Well,
I guess it's time to add to the blog again. It's been a year since
I've been out of the hospital. It's been really hard and it totally
sucks to be a quadriplegic. But we've received many, many blessings
from people that help, programs that help, and grants that
financially help. We are trying our best to make the most out of a
bad situation. Most of the time life is good.
A
few examples of the financial help we have received:
Many
of you (friends, family and complete strangers) have donated funds to
help us pay for so many of the things that we have needed. We
appreciate it so much and couldn't have made it without the donations
to help cover the cost of adapting our lives with me as a
quadriplegic.
A
complete stranger, but a common friend with Dale Hadley, gave us the
lift system that we use in the bedroom and take on trips. It helps
lift me in and out of bed and in and out of the different wheelchairs
I need to use.
We
had a lot of help remodeling our home: putting in wider doors and
remodeling the bathroom for wheelchair access like the roll-in shower
and roll under sink. My parents covered the costs that were not
donated. That's something that would have been impossible for us to
pay for. They also paid our house payment until our house was paid
off which was something that we couldn't have done.
It's
just crazy how much stuff costs, especially for the handicapped. They
know you don't have a choice so they can charge whatever they want.
But we have found ways to get some things a little more affordable.
We
got a really good deal on a used full electric wheelchair
for
$2500 that was originally $25,000 when new.
We
got a used 2013 Toyota Sienna van that we bought on eBay from Florida
for $32,000 that would have cost $57,000 here in Utah. That's a big
deal.
The
hand cycle I would like to get cost $12,000 and takes months to get
after it's ordered. So we started looking online to see if we could
find a used hand cycle that would work for now. We found one and they
were asking $1500. New it would cost $2200, so we went to look at it
and see if we could talk them down. After visiting with them they
told us it was donated to them so they would donate it to us. We had
to pay another thousand dollars to get it so that it would work for a
quad, but we would have had to pay the same amount to get a new one
to work for a quad anyway.
We
received a grant for $4,000 that will pay for one third of the cost
of the mountain hand-cycle, but we need to raise the money to pay for
the other two thirds. Hopefully we can do that by springtime, but the
Hand-Cycle needs to be ordered now in order to be ready for spring.
The grant has to be used by March, so now what to do?
We
also received a grant that allows me to go to therapy at Neuroworx 3
times a week. This is a very big deal! Without it I would not be able
to get strong enough and develop the skills to transfer in and out of
the wheelchair on my own. This
will make it possible to get in and out of bed and chairs without a
lift. Hopefully it will also allow us to travel again and allow me to
drive my truck.
We
received a grant from the state that will convert my truck so that I
can drive it myself and that's also a big deal. We would like to add
a seat that turns and comes out and down to make it easier, but the
seat alone is $9,300. So, as you can see, things are adding up and
we're not sure how we can raise the money to get the seat and to also
get the new hand cycle.
I
am also trying to lose weight by only eating 500 - 700 calories each
day with no sugar and very low carbs for the last 6 weeks. So far I
have only lost 4 pounds. It’s going too slow and I'm not sure what
else I can do.
Annette,
Max, and Stan have all taken me out for rides in the hand cycle. Most
of the time it's Max. Max also took me too several weekly seminars in
the spring and took me up to Snowbird to get signed up for Skiing. I
appreciate all that they do and their time that allows me to ride.
It's been fun, but this hand cycle will only go on paved or cement
trails and can't go up steep climbs with my weak arms. The new hand
cycle that I want to get will go off road and has power assist so I
can go up and not just level and down.
At
therapy I've met a lot of really good people, therapists, and
patients. A couple of the patients I've met are Josh, the young man
that broke his neck in the bounce house at BYU; and Todd, the guy
that everyone saw on TV that broke his neck in Hawaii on vacation.
One good thing that happened to both of them was that they were on
TV. They raised a lot of money on their gofundme accounts because of
the TV and the attention they were given. While I wasn't on TV, we
did raise a little bit of money and it helped a lot, but it's already
gone.
I
have good days and bad days. A few weeks ago I had five days in a row
that were good with a lot less pain. That hasn’t happened before
and it was great. Being a quadriplegic really does suck. I miss the
old me every day and there is so much more than not just having the
use of your hands and legs. I could go on and on about how hard it is
and how many different problems we deal with every day, but life goes
on and we are very grateful for all the help and blessings we have
received.
Thanks
to everyone that has helped, we appreciated it a lot.
Jeff
Water skiing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKZzV4ub-k&list=PLS_KtbKyUzAdSDL_PCdXo94jVMoPFjiqY&t=23s&index=1
Paragliding:
