I went through several weeks of frustratingly fast decline in my wheelchair battery life. They wouldn’t charge very long and therefore lasted only a couple hours at the most before I was down to one blinking bar on my power gauge.
I spent a few weeks working with MDA trying to find a local vendor who would supply new batteries as part of MDA’s yearly repair allowance. During that time I was noticeably changing the way I operated:
1) I was declining invites to do things that might require more than a little bit of wheelchair travel.
2) I was putting off errands because I couldn’t go to more than one store at a time without having to charge up.
3) I gained weight. It was easier to sit around and eat than it was to do anything else.
4) My house got messy. I didn’t want to waste battery power rolling around and tidying up.
The day after I got my new batteries, thanks to a Milwaukee wheelchair dealer called Miller Mobility, I was back to my old self. I lived a regular day again. I even made it through the first 24 hours without losing a single bar on my power meter — and I did a lot!
So I have a newfound appreciation for healthy wheelchair batteries, not to mention a healthy attitude. I also greatly appreciate the help I got from Crystal at MDA in Hawaii and Mike from Miller Mobility in making this happen. Thanks guys!
You Should Go Anyway 