A new way to roll

Sophie has had a whirlwind of appointments at the seating clinic to finalize all the decisions for her new wheelchair. 

I saw it for the first time in the colour we ordered and with all the seating inserts added, this chair has a personality and it suits my girl to a tee.  We have now chosen all the upholstery colours and we will be picking it up tomorrow for a 3 week trial before it gets upholstered to make sure it fits Sophie perfectly.  There is a lot of customization in this chair so we want to get it right. 

It is funny but whenever I see this chair I envision Rizzo, from the movie Grease.  Rizzo was a girl with an attitude, she was feisty but had a heart of gold.  She had some struggles but overcame them.  Now who does that sound like?   I think Sophie needs a pink lady scarf to go with her new wheels ;)

sneak peak...

The dynamic back and footplate are a component that I was drawn to and requested to be included.  It is a new way of thinking about how people with severe CP and dystonia, move. Sophie has a strong extensor thrust because of her dystonia and the dynamic back and footplate work with that, they don't try to stop the movements that she makes. 

For the same reasons, I vowed to never have Sophie's feet tied down, she is a mover and a wiggler and I want her to be able to do that.  Sophie often moves certain ways to anchor her body so that she can perform a task.  So the dynamic footplate lets her push her feet but the plate moves with her so she doesn't push her whole body up, but she gets to have the movement she needs.  Same with her back, she can push but she won't push her bum down out of the seat position she should be in.
So, so smart.

The new chair is a beast though and I will have to get used to getting it in and out of our car.  We don't have an accessible van so it is going to take me a long time to get it assembled and taken apart each time we go somewhere.  I am sure I will figure something out pretty quickly.

I am very excited for my big girl to have her new set of wheels.  One more thing off the to do list!