Wheelchair Experience

Out of all the different assignments that we've had in this class (shadowing, practices, etc.), this one was definitely the best experience because it was so "hands on."

The morning of my wheelchair experience started like any other morning except for the fact that I was transferring into a wheelchair before I went to class. The transfer from the bed to the chair was difficult seeing as I couldn't walk over and sit down. I eventually got in the chair and started to roll myself out the door. This is where I encountered the first problem. The door frame was only barely big enough to allow me to get through in the chair. I would notice that this would be the case for the rest of the experience.

I eventually rolled out the door and onto the sidewalk in preparation for going to my first class. One of the things I noticed is how uneven the sidewalks are and how many cracks and divots there seem to be. I was never attentive to this fact while walking because it didn't make much difference in my stride. However, the wheelchair forced me to notice this as I tried to propel myself up and over cracks in the ground. I was able to get through the "sidewalk of death" and into Jepson where my first class was.

Safe to say my teacher that day had no idea what was going on; me entering class in a wheelchair and all. Yet, he didn't mention anything to me or ask me about my situation, which was just fine with me. I stared off into space for about 50 minutes until class was over and then mosied along out of class and off towards lunch. I decided to eat at Pandini's seeing as it was the closest thing on campus to a restaurant. The only problem with Pandini's is the close proximity of the tables to one another. Navigating through the small spaces proved difficult by not unmanageable.

After lunch, it was decided that I roll through the grass to check that off my list. This was much easier said than done. First of all, the grass was damp which increased my likelihood to fall forward on my face. Second, it hadn't been cut in a while which made the trip through it take forever. Suffice to say my forearms were crying by the time I got out of the grass and back onto the pavement.

That was pretty much the overview of my wheelchair experience. I, as well as my forearms, definitely have a new respect for the difficulty of piloting a wheelchair, and I only was in it for about 3 hours. I can only imagine what it would be like to be in a chair for a much longer period of time (i.e. life).

Chapter 9 - No Less a Worthy Life

This chapter was relatively straight forward. However, I don't really like the parallels the book tries to draw in order to make a bigger impact. For example, I dislike how this chapter compared euthanasia with abortion.

Euthanasia is an option that is sometimes chosen by a patient. This patient has at the very least a basic understanding of their current condition and their probability of getting better. The patient also has an understanding that they are choosing to end their lives by refusing any further treatment. Abortion, on the other hand, is a decision made by a parent (only the mother in most cases) to end someone else's life. Abortion is not a form of suicide, it is a form of murder. It is a decision made to end another human's life. The only connection between euthanasia and abortion is the end outcome of death.

I think this book tries too hard in making these connections to try and instill a sense of astonishment in the reader. I don't agree with this type of tactic because it is, in most cases, a shameless way of attracting people to a certain point of view. Other than that, I enjoyed the rest of the chapter and the talk of how people were able to change the world view of the young man and help him choose life over death. References to the ACLU (Anti-Christian Lawyers Union) made me not want to read on, but I got through it with only a few problems.

Shadowing Experience #3 (St. Luke's)

*Completed on November 30, 2006*

This was a fun experience as well. I followed around Barbi on the second floor and went on her final go around that night. I met with an older woman that fractured her spine when she fell. I watched Barbi work with her on practicing getting dressed by using a mechanical gripper and making sure that she did not try and flex her spine to do the activity. I then met with a guy that was paralyzed after a car accident. He had been driving to a party when he fell asleep and hit a tree with his car. Barbi had to administer a test to him on a book he was reading about life after that type of injury. Then he showed me how he transfered from his bed to his chair and back.

The last 30 minutes or so of my experience was with Barbi back in her office. There she showed me the type of paperwork and computer work that she has to do at the end of everyday. She entered everything that she did with her patients, along with recommendations of what to do next. This is saved in the computer system, which is networked with the entire hospital (along with the other hospitals in the greater Spokane area). That was basically the extent of my time with Barbi at St. Luke's.