The Weekend

We had a wonderfully relaxing weekend at the apartment.  Mike does more and more things unassisted and is certainly gaining some independence.  A friend of Mike’s lives close by and Mike wheeled over to his condo on Saturday night.  This entry into the “real world” makes it difficult to be patient for discharge!  However, we did discover some basic issues that will constantly creep up for wheelchair users.  

Doors – the doors to the apartment do not open automatically nor do they have a wheelchair button.  They are heavy doors and Mike can not open them unassisted.  Though we checked to make sure the room would work before moving in, we didn’t realize the importance of being able to enter the building easily!

Flooring – though the carpet is not plush, it is still difficult to wheel on.  Thankfully we have little carpet on the main floor and none in the basement at the new house!

Heights – the height of the bed or couch can make it more difficult for transfers.  The height of the table can mean his legs won’t fit under!  These are things we took for granted before the accident.

Some of these things are workable but things like doors become a huge barrier to independence.  We actually looked at a different suite on the weekend and found one that is much more wheelchair friendly and will move into it before Mike’s discharge.  It seems we have much to learn…