Thursday, August 27, 2009

To the Summit.




















Slept really well again and again was woken up by containers being emptied and a concert of drilling from across the canal.

Wanted to sleep until 10 am and wake up feeling refreshed to cope with the 13.30 appointment with Michelle, from ARCA, the Council advisors and Elwyn, an employee from Summit.

Summit is the company that will be carrying out the adaptions to my electric wheelchair; they will make a mould of my body and use that to make the back and seat of the chair.

We do not know whether they will make the mould today or not, hope they will as that will speed up the process considerably if that is so.

I am very nervous about this appointment; probably it will be an appointment where Elwyn, from Summit will tell us all about how they make the mould.

It is a very grey and overcast day today, still quite warm, mind you I did have goose pimples on my arms.

Normally that means it is too cool, since the MS is means nothing and everything as my temperature gauge has become quite dysfunctional.

I can be cold in a warm place, when I was going out I would have to put a jacket and scarf on even in the heat.

Would feel every tiny breeze, the breezes that I used to enjoy as a welcome relief from the heat were like arctic winds to me now.

Last summer the only time I only had a thin jacket on was on June 31 when the temperature was above 30 degrees.

Even then the breeze was too cool for me.

Trying now to tell myself that I have nothing to feel nervous about but can feel my shoulders are starting to feel solid, everything is clamping up.

Have to do my best to try to relax, think that I will post this and do some arm exercises which should loosen my shoulders and arms.

Richie is making soup which will be very nice to drink just before they get here.

Have a good day everyone, wish us luck with Summit.

http://www.summit-benelux.com/index2.html

11 comments:

Cranky said...

Herrad - good luck with Summit! I'm hoping they cut right to the chase and make the mold today rather than tell you how they're going to make it at some point in the future.

I meant to ask you this yesterday -- the device that's in front of your wheelchair when you're out and about ... is that a motorized device to pull you around? I've never seen such a thing. Is that in common use for wheelchair users in Europe? When you got to your desination, did you park it outside like a bicycle?

Anonymous said...

Hi Herrad! Oh my goodness, you are probably in your meeting as I type this! I hope it's going well and they are fitting the mould today!!! I'm exactly like you when it comes to pre-meeting anxiety...even pre-anything to be honest! I was up since 3:30am, too nervous to sleep because I'm waiting to get to the bank at 10am, in about 45 minutes - to pay off the car loan...silly huh? It's a GOOD thing, but I'm still nervous as hell. I woke up shivering too, but for me that is good news because the wretched humidity is gone for the summer! Nice temps of 16-19 for the next 7 days!

I told Spencer the little tale about his hospital visit, I talked really loud into his ear and I KNOW he remembered because he started to lick my face like crazy! Either that or he was happy to eat boiled potatoes, lol!
xx

steve said...

Hi Herrad -

You'll be great! You'll keep pushing for what you need, and making the best of what you have with grace and dignity.

Herrad said...

Hi Cranky,
They were here to tell me how they will do it on 17 sept.
The device on the front of the chair is a Speedy.
http://www.speedybikes.co.uk/elektra.html

It attaches and detachs, so you can go somewhere unclip and leave somewhere safe, say behind the counter in a shop or beghind the front desk at a cinema.
Y-ou can park lit outside with a stout bike lock.
I never saw anyone else with the motorized one, lots with the hand propelled one.
Was exciting getting round town, everyone wanted to look at it and ask questions, people were quite impressed and it was nice to talk to so many people.

Hi Rain,
Great stuff making your last payment well done.
Sadly the mould won't be made until 17 sept.


Thanks for coming by and leaving comments.
Today was just to explain how they would do it.
They will be back on 17 sept to talk more, between Summit and ARCA and Elwyn.
He will make the mould, then they have to wait until the council gives the go ahead and then they will make it.'
Elwyn has to come back for fine tuning and 2 weeks after lthat I should here to use.
Think that realistically because of the burocracy involved it will be October before I have it.
if it comes earlier that will be a pleasant surprise.
Have a good day.
Love,
Herrad

Herrad said...

Hi Steve,
Thanks for coming by and leaving such an supportive and encoraging comment.
Love,
Herrad

awb said...

Hey Herrad, I hope they take care of business today, and get you moving soon. Take care,
Andy

Herrad said...

Hi Andy,
Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment.
Sadly today was only talking and next time mainly talking too, but Elwyn wants to do the mould, so when they get the go ahead from Amsterdam City Council they can make it right away.
So October before its ready.
Love,
Herrad
ps Is the Wire a good representation of some parts of Balltimore?

Celeste Maia said...

How did the visit go? I hope they made the mold today so that is done and you can finally go out.
Where do you get those intriguing images you always post? They are always so interesting.
Good luck with the appointment with Summit.

Herrad said...

Hi Celeste Maia,
Thanks for coming by and leaving a comment.
On 17 Sept the first step will be taken to make the mould, as soon as the Council say it is ok it ill be made, I estimate in October.
Love,
Herrad

Kelli said...

Herrad - I loved all the photo's you shared. I love color.
Glad to hear the mold will be made in Sept.
Kelli

Herrad said...

Hi Kelli,
Thanks for coming by, lovely to see your comment.
Love,
Herrad