my caregiver starts working on getting me up in my chair and ready to go. Just as she went to pull it out of it's parking spot, I hear, "You're going to need to reschedule." She saw two wires that had their insulation rubbed off and one looked broken.

She tried testing my chin control to see if they worked and no response. I have had this chair for over three years now and haven't had any trouble with it, so I guess it was due to happen. Dad came home later in the afternoon and looked over the situation. He wasn't sure he could fix it at first, but kept working on it. Thankfully, some wire splicing, heat tape, and wire adjustments fixed the problem.

Dad said it looked like I hit something that almost completely severed the wires that go from my chin control to the computer that responds to my input. I don't remember hitting anything, let alone that badly, but evidence shows otherwise. Everything worked well on Friday, so I was able to decrease the mop on my head. However, the lift we use to get me in and out of bed sounded like the battery is going bad. That may be the next item to get worked on, but it hopefully won't leave me hanging.

The tools we use require upkeep, but it sometimes applies to our own life as well. For the past few months, I have neglected this myself. Regular readers of the quad life may have noticed a bit of depression and sadness in my writing. It is one thing to say you know God is in control of all things, but it is another to have full trust in it. I have been saying more than trusting.

This week, I have been especially reminding myself of this fact and am working toward getting back to my regular self. Becoming more isolated during winter doesn't help, but I'm looking forward more to what 2019 may bring, in any direction. As we go through this week, make sure to take care of yourself, such as diving deep into God's Word, as well as the little inconveniences that may come.