Wheelchair Adventures with Matthew.... a new series bought to you by Jodi!

I haven't shared this story yet.....

And its kinda funny!

Anyway, on Sunday last weekend the 31st

I headed over to Narrabri to see Matt.

I thought i would just take him for a walk in the wheelchair.

I was thinking before i went that we could go to the Movies..

Captain America was on at 2pm. But I thought about what happened last time Matt was

out of the home for a few hours and it was so tiring for him. 

So instead I intended just to go for a walk down the river which was about a kilometre away from the home.

I jsut wore my trackies, cause we were just walking...

Here we are heading off..

So off we went.

The nurses put Matt in a normal wheel chair because they thought it would be easier to push. He had to be lifted into the chair with the mechanical lifter because Matt cant support his own weight at all.

We used a shower strap  (Or Bull Rope) as Matt calls it, to

secure him to the chair incase he fell forward.

So Off we went... We got to the end of the road

and then turned to head to the river.

Matt was saying that he was sure the footy was on that day. So I said to him, we will go for a walk up over the Bridge and we can see from there if it was on or not.

So we went right past the river and up onto the Bridge over the River.

No Footy.

So we decided seeing as we were this far away we would head up to the main street and 

"Chuck a Lap up the Main"

(note: Im still pushing this bloody chair!!)

So we started at one end of the main street and walked right through looking and shops and things. Then we got to the end where the supermarket is and Matt decided he would like to do some shopping.

So with the wheel chair we went shopping.

I was pushing the chair, so i tried to get Matt to hold the Basket...

It was ok until it started to get a bit heavy and then Matt didnt have the strength to hold it. So i am pushing the wheelchair and carrying the shopping basket, which was soon the shopping bag!

The bag drags on the wheel too by the way! Have to carry the bag and push the wheelchair at the same time!

Then coming out of Coles, i was heading back to the home.

Matt says. "I wouldn't mind going to see Captain  America, thats on today!"

I looked at my watch and it was 2.15. I told him, ok, 

if we run we might get in before the movie is on too long.

So we run/walk pushing the wheelchair to the cinima which was probably another 1 1/2kms away.

Also, during this time every now and then i hear this ripping...

I look down and Matts foot has come off the footpegs. He has no feeling in his right leg and had no idea that it was dragging along the ground under the wheelchair!

I stop and investigate and find this bloody foot dragging along!

So i left it up and put it back on the footpeg.

Running to get to the picutes,,,,

drag drag drag..

Stop and put the foot back on

Run to the cinema

Drag drag drag..

You get the picture!

So anyway, we get to the pictures and go to pay.

"Two Adults" the girl asks...

No, one adult and one pension!!!

I suppose that could be a common mistake!

So we get into the Cinema and settle into the movie.

Wheelchair seats are right at the base of the screen, so you have to look up to see the picture.

My brother has no core strength at all!!!

To lift his head was nearly imposible!
To hold it there... well... not gonna happen.

So to see the screen, Matthew shimmys his way down in the chair so he can see up.

Fine for the first 5 mintues

But he has no core strength, so cant hold that position.

So he is sliding out of his chair!!

Bear in mind, they lift him into this chair with a mechanical lifter!
So I spent the whole time at the pictures, trying to keep Matthew from slipping to the floor where i would never be able to retrieve him!!!

At the end of the movie, a nice man finally offered to help and toegtehr we were able to get him into the chair enough to wheel him out of the Cinema!

But he was so tired and just couldnt hold himself in the chair anymore.

So we had to ring the Wheelchair Cab to come pick us up to take us the 3 or so kms back to the home.

But he had knocked off for the day and was out burying a horse he had to put down! 

(Poor family!)

But the lovely man said that he would be there in 10 minutes!

In the mean time, Matthew has slid from his chair again!

I had tried everything to get him back in! My back and arms were killing me trying the lift him!

In the end i rang my dear friend Jo to come and help!
Thank goodness she was in a poisiton to come right away and toegther we got him back into his chair!!!

Then the cab turned up and we went back to the home!

Oh My Goodness!!!
I have a new appreciation for fulltime carers!

Its so hard!

The paths are so rough!

All the wheelchair access shops, really arnt that accessible!!!

And there is very little common courtesy anymore to help people!

All during the movie i was trying to get Matt back into his chair and it wasn't until the movie was over that someone took the moment to stop and ask to assist me!

Matthew goes "Next time we will bring the other chair!!"

Hahaha Next time!!! OMG!

But yes, We will do it all again! We will use the comfort chair

that is twice the size of the other normal chair

but it sits back with the feet up and is totally padded!

So he cant slip out!

I woke up on Monday aching all over from pushing that chair and trying to lift Matt back into it!
But hey, my muscles are working and they are sore because i was active!
Poor Matt was sore because his body doesn't work at all and he was just trying to sit for a for hours!

It certainly makes you thankful for what you have!!!

Stay tuned for more Wheelchair adventures