No one in Texas wants to hire an interpreter!

Oceanbreeze said:
That would cost thousands. My chair costs Medicaid 2K. A power chair or schooter would cost up to 20K. She is better off going the insurance route or trying to find an organization like Easter Seals to pay for one.
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You are correct, I've seen the prices of the chairs at the medical supply store. I'd love to get a power chair, but I will have to settle for a manual chair because a power chair is VERY heavy, and my fiance is not going to be able to lift the chair into his grandfather's truck, and it also is not going to fit in there either. A manual chair is lighter and you can fold it up and put it in the truck. So for now I am going to probably stick with a manual chair until we get a bigger vehicle or something better. My friend has a power chair and he told me it cost his insurance 30k, and that his chair is 500 pounds, unoccupied!
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I'm on SSI/SS. My total income from SSI/SS is slightly less than $700. My rent is $460 and will be hiked up to $560 once I renew my lease for another year because we have new owners and I can't afford to move, even though I hate this neighborhood. I also have utilities and sewer and water and central AC/Heating and internet and phone bills as well as paying for prepaid airtime for my sidekick. After all that, I don't have very much left.
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I'm sorry Lucia. I didn't know how expensive a used wheelchair was.

I understand where you are coming from in terms of finances. I'm also on SS/SSI and am in Section 8 housing. I pay for phone and Internet service, cab fare when I need to go somewhere, dog food, vet bills for Tigger, groceries and the monthly cost of my prepaid cell phone.
 
2) The reason I have not called my doctor is because I already saw him earlier this month and I am due to see him early next month, and he does not speak to patients on the phone. I've already called his office to speak to him and they told me that he does not talk to patients on the phone and that I would have to wait until my appointment to discuss this with him.

If this is the case, then you need to find another doctor. A doctor who will not talk to his patients is being negligent and should be reported to the medical board.
 
I really do not want to waste their time and waste space (exam room) that could be used for other patients that actually need them.

That is your choice Lucia, but given how much pain you said you are in, I don't think you would be wasting ER space at all.

If you have to wait 6 hours to see a doctor in the ER, what about going to a free health clinic?
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
Texan,

I cannot get to Austin. My fiance does not have a car of his own, he has to borrow his grandfather's truck to go to work, and he is only limited to the northeast area of San Antonio because the truck is nearly 30 years old and not very reliable and could break down anytime, and we could get stranded out in the country. We need a reliable car to get to Austin but my fiance cannot afford one right now given the state of the economy. So, we are not able to travel to Austin on a frequent basis to visit doctors. I apologize for sounding like a bitch, I've just been quite frustrated lately. I have been to Austin, only because I had friends going to very large deaf events there, such as the Deaf Expo, and I arrange to ride with them, but that is usually about once a year or so.
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It's cool; sorry for my little ranting, first of all. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear your situations. That's pretty horrible. :|
 
Hear Again said:
2) The reason I have not called my doctor is because I already saw him earlier this month and I am due to see him early next month, and he does not speak to patients on the phone. I've already called his office to speak to him and they told me that he does not talk to patients on the phone and that I would have to wait until my appointment to discuss this with him.

If this is the case, then you need to find another doctor. A doctor who will not talk to his patients is being negligent and should be reported to the medical board.
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No. I am staying with this doctor because he is the only one who gives me consistent treatment. I had another doctor before, but he delegates to his 3 nurses and they all make different decisions, so I never see the same nurse every month, it is always a different nurse, and as a result half the time I've been denied treatments I need, sometimes I get accused of things that I don't do, etc. Each nurse has a different opinion and a different decision. It was a whole bunch of bullshit. So I went back to my current doctor even though now that he has his own practice so he is out of network which means I have to pay 20% but I would rather pay 20% so I can see my DOCTOR every single month and not some stupid nurse, unlike the other clinic. I get consistent treatment from my current doctor and I am not going to risk losing the consistent treatment by going to another doctor. I've worked so hard to prove that I have a legitimate reason for the treatment I need, and I don't need that ruined. This doctor is the only one I can trust right now. And I know he trusts me, so I want to stay with this doctor.

The reason he does not take phone calls from patients is because he is almost always in medical procedures, and these procedures cannot be interrupted due to the nature of the procedures. (epidural injections, nerve blocks, etc)
 
Hear Again said:
I really do not want to waste their time and waste space (exam room) that could be used for other patients that actually need them.

That is your choice Lucia, but given how much pain you said you are in, I don't think you would be wasting ER space at all.

If you have to wait 6 hours to see a doctor in the ER, what about going to a free health clinic?
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I'm not in uber-severe pain right now, I am not constantly in this much pain about half of the time, it just hurts to walk around and if I walk around too long I start to hurt bad. Right now I am in moderate pain which does not warrant an ER visit.

I do not know of a free clinic here in San Antonio. I think the RX for a good wheelchair has to come from a specialist, because I do not want to end up with a shitty hospital style chair that is hard to maneuver around in (I have tried before) and I have found that the better type of chair like the one Oceanbreeze has is better to get around in. So, I need a RX from a specialist that states the kind of chair I need and the reason for it, and my DX as well. (I think Medicaid and Medicare requires this anyway).
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I do not know of a free clinic here in San Antonio. I think the RX for a good wheelchair has to come from a specialist, because I do not want to end up with a shitty hospital style chair that is hard to maneuver around in (I have tried before) and I have found that the better type of chair like the one Oceanbreeze has is better to get around in. So, I need a RX from a specialist that states the kind of chair I need and the reason for it, and my DX as well. (I think Medicaid and Medicare requires this anyway).
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Thanks for clarifying the level of pain you are in. :ty:

By a better wheelchair, are you referring to a Quickie? I've seen those and they are nice. Much nicer than hospital wheelchairs.

Ocean, do you have a Quickie?
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
No. I am staying with this doctor because he is the only one who gives me consistent treatment. I had another doctor before, but he delegates to his 3 nurses and they all make different decisions, so I never see the same nurse every month, it is always a different nurse, and as a result half the time I've been denied treatments I need, sometimes I get accused of things that I don't do, etc. Each nurse has a different opinion and a different decision.
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In that case, I can understand why you'd want to stick with your doctor.
 
Hear Again said:
Thanks for clarifying the level of pain you are in. :ty:

By a better wheelchair, are you referring to a Quickie? I've seen those and they are nice. Much nicer than hospital wheelchairs.

Ocean, do you have a Quickie?
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I have a Quickie 2, yes. I think it's time for a link since now we're talking specific brand type chairs now. Be right back.

This is NOT the exact chair I have, but it's very similiar to the one I have:

http://www.quickie-wheelchairs.com/products/Quickie-LXI-Ultralight-Wheelchair-2410.html
 
Hear Again said:
Thanks for clarifying the level of pain you are in. :ty:

By a better wheelchair, are you referring to a Quickie? I've seen those and they are nice. Much nicer than hospital wheelchairs.

Ocean, do you have a Quickie?
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Yes, something like that. I want a chair with inflatable tires like the ones on a bike, etc. They steer and roll easier. Hospital type chairs have hard tires with no air in them, and I've found them to be more difficult at steering, rolling/pushing myself around in, turning around and other maneuvering tasks. I'm not strong, so if the chair is easy to push myself in to make it roll to go wherever I want to go, that would be so much better. I want a chair that's easy for me to use. And the seat, I need for it to be soft and cushioned with support and does not put too much pressure on me because my butt hurts when I have to sit on a hard surface, and that also affects my hips as well due to my hip dysplasia. I'm also going to need something ergonomic for my back too due to the two injured discs in my back. In a nutshell, I need a chair that is very easy to get around in, and it has to be comfortable for me to sit in. A hospital chair has none of those benefits and won't cut it at all for me. I borrowed my fiance's grandmother's chair (hospital type) once and had to ride the city bus using the chair all the way to the southside of San Antonio and back - 2 hours each way! And my whole body was VERY pissy and as soon as I got home I had to take a muscle relaxant because my back and hips were so tight and there were knots everywhere. I was NOT happy. Plus, one of the front little wheels on the chair BROKE! Thank goodness my fiance's grandmother didn't get mad at us (my fiance had came with me that day) - she doesn't really use the chair that much and only had it because someone had given it to her and she kept it in the shed. That chair was way too SMALL too, I believe it was designed for a very small woman or a child, anyway.
 
Etoile said:
Link worked okay for me. YMMV. :)
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I'm glad it worked. :) At any rate, that's a pretty accurate representation of what I currently have. The price on that one is a bit low, but they also tack prices onto the base price given the person's special accomodations. Each person's chair is custom made for that person by the company, basically.

I've been using Quickie chairs since I was in high school or college.
 
San Antonio? deaf community? I hardly hear from them. I usually know well deaf-community in Austin, DFW, Houston and McAllen/Brownville. But San Antonio? This place are poor deaf community. Lack connect thry network.

I always loathe that city. Great to visit but live there is lousy.

Your thread should said "South Texas sucks"
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I don't have it in writing because they said it on the phone when I used VRS on VP. So I have no proof.

No. I can't get HC parking placard if I do not have my own car - it's the law here in Texas...my fiance told me this. He knows because his grandfather has a placard, and he was required to have his own vehicle in order to have the placard. The placard cannot be used on any other vehicle, only his own. So if I got my own placard, I cannot use it on my fiance's truck, it has to be my own vehicle.

I never heard of the ACULA.
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I really think that you should go to DMV and talk to a supervisor in person and explain him/her about your situation. He/she probably would help you with that with a special form. It's worth for you to find out. I understand how it can be difficult, but you just have to try to see what happens before you consider getting a lawyer or the ACULA (?). Perhaps, you ask your friends to take you there.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
I have a Quickie 2, yes. I think it's time for a link since now we're talking specific brand type chairs now. Be right back.

This is NOT the exact chair I have, but it's very similiar to the one I have:

Quickie LXI Ultralight Wheelchair - Ultralight Weight - Quickie-Wheelchairs.com
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Wow! That's a lot of money. I had seen one like this that sells a new one which cost around $350. It was on the internet last year. I was on a basic wheelchair temporary for a few months, and I returned it to the hospital. Perhaps, she could get a used one from a hospital or a nursing home if she is lucky.

Off topic, how about this website? Hoveround » Hoveround Electric Wheelchairs & Electric Scooters I don't know much about it. It says that the company accepts a Medicare.
 
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