Author: Sheri Denkensohn-Trott
My good friend Rosemary and I have a saying about living with a disability. So many things happen, and we automatically say, “You can’t make this up.” There may be an expletive added but you get the drift. Things that 
occur that are so beyond belief that it might seem unbelievable. Well, I had two days in a row that fit in that category.
I have lymphedema in my left leg that was successfully treated, but now I need to wear a Velcro support on my entire calf then another one on my heel and foot. It requires me to purchase shoes that are larger than my actual shoe size. It took forever to find a place to buy double wide shoes that didn’t look like an old lady and had some sort of fashion and then to find them in colors that I needed. After getting rid of all my shoes, I finally found a place where I could buy the same pair of black, brown, white, and blue shoes. I was all set. This company is great, but it takes at least three months to get the shoes and they blame it on the pandemic, but I’m not so sure. Anyway, I’m willing to wait.
The brown shoes were the last ones to arrive and my favorite. I’d almost forgotten that I ordered them. I put them on with an outfit on a Friday and met family for dinner. It got dark and we left the dinner place and headed to an area to buy ice cream. When we got to the ice cream place my husband looked down and noticed that my left brown shoe was missing. He went off with my cousin in the dark to try to find the shoe. Of course, not found. I left it off and figured I would retrace my steps next day to see if I could locate my single brown shoe. In the morning, it was a Saturday and I was meeting a friend for brunch. I had a bag on the back of my chair with her birthday gift and all the way down the street I heard a scraping noise, but I thought it was the bag rubbing on my chair. We had brunch and then I proceeded to go to Staples, CVS, the ABC store, and home. While coming down the street from my last destination, my husband looked under my chair and said, “you are dragging your brown shoe!” All I could do was laugh. I had retraced my steps to find it and all along it was caught on the bolt that I use to lock down in my van. My husband had to get on the floor on his back and negotiate wiggling 
this shoe out of position. Let’s just say that it was quite worn and ragged from the journey all around the neighborhood. So, off to the computer I went to order another pair of brown shoes.
The next day, a Sunday, I put on blue shoes. I was headed to Target to run an errand and as I left my husband said, “Sheri, be careful with your shoes.” I laughed. How could anything happen with my shoes after the previous day? I did my errands and as I got out of the elevator, I looked in the mirror that is across the hallway and the left blue shoe was missing! I was in hysterics laughing and my husband didn’t think it was so funny. But when it comes to life, shoes are just stuff. I just lost my sister to cancer so missing or mangled shoes was the least of my concern. But back at the computer again, I ordered a pair of blue shoes. So, we will see what arrives first and how long it takes. In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of looking at my feet while I am driving. Probably not a good idea, but at least I won’t lose my shoes.
these DME frustrations, along with day-to-day household repairs, and other medical needs, sometimes I want to just blow up. But that does not solve the problem (although truthfully, venting to my wheelchair user friends does make me feel better to know that I’m not alone). The best thing to do is put your head down, keep trudging forward, and hopefully it will work out.
nsurance company approved them, but that they were on backorder. I said, “But I ordered them in October? Why are they still on backorder?” I was expecting the usual excuses that I received from other DME companies that I no longer deal with. Answers like; we didn’t get the information that we needed from your doctor; the insurance company still has the paperwork; they are in transit; and the list goes on. No, this time the answer was completely surprising, although in hindsight I should have figured it out. The wheels are made in China. Bingo! Original delay was because of tariffs. And now, the second delay is because of the corona virus. Luckily the parts are available for my rusting joystick (why it is rusting is another issue because the chair is only two years old), but I have no idea when I will get my new wheels. It is not a crisis, but because they are so worn, I need to be very careful if I am on any ramp or other surface that is wet or slippery. They will not be able to grab and hold.
supplies (including prescriptions) and figure out what comes from China so I can stockpile, but right now I would bet that advance supplies will not be approved by insurance. Along with many others, I will have to do my due diligence and just wait it out. In the meantime, I’m stuck in the middle.
I decided to call another provider that I had used about 15 years ago. They said that I could come in right away. I went to the DME provider, they lifted me out of the chair and went to work on it.
