Ugh, wheelchair tire blew and I have no spare

Ugh, wheelchair tire blew and I have no spareOk, that is no fun!  I'm sitting there then all of a sudden a strange hiss of air.  Looked down and my tire is flat.  Ok, yeah I know tires go flat, but there is something unsettling about a tire going flat in your wheelchair.  I don't have a spare and can't afford to get one.  

When a tire goes flat on your bike and you can walk it home.  Goes flat on the road...well you can still sit in your car comfortably till help arrives.  When it goes flat on your chair you can't sit in it, you can't move as easily as you could 2 minutes ago and suddenly your whole life is turned upside down.  This is a first experience for me and I don't like it. 

It's hard for me to use other chairs to sit in, transferring is extremely painful on my knees and hips.  I have great difficulty getting out of any chair, but with my trusty wheelchair I can push the chair towards my legs as I'm trying to stand so my legs don't wobble so much which reduces the pain and stabilizes my legs which reduces the risk of collapse. 

Wow...when a tire goes flat you really do realize just how much that piece of equipment has helped you and how totally lost you are without it.  Amy set me up with her office chair...I can't move the chair!  My legs can't push the chair backwards or pull it forward.  My insurance payment bounced this month and my trash payment is late again, yet again I planned on money that didn't come in so now I have late fees that will hurt my budget for July. We are eating ramen and veggies till payday cuz again I budgeted on money I thought was coming in and now my freaking tire blows out on me!  I did not need this.

The Ramp is Installed!

The Ramp is Installed!This is a long post, it's actually 3 posts put into one for MicroGiving.  You can also view it on my site where there is a video clip of my testing the ramp.
So grab a drink and get comfy, this really is a long one.
 
Saturday, April 25 2009 we had some beautiful weather.  Rick borrowed a buddies truck and came by with stuff to build a gate in my kennel wall to allow for a way to bring in the salvaged deck pieces that were donated by someone wishing to help out with the wheelchair ramp project.

Monday, Richard and his wife Karen came over as well as Robert and Tom to pitch in and set the salvaged pieces of someone else's deck into a deck and access ramp for our family.  All these folks are friends and fellow chapter members of the local Motorcycle Rights Organization that I belong to.  I am also the internet coordinator for this organization, that was how I became involved with these great bunch of folks to begin with.  They are Dixie Thunder of Aiken County

Come on into my kennel, and I'll show you around.

Rick and the boys just pulled the steps out, brought in the first and largest piece of salvage, and are hauling in the footers to set the piece on.



They have it temporarily set on the footers while they measure off what needs to be trimmed to make it fit there permanently.



Robert is the first of the guys to show up along with his very sweet and well behaved dog Roxie.  It's his day off and he comes with a ton of tools that will be needed for the project.  Everytime someone said I wish we had this or that...Robert says there's on in my truck.

He helps Rick and the boys pull the slab off and get started on the trimming.



Shortly after this Karen, Richard and Tom show up to pitch in.  With a whole team here, the ideas start flowing.  The distance is measured out, marked with a string and plans are made.  Robert is int he foreground, Richard to the left, Karen next to Richard.  Tom is not visible behind Robert, then there is Rick and Josh.



The first piece of ramp is brought in and the guys make plans for how it will be trimmed, shimmed, footed and put into place, after all the planning this is what they came up with. 



It's starting to take shape.  After the first segment is in, the crew is done.  The sun has gone down and it's too dark to work.  They plan to come back again on Wed to do more sections.  However...

Josh and Rick decide they want to get some stuff done on Tuesday

Josh is thinking



Rick is listening



They decide to work on the office ramp and if there is still daylight will work on more segments of the bedroom ramp.  This one will be fairly simple.



Joey, Josh and Amy each take a turn digging in a ditch to drop the beams of the segment into to make it level with the ground.



Now they just need to get between the segment and the wall and fasten those lag screws.

Ricks hands were too big, same with Josh and Joey.  Amy's hands were just right so Amy tightens the lag screws and the ramp is now fastened to the building.  The dirt is kicked into the holes and an office rug protector is put on top to keep my wheels from sinking into the soft dirt.  I can't roll up the ramp, it's too steep and my tires spin out, but I can come down with no problem and I can wheel my walker right up the ramp and into my office safely.  The ramp is not extended at this point because it might overlap the bedroom ramp.  So for now it's left alone.



The guys were on a roll, they didn't want to stop with just this ramp so they drag in segment number two of the bedroom ramp and start preparing that.



