I've already decided on the basic chair items for the motorized wheelchair I am configuring for purchase. I want the swing out leg supports, the TDX SP super-duper wheel motion that can go over all the bumps in the sidewalk pavement (there are many, many bumps in the pavement in Vancouver's West End), the ROHO seat cushion that has a couple dozen little individually inflated pockets in it, and a backrest that can be individually contoured to my back with additions of bits of foam in the right places.
Oh and, I've decided on the chair arm-rests... that's a new item I was introduced to only last week, I hadn't realized there was so many choices.
But now I have the ultimately expensive decision: To tilt or not to tilt, that is the burning question.
I can still walk short distances, so I'm not in dire need of a chair to get around indoors. Right now I really don't see the point of the tilt. But the ever cheerful saleswoman says that if I don't spend about $4000 now to get the tilt, to retrofit in the future will cost at least $6000.
Um, yeah, but I still don't see why I would need the tilt.
Some hints from my occupational therapist: if I want to sit in a restaurant in the chair, the tilt would let me reach the table better. I get up and use a normal chair in restaurants, there is usually a place to stow the chair for a while, I've never enjoyed being in packed restaurants that wouldn't have room for that, so that's not something worth $4000 to me.
Some suggestions from a previous wheelchair saleswoman I was tormented by: if you are in the chair for a long time - like all day - it's nice to tilt back and rebalance your weight for a while. She was pregnant, and enjoying this aspect of the chair while taking it away from me so I couldn't try it out for myself. (She gave up my case to the other saleswoman when I asked my occupational therapist if there was another sales company we could deal with.) Again, I'm not planning to be in the chair for hours upon hours.
So what about in 4 or 5 years from now? Yes, exactly. What will happen in 4 or 5 years -> no one on the planet knows what will happen to me in 4 or 5 years. MS is so specific to the individual human that is afflicted with it, no one knows where the disease will take me. I may be running and jogging in 4 or 5 years. I may be paralyzed in 4 or 5 years. Or anything in between those 2 extremes.
I have finally, after much googling, found information on why tilt is a good thing. It's to relieve pressure points from sitting in one position for too long! See http://www.wheelchairjunkie.com/tiltandrecline.html
I'm not planning to spend hours sitting in a wheelchair day after day, but maybe my desk chair that I use every day needs a tilt stick and motor. Or maybe I need to get up at least every 2 hours for a stretch, like I already do on a regular basis.
I'm thinking I will forego the tilt option on the wheelchair.
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