Latest update and ? about cost to mod car

[Sailorsong]

Well I just got home from my PCP appt. It went pretty good in some ways, but bad in others.

My BP is still too hig (meds were just doubled 2 weeks ago). Initially he was just going to increase my dosage of the meds I currently take but then noticed my pulse rate is getting way too low (47 BPM). So I now have yet another BP med to take. This one should not lower my heart rate any further.

I also taked to him about my left shoulder pain. I'm not allowed to take NSAIDs so they were out real quick. He also didn't really want to put me on any Narcotic type pain med with my heart cath coming up next week, but finally gave me a Rx for a small dosage one to take the edge off the pain so that I can sleep. I think he kind of relented because of the stress of the upcoming heart cath.

The really bad part is I forgot to talk to him about a couple of items (yet again)! Darn memory just doesn't work like it use to. :) I wanted to talk to him about my IBS as it seems like it is getting worse. I kind of suspect the IBS is worse also because of stress.

I also didn't talk to him about my legs/feet. I kind of forgot about this one on purpose because I really don't want to deal with it. Over the last few months I have noticed that when wearing shoes I can no longer feel how much pressure I am applying to the gas or brakes with my right foot while driving. I'm now relying on the angle of my right ankle for the gas and using my left foot for braking. If this continues to get worse I suspect I'll have to get hand controls for my car pretty soon. Does anyone here know how much it costs to get hand controls put into a car? I figure I should probably start saving up for this so I'll have the money when the time comes.

Dennis

[Sailorsong]

Thanks for the INFO!

Right now my biggest problem is applying too much brake at times. Not really use to using the left foot for the brakes yet (reminds me of when I first was learning to drive). I probably have some time yet before I'll need the controls. The one thing I have noticed so far is that the manual hand controls all seem to be for left hand operation only. Being right handed my left fine motor control is not that great so I would probably have trouble using them. I'll have to find some info on the electronic hand controls to see if they allow right hand use.

Dennis

[shoshin]

I think LATW got hand controls for her car so you might ask her. Or try calling around to a couple places and see if they can give you a ballpark figure.

It is scary and frustrating to have trouble driving. We had to get a car with automatic tradition when I started having trouble finding the clutch with my left foot and then sometimes even when I found it, I had trouble pushing it--seemed like my ankle would just wimp out.

I'm doing okay with the automatic now, but fortunately I don't have to drive very much or very far or in lots of challenging situations. I do have trouble feeling the pedal, too. I do all right once I'm in motion by judging how the car is responding, but I am sometimes prone to jackrabbit, jerky starts as I misjudge where the pedal is (which, as my husband is always reminding me, is not good for our gas mileage).

sho

[Lulu54]

Dennis,
I found this at the Spastic Paraplegia page

http://www.sp-foundation.org/articles-handcontrols-print.htm

The writer says that his hand controls were covered by his medical insurance as a durable medical equipment expense BUT the cost of the installation was not covered.  I don't know when the article was written, but at the time the cost was $300 for the controls and $300 for installation. You might want to read his article filled with tips, including being evaluated by a driving school for which type controls were best for his needs.

be well,
Lulu

[Tahiri_Veila]

Sorry to hear that things are not improving.  I have no idea what the modifications are, but I would be saving if it was me.  Let us know how things go.  I hope they improve for you.

Tahiri