Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wheel chair has arrived!

We got Gabriel's wheel chair about a week and a half ago. I was feeling really weird about taking him in public. What if someone asked whats wrong with him.. Well my older kids were more than excited to try it out. So the first time we went shopping the kids wanted to push Gabriel. Man did Gabriel and the kids have a blast. I was worried my 9 yr old Jeremy was gonna run off with him lol. Gabriel really loves sitting upright, im sure this much feel so much better than slouching in the stroller. And really help his scoliosis. His wheel chair also came with a tray, this is super awesome cause we can use it as a seat in the house instead of the high chair. I love how it reclines too. The only bad thing is that his arms hang back when hes relined, so I'm going to make a pillow to put by both arm rests to keep this from happening. I also wanted a canopy but apparently they don't make these. Its so hot in Florida and I want him to have some shade when were outside. This brings me to my home depot story...

Gabriel getting casted for new AFO (leg braces)



So we went to home depot to look for something to build a canopy for the wheel chair. The lady to the right really was trying to help me so bad. We were walking all over the store looking for something to build this. We just about gave up and I was going to go to the fabric store, she came back with 2 hose tips that adjust, just like the pieces on the side of stroller canopy's that allow you to open and close and it stays in position (dont know if your following me lol), anyways, she said they were 15$ each but was quick to say how about if we just give them to you. I thought she was kidding, nope she was serious. So a couple other employees came over, they were interested in giving me ideas to build this canopy. So we brought the wheel chair in from the truck and sized up the parts we needed. One of the managers even offered to build it for me, lol Im a little to anal for that. But that was an awesome offer! So we got all the parts we need, get to the register and they ring it up... Umm they said they wanted to donate everything, the only thing I would have to bring Gabby and the wheel chair back in when I'm finished. Ya know I love to show off my work, so of course I was super excited they donated a good 50$ worth of stuff! So it only took me 2 days to do this, a few trial and errors but I got it together and it looks great, and is totally removable like it was never there. My plan was to sew a canopy out of fabric with cars on it, but the canopy looked horrible. Then I remembered I had an extra canopy piece that is suppose to attach to an existing canopy of a stroller to make it bigger. So this ended up working perfect and matches like it came with the wheelchair. So today I wrote a thank you note and printed pictures of the wheelchair before and after. Gabby and I went to home depot to show it off! Only 2 of the employees were there that helped me the other day. They were so excited to see Gabriel and very impressed! They told me that the store manager has a daughter with a traumatic brain injury, and is in a wheelchair, this is why she wanted to donate all this for Gabriel, they said her heart melted when they seen Gabriel!!! This experience so made my day, week, month...! There really are good people out there, don't waste time looking for them, they will find you! What comes around goes around, I love to bless people and get blessed too. Life is soooo Good!