Life as a Leach

While it was never our intention to bring Abby's wheelchair to school (except for field trips that required quite a bit of walking because she does get tired and winded), circumstances have caused her to have to be in it a lot more.  At this point, the pain from the kyphosis in her back is keeping her from walking much further than from the parking lot to the front door of a building.  This means that she is riding a lot more than usual. The wheelchair is at school, out of the way and available if she needs it.  The kindergarten classes are doing a lot of walking around the school this week learning their way around, so she will most likely be doing some riding. Since we have no idea what she'll be like after surgery, we've already planned for her needing to take her wheelchair to school.  Her bus is prepared to transport her, and school knows it's a definite possibility. For now, we are just thankful that she can walk when she needs to and that the wheelchair ...

After 9 long, frustrating months of waiting, Abby finally received her custom-made wheelchair!  She has an E Fix system, which is a convertible that allows her to drive it herself using a battery, or have us push her manually--all at the turn of a dial!  She named it Purple Lightning! :) There's a bit of a learning curve as she figures out how to drive her new wheels. Idiot realize how hard it would be because she great at the clinic, so We took Purple Lightning on its maiden voyage to Walmart.  Well, that was a hysterical disaster that involved lots of fallen merchandise, nipped ankles, people getting cut off, and a million apologies for our rookie driver! We all took a walk on the boardwalk yesterday to get more practice in.  She practiced on a lot of different terrains and we gave her lots of pointers!  She is definitely improving! We have known for a long time that Abby would need a wheelchair.  She tires easily, has constant back pain, and gets winded ...