Tuesday, May 7, 2019

I'll help you with that

Since getting a tracheostomy and being started on invasive ventilation, I have to carry around my ventilator wherever I go. Usually I am burdened in my wheelchair as I struggle to balance a 12 pound ventilator and a five pound heater/humidifier on my lap. Thankfully, I usually have people to help me. Most of the time, people offer to push my wheelchair, which allows me to use my hands to secure the medical equipment on my lap.

Sometimes, though, folks feel inclined to carry my ventilator. This situation almost always makes me laugh. People see me use one hand to lift my ventilator. I carefully wrap my ventilator’s carrying strap several times around my hand and then swing the ventilator on to my lap. People assume, since I am in a wheelchair, I must be very weak and underestimate the strength needed to lift a 12 pound ventilator. When the person attempts to pick up the ventilator with one hand using the carrying strap, almost immediately, the person nearly topples over. "Whoa! That machine is heavy!!!" Then, the person regroups and uses both hands to lift the ventilator.

When we get to my destination, I ask for my ventilator. With one hand, I swing the ventilator into the car or on to a chair. The eyes of the person assisting me grow wide. "That ventilator is HEAVY! How can you lift it with one hand?" I laugh and say I do it all the time. It's not that hard. (To be truthful, my left side of my body is quite weak. Even if I employed my left arm, it would be quite useless in carrying my ventilator. So, if I have to move or carry anything, it is done almost exclusively with my right arm.)

I am always grateful for assistance, but I do not always have the luxury of having people help me. After two years of lifting my ventilator, my right arm muscles have become quite strong, which makes me feel like Super Woman!

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