Third segment moved in and trimmed up for positioning



Fourth and final segment brought in to trim and position.



After laying down the fourth piece Donnie comes out and wants to help.  Ditches need to be dug for burying some of the last segment to make it flush with the ground.  The trenches are marked and Donnie will dig the first one.



He does a great job, but the job I had him doing inside is important too so he's sent back in to keep all the dogs and some of the cats under control and away from the work site.  Animals under foot around men with tools and heavy pieces of lumber is a recipe for disaster.  It's also no easy task to keep a family of animals inside and quiet.  None of my animals has ever been forced to stay inside a house and most don't like being inside, especially when there is something going on outside.

So, the ramp is up.  I will leave you with my getting ready to test the ramp for the first time.  Before I went up with the chair I said my feet were made for walking



I walked up the ramp first to test out my ability to get up and down the ramp with my walker.  If you want to see a video of my first time using the ramp by chair please visit, Handicap Access Ramp Wheelchair test
The ramp is up!  I have walked up and down with my walker to test my ability to safely go from house to kennel to office and back on my own two feet.  The walking test was a perfect success.  Going downhill is much more scary for me because my knees give out and going up is hard because I have trouble thrusting my hip forward for a step but when you compare those risks against the frequent falling down those steep steps...this is nothing to worry about.
My son took my chair up first to see if my left hand would hold up for me.  I have never been on such an incline so this was my first challenge.  He said he thought my hand would hold up so here we go...



The sun goes down and the guys are done for the day.  Josh installs a porch light on the outside wall of my bedroom to light the ramp for safety.  The next day everyone is coming over to finish things up.  Please see Handicap access ramp is completed.
Remember how this was all started?

This pile of salvaged deck parts in my driveway



On Day four Rick came over and he and the boys started lining up the railings to fasten them down.  A while later Richard, Karen, Robert and Tom show up again.  Richard came alongside the fence saying, what did you need us here for you got it about finished!  Yep, Rick and the boys really worked hard yesterday but we really need all the ideas and hands of everyone to get the railings just right and do the finishing touches so here they are.



It didn't take them long at all to figure out a plan for the railings and get them fastened to the ramp.



Next idea was Richards, instead of another railing he thought a side runner would be best.  It would allow for moving things up/down the ramp.  He starts to set that plan into motion.



First a side panel is installed the length of the ramp and fastened to the body of the ramp. 




Since this is all salvage there are many areas where there are gaps. 
The next idea is to line up some 2x4's as a bumper to cover the gaps.



This is the finished project.  The ramp now has railings on one side and a runner with a bumper on the other.  Some other finishing touches were done before sundown and a threshold was built from ramp to bedroom to prevent trips with my feet or my casters getting caught up.

There were some involved in this project I haven't even met such as the person who donated their old unused deck, the person who took his chainsaw and cut the deck into portions that could be transported by pickup truck.  Everyone who helped to transport the sections to my home and of course many thanks and hugs went to Rick, Richard, Karen, Robert and Tom as well as Amy and my sons Josh and Donnie their friend Joey for all the hard work, sweat and laughs that went into turning that pile of salvage into a functional mobility ramp that will allow me full access between my bedroom and office and out to the parking spot.

While I enjoy the safe mobility access we can't forget the animals too.  For a while now a blind cat, partially blind elderly dog, an elderly dog with a bad hip from an old fracture, a younger dog with a bad hip from a birth defect and an amputee cat have managed on those steep steps.  This ramp also allows these physically disabled animals safe and painless travel between bedroom, kennel and office as well.  I will not have to carry Ginger the elderly dog with the bad hip and fading eyes, she can now with all her feminine dignity walk slowly up the ramp and into the bedroom all by herself.
All the animals love lying on the railings and the dogs thoroughly enjoy the cool space under the deck to lie down.  Every living being in this family is pleased to have such a great deck and ramp in our back yard.
 

New Gate Built and Installed

New Gate Built and InstalledMy buddy Rick from Dixie Thunder of Aiken County SC came by Saturday morning April 25 and he and my son built a gate in the wall of the kennel fence.  The ramp when built will extend beyond a tree in my yard and the gate will give me access from the ramp ending to the the parking spot.  This way I can avoid the one door coming out of my office that we can't ramp right now.  The space is really close to my property line and to do a proper ramp it could come beyond the property space.  We might have to just leave the steps there, but the kennel gate will give me access to the car without having to worry about the steps at the entry/exit door of the kennel.

We lacked people and funds to start the ramps on Saturday so we are shooting for Monday or Tuesday.  After the tornado left us with serious tire damage I wound up having to use the funds that were raised by Dixie Thunder and meant to put toward this project.  My donors understood because everyone knows I have had a terrible streak of bad luck and have been barely holding on financially.  The problem is we just have to figure out a "plan B" since the funds needed for the project have been depleted.  We decided to skip the wheelchair door that would allow me to bring my wheelchair inside my bedroom.  I'm still able to take a few steps and with proper care of my hips I will continue to be able to stand and take a few solid steps.  So we can put that adaptive project off for while.

I don't have the donation payout yet for the plumbing in the bathroom.  I put in my payout request but there seems to be a delay so we are not going to get the plumbing worked on while the volunteers are here.  That is a project my son will have to do alone when the donated funds are released.

Here are some photos of the gate.  I'm so happy!  The entire gate was made from salvaged lumber and we re-used the chicken wire cut from the existing kennel.  The only purchased items were the hinges, nails and slide lock.  The braces leaned up against the fence are there to keep the beams straight.  We still need to either add some guy-wires or maybe plant some steel stakes deeply in the ground to mount the beam onto.  The stretched netting over the top of the kennel tends to pull the wood inward and to keep the door swinging properly we need to keep at least those beams straight and resisting the pull of the netting.

Yard Full of Wheelchair Ramp Parts!

I woke up to the sound of a motorcycle coming into my driveway.  My bedroom is on the very corner where the mobile home meets the kennel fence.  Amy looked over the kennel to see a nice looking bike with an equally nice looking rider letting us know there was a truck coming up the drive to drop off some more scrap lumber for the wheelchair ramp.

I got some batteries to take pics at my mom's birthday visit so I had bats to finally get some pics of these ramp parts.

This is the layout of my side yard as seen from the street side. I cannot access the mobile home from the front as I cannot manage the stairs.  Since the house is built on top of an embankment, there is no sense in even building a wheelchair ramp because we do not have a driveway and with a ramp installed in the front yard, there would be no place to park the car...making the ramp rather useless.  It is further useless because I can only access two rooms in the front part of the house.  Without modifications my access to  the rear of the house is restricted so I do not use the front of the house right now.




I use the rear rooms of the house and there is a door on the mobile home side of the kennel that allows me to exit into the Kennel, through the office, then exit through the office door which is on the side where the tree is. We don't have stairs there either, I have a step stool at the moment and need help getting up and down when I want to come into the driveway.  When the ramp is built the stairs that were bought with donations from Wish Upon A Hero will be moved to the side entry for everyone else to use.  I will have a gate built into the side of the kennel that will be wheelchair accessible so I will be entering the driveway from the kennel side and no longer from the office door.

This brings me out to the driveway. We park our car where the blue walker is standing at the moment. Because of the ditch crossing the driveway just above the "mobile home" text, I cannot get my wheelchair down this part of the drive without help. The walker is left standing because I cannot bear weight upon it and travel over the ditch, so someone brought my chair outside for me to take photos.

Here is the collection of lumber materials.  Someone donated a whole deck and the guys went and cut the deck into pieces to bring here to create a deck and ramp.

The largest part on the top of this pile will be used as the top landing/deck. The smaller pieced under along with others that in shown in another photo will make up the higher/steeper part of the ramp. The scrap lumber under the deck and more in another photo will be used to make the lower landing.




These smaller sections will be used at the higher/steeper part of the ramp. As the ramp nears the lower level we will use the salvaged lumber to build the landing



These are the salvaged rails from the donated deck. They will be used to build a railing system on the wheelchair ramp. The ramp must be built at a 3 foot rise and 30 feet in length. The rise of the ramp will make it dangerous if there are no side rails. These will come in very handy!



These pieces will be used to secure the frame for the kennel gate



They scrapped all the lumber when they tore out this donated deck. We have some full 4 X 4's and some that are cut up. Not sure where they will be used yet but there they are :)



So, that is where we are in the progress right now.  We are still waiting for the 3.0 door and more materials to make the kennel gate.  The gate must go in first, then the 3.0 door, then they will begin turning this lumber pile into a platform deck and 30 foot ramp.  The ramp is expected to end at the section of kennel to the right of the blue walker in the first picture.  There is a tree in the kennel we have to clear.  The gate should open up right where the pile of decking in front of the walker.  That will bring me right to the place where we park our car.  We might have to lay a cement walk way from the end of the ramp to beyond the kennel door for safe passage, but that will not be a costly project as the space from ramp to outside of the kennel should be only about 15 feet.

That is the update...thanks for reading