Thursday, January 28, 2016

Convaid EZ Rider stroller





We recently got the Convaid EZ Rider stroller for my son Andy. We really love it. It folds up to a very manageable size and it weighs half the amount that my previous Kymba Ottobock stroller did. It weighs around 22 pounds. Without the foot rests it is about 18 pounds , but we added the foot rests for my son. We did not add the armrests to keep it light. 

The old stroller that I had only folded in half and was so big and bulky when it was folded. It was like the size of a very large box and was so awkward for lifting that it was ridiculous. It was very difficult fit into the trunk of my van minivan, and I always had to have the rear seats fold flat down just to get it into my vehicle. Other people with regular cars could not even get it into their trunk without taking it apart. 

The new stroller by Convaid folds up very easily and is so easy to pick up even with one hand and put it in my trunk. I do not have to fold the seats down in my minivan, I can just place it in the trunk area in there still plenty of room for other things.Andy sits in it so nicely, and is quite comfy. I can tell he is relaxed and enjoys the ride.

Previously, when Andy was three years old and about to go to preschool, I was trying to find an ideal stroller for him. I needed one that he could use to ride the bus, and I needed one that he could use at school. At first, I was told by the preschool that he would need a sturdy chair to sit in. When I talked to another preschool, they told me that they would purchase a Rifton chair for him, and that I didn't have to get a heavy duty stroller. 

When talking to the medical supply company at that time, I was trying to weigh my options of getting a sturdy (heavy) chair, or getting a lightweight chair. I was told the Kimba Ottobock chair would weigh around 40 pounds but this was very wrong. When I got the Kimball Ottobock Lechey chair it was so extremely difficult to lift in and out of my vehicle that I hated it from the start. It weighed 55 pounds in total. You could take the two pieces apart but it was in extreme pain in the butt. Taking the pieces apart also meant that you had to make absolutey sure that the pieces were back together properly or the chair could fall apart very easily and it did. My son was injured on the bus ride when the chair fell apart on the school bus. So, for three long years I hated the Kimba seat that I had. I sprained my wrist several times lifting it in and out of my minivan and I cursed it every time I had to lift it. 

Blue Cross Blue Shield told me that I could get a new piece of equipment for my son after three years had passed. The old Kimba Ottobock stroller had wear and tear and it had been broken by an airline company previously and repaired. It tends to get very wobbly once a month and the screws have to be tightened with them Allen wrench. 

After the three years passed, I was so thrilled to contact a new medical equipment company. We worked with and NuMotion in Michigan and they were so great and helpful. They got this piece of equipment for us as fast as they could and I got it just in time before the heavy winter snow started. I dreaded any time that I had to drive my son to school due to cold weather with the old stroller, because it meant me lifting a 55 pound chair in and out of my van which I hated. Now that I have the lightweight stroller it is just a dream come true, and I wish I would have gotten this stroller to begin with.


Monday, January 11, 2016

Andy's waking up screaming

Andy has had a couple of times in the last few days were he wakes up in the night or after a nap and he is screaming out of control. I thought he was having a nightmare the first time, but then it happened after a nap also. He wakes up and his face is very red and he is screaming and hard to console. I don't know if he is having a muscle spasm or what the problem might be. Luckily, this morning he woke up OK, and didn't wake in the night last night. Hopefully, it has passed for now.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

If your guitar isn't connecting with your Rock Band 4 delete it and reinstall

We got Rock Band 4 for Christmas, and it is something fun that I can do with my daughter. Andy also likes to play the drums. I sit him on my lap and put my hands over his hands with the drumsticks and he enjoys banging on the drums with me.we connected the drums and the guitar and had no problems for two or three days playing the game. Soon after that we were trying to join the guitar in, and wasn't being recognized. We put new batteries in the guitar and that didn't work. We also restarted the game and restarted the PlayStation and neither one of these worked. Then we finally tried completely removing the guitar from the settings. We had to delete the guitar in the Bluetooth devices and we had to reinstall it as again. This worked and allowed the system to recognize the guitar again and we were able to connect and play the game. I can bond with my daughter while playing the game and Andy also has fun too. It's been a great investment for us we really love it. I can get a lot of frustration out just by singing into the microphone and so does my daughter. So I guess you can say it's been therapeutic for the family as well!