Austin is a 6 year old little boy who has CP (cerebral palasy). That is a form of brain damage. It affects Austin so that he can not talk or walk. He also has to be feed through a J-tube (jujnostomy tube) which is a tube in his small intestin. He is also trached because he cannot swallow and when I take him outside he has to have a passy murie valve on which does not allow anything to go into his trach. It allows him to make sounds, which I love to hear from him. When he has his passy valve on he also gets what are called mucus plugs, which is when his secreations get dried up they could block his trach and prevent him from breathing so someone has to be with him at all times when he goes anywhere. He also has a dislocated right hip which makes him uncomfortable. He has 16 hours of nursing care a day to help me. He needs to be in a wheel chair to go to and from school. The wheel chair itself weights about 60 pounds and he weights about