An update:

Lin has finally received her "disability benefit" from Social Security. Time from first application to final approval was almost exactly seven years, during which time her condition was unchanged. The "judge" at the final hearing did not mention her condition, but gave her a twenty minute lecture about how "nobody would be disabled if they quit drinking coffee." (Lin did not drink coffee before the hearing, except on extremely rare occasions but now has a cup almost every day.)

At the final hearing, we were informed that "Social Security Regulations" prohibit paying more than three months in "back benefits" from the time of the final judgement. All of that went to the lawyers we had to hire.

Our latest experience: On the way to renew vehicle tags I parked in a handicapped parking space directly in front of the tag office. Lin exited our vehicle on the right, into what appeared to be a 9 foot wide handicap access lane. It turned out that the access actually was a 36 inch wide ramp, with smoothly blended contours into a 5 inch high curb, with NO VISIBLE INDICATION of where the ramp was. All surfaces were as-poured grey concrete. She tripped on the curb, fell flat on her face, broke her glasses and her left wrist.

Although every other ramp in the shopping center where the tag office is located has clearly marked boundaries on usable surfaces, indicating at least general knowledge of good standard practices, and the ramp at the tag office is clearly not in compliance with the Federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA - 28CFR Part 36, specifically paragraphs 4.7.7 and 4.29.2) we are told by attorneys that "Wichita Building Code does not require ADA compliance, and there is no possibility of successful claims against any responsible party."

Her insurance probably will pay nearly all the cost for treating the broken wrist, but she has no insurance for her broken glasses. Since her disability award (and her age) require her to switch to Medicaid in a couple of months, which does provide limited vision coverage, that $400 is an expense we wouldn't have had without the accident.

Since she needs constant assistance, at least until she recovers some use of the hand (you can't fill an insulin syringe one-handed, etc.) it's inadvisable for me to leave her alone for more than brief periods, so all progress at "anything else" is at a halt for at least three months(?), depending on her rate of recovery.

Regarding our "mobility devices:"

I believe I've finally gotten the controller out of Lin's broken scooter, and may be able to get a replacement. Price has not been determined.

The substitute 3-wheeler has proven to be almost totally inadequate for her WVA festival use, as it gets stuck in 3" grass and can't cross a garden hose or fat extension cord. I got some improvement by replacing a couple of 3" wheels with 4" ones, but clearances don't permit much additional modification.

The "big chair" that I've used is still working reasonably well, but at the last loading into the pickup truck it pretty much ripped the winch hoist out of the truck bed, so the hoist has been removed and replaced by an Anthony (hydraulic) lift-tailgate. ($2,600, if anyone's interested) The lift gate has been generally handy, but will require some "accessories" since neither the electic chair nor the scooter will make it over the "breakover" onto the tailgate. A couple of short "pad ramps" should solve that.

For the last festival, we found that the covered 10-foot trailer I bought for our recent move made a nice "garage" for the mobility vehicles, and I wired a receptacle into it so I could plug the trailer in and have power inside for overnight recharging. Both devices do have trouble with the ramp angles, but I think I can work the problem to improve that. It's not a matter of how steep the ramp is, but the "breaks" in angles at top an bottom "high-center" the scooter/chair. If there's no change, by next year I'll plan to have a support to raise the trailer tongue about four feet in the air so that the ramp at the rear will be fairly flat.

Both of the operable mobility aids probably need new batteries, and the dead one will if/when I get it repaired; but that's something "for later." The series charging (two 12 volt batteries in series - 24 volts) I believe contributes to early battery failure, so I'm looking at rewiring them to charge in parallel and run in series. The real problem with the rewiring is finding the space for a "neat" modification that's sufficiently idiot proof for the inevitable "helpers" to handle.

I have found the mobility chair that both Lin and I really need for the festival, but it lists at about $10,000 not including seat or batteries and I don't think Medicare will help with two of them.

I have heard, from at least one source, that Medicare has a "one per lifetime" limitation on mobility scooters, so the one you buy has to be the one you use forever. I'm looking for confirmation on that limitation, since it does affect what we might want to do next.

A Google search for "all terrain wheelchairs" was recently fairly productive, and might be of interest to several here, but it's mostly a source for ideas for us at present. There are lots of choices, from 15 pound hand propelled to 800 lb "hunting chairs" that claim to be able to bring you and your elk out of the brush. That probably isn't a search term most would think of, but it does get you lots of "beach chairs" and sporting models.

John