Progress Made in Answers

Sometimes, I have to wait long periods for insurance approvals and then see what treatment I will be allowed to use. This week was not one of those times and progress was made on getting questions answered, but not sure on full solutions.

Tuesday was the first visit of the week. Jeff, a technician for my diaphragm pacemaker, flew in to Des Moines and arrived in my bedroom at noon, just as planned. I reiterated what I had experienced and he was soon off to work on my DPS patch.

While Jeff works on the wires, the system doesn't work and I have to breath on my own. I had anticipated a lengthy time of breathing exercise, but just two three-minute periods was all he needed. The old silicon that had become like glue was removed, wires inspected, and new silicon added for protection. He said it usually happens when the patch gets wet. I couldn't think of a time it had, but noted to be more aware of it.

The repair maybe took 10 minutes total. I have seen Jeff a couple times in my 15+ years of using the DPS and we always got along well. After another 30 minutes of getting caught up, he headed back to the airport to catch his flight home. I don't know how his company does these maintenance visits so easily, but I'm very appreciative of them.

Thursday evening, I emailed my wheelchair tech to see if I could get scheduled for a pressure mapping of my chair. After a few messages Friday morning, he was in my room that afternoon with the needed equipment. My day caregiver had called off sick, but thankfully dad was available to move me around.

First, he noticed my chair's seat cushion was low on air, even though it had been pumped up a few weeks ago. Submerging the cushion in my parent's bathtub confirmed no air leaks, so it was dried off and further inflated. After I was sat in my chair, the cushion was partially deflated to its optimal thickness. Testing with the mapping system showed everything looking good.

Unlike last November, I also asked to test my bed while sitting. It took a few tries to get the system properly placed, but it did reveal increased pressure in the area I'm having trouble. The colors didn't look bad to me, but he recommended sitting in bed for 30 minutes at a time, 45 at the most. My usual schedule is 1-1.5 hours of sitting and then flat for the same period. That already makes it difficult to get work done, cutting time down further will be very hard to do. I could possibly do more while in my chair, but my computer and everything else isn't setup for it.

As of this writing, I haven't changed my schedule much, but have shortened upright time a little. I'm scheduled to preach the next two weeks and will have end/beginning of the month items to do for web work. As I always say, living the quad life has challenges. No matter what, I will rely on God's guidance and strength to get through.