The Importance of Positioning

Most of you who don’t know me in person don’t realize that I sit in my wheelchair from the time I get out of bed in the morning until I go to bed at night.   That’s usually 14 to 16 hours per day.   Unless I am sick I don’t get out of the chair during the day.   Sitting upright for long periods becomes rather uncomfortable but fortunately I have a wheelchair that tilts back up to 45 ° and has a fairly comfortable seat cushion and back cushion.   There are some times though when I find it difficult to get comfortable.

Take today for instance.   Most of the day I spent working at my computer desk and when I do that I can’t tilt back.   That ends up putting a lot of strain on me physically and at some point I have to stop what I’m doing and leave my desk.   So at about five o’clock this evening I decided it was time.   I wanted to recline my chair back for at least an hour and the only thing I could do while tilted back was watch TV.   Personally, I’d rather read a book, but I don’t have a book holder on the chair and I can’t hold a book with my arms when I’m tilted back.   (Note to self: find someone to invent a book holder that will attach to my wheelchair for when I need to recline and read.)

TV can get monotonous after a while especially when there isn’t anything good on.   Lately it seems like the commercials are more interesting than some of the programming.   Today I watched commercials for name your own price car insurance, the best diet pills you will ever need, toilet paper that will change your life and dog food that looks better than what I had for dinner.   And believe it or not I suffered through all of that just so that I could spend an hour or two in a more comfortable position for the sake of my body.   I’m thankful for my customized wheelchair and for television to keep me entertained.   And, now I’m going to get into bed.   Horizontal position for eight hours coming up.

5 Comments

  1. Norm
    Jun 18, 2009

    As the person in charge of cooking Karen’s dinner, I want you all to know, what she had tonight was something that she saw in the store, and said to me, that looks good.

    I followed instruction, cooked it just as it was supposed to be cooked, Cut it into nice bite sized pieces so it would be easy to eat. I even decided that I would sit close by in case she needed help.

    I left long enough to get a drink for myself. On my return, she had a funny look on her face and said, this is horrible, or something like that. The taste was not to her liking. It was no reflection on my abilities as a cook. That’s a totally different story for my blog.

    By the way, I think she was right, what she was to have, tasted like….tasted horrible.

  2. PJ
    Jun 19, 2009

    I was wondering!

  3. GrannyJ
    Jun 22, 2009

    Have you tried talk radio for a change of venue?

  4. Karen of Scottsdale
    Jun 23, 2009

    Yes, but I’m tired of it. Been thinking about audio books on my mp3 player.

  5. WildKat
    Jun 27, 2009

    I’ve been a quad since 2004. I don’t think most people realize just how long we sit in our wheelchairs all day. Positioning better be good when your sitting for 18 and 19 hrs!