More Walks For Her, Less Work For Him

Mobility can be a problem for many COPD patients, and Sandra F. of Wilsonville, Oregon is no different. As part of her treatment, Sandra’s doctor encouraged her to go out for walks to help her improve her lung capacity as well as for exercise. However, walking was extremely difficult for her because she would have to lug around one of her oxygen tanks. The only way she could walk was to go without her tank, and this was physically trying for her. The result was that she had to limit her walks to one short one a day.

Now that she has a portable oxygen concentrator that’s not a concern anymore. She goes out three times a day or more now. "I walk a couple blocks at a time. I go to the area of the apartment complex where there are benches and talk with my friends.  I can even take my dogs out because I can hold their leash instead of the tanks," says Sandra. Her portable oxygen concentrator is lightweight, and the batteries last for hours so she can stay outside and keep walking for as long as she likes.

As much as Sandra likes her portable oxygen concentrator her husband Jay may like it even more. Prior to switching to a portable concentrator, Sandra used liquid oxygen, and those tanks only lasted her an hour and a half. It was Jay’s job to refill those tanks. Because they lasted such a short length of time it was a job that kept him busy. Over the course of a day he could fill up as many as a dozen bottles for Sandra. Jay is very happy that Sandra has so much more mobility now, and he loves not having to fill up those liquid oxygen tanks!

Candy Apple Red

"I need my freedom!" declared Judith Survis, a spunky redhead from Vancouver Washington. A blood disorder caused her to feel fatigued, and due to her low energy walking from the bedroom to the kitchen was far too much cardio for her body to take. One day while she was resting, she saw on TV an advertisement for a power chair and immediately picked up the phone to ask a few questions. Anyone who knows Judith personally, knows she can’t resist a new conversation, and for all intents and purposes, really only ask a few questions. After about 45 minutes on the phone with representative Carrie, Judith was so excited she immediately ordered her chair. Of course before hanging up the phone, Judith asked Carrie one last question, 'does it come in candy apple red?' Judith was in luck! When her new power chair from arrived, Judith immediately fell in love with the candy apple red paint, as she always dreamt of having a car in this color. The technician who delivered the chair was knowledgeable and knew all the answers to Judith's many questions.

She said her life has completely transformed from prisoner to get er' done. Judith comfortably sits in her chair for hours at a time either watching TV, cleaning, chasing her cute husband Thomas around the house, or cooking one of her signature dishes ranging from pot roast to crock pot delicacies. Whenever her Chihuahua Buddy hears her get in her chair, he jumps into her lap, ready to get paraded around the house in her candy apple power chair. These days you can read Judith blogging about her experience on many different mobility sites, blogging about the day to days of mobility, introducing new products, and sharing relevant articles. Judith even created a community which uplifts others by giving hope and strength through sharing her personal experiences and stories. I am sure we will hear more from the vivacious redhead in the Candy Apple power chair!

Push The Button And GO!

Getting from one end of the house to the other are challenges of the past, and so are most mobility issues for Phoenix native, Diane DeMay.  Being a young woman with Peripheral Neuropathy, doing what used to be the simple things such as laundry, cooking and moving around the house became difficult in a manual wheelchair.  When Diane’s power wheel chair from Open-Aire arrived, she was trained on the spot by the friendly technicians on how to use it, and according to Diana seemed simple enough.   She was off! Diane’s days went from ‘inconvenient’ to ‘bring it on!’  Laundry, cooking, cleaning and other household chores are now daily, and non-stop. 

This month Diane’s occupied with her spring cleaning.  She finds it easy to reach hangers, put clothes away on the top shelf and rearrange the closet right from her chair.  She will be the first to admit, she cant sit still!  Entertaining is also a monthly occurrence at the DeMay household.  Lunch and dinner gatherings are frequent, and fun!  Diane can move from one end of the house to the other, with easy maneuverability.  Moving from carpet to tile is no longer part of her daily list of chores, with her new power chair from Open-Aire there is nothing she can’t do.  “Just push the button and GO!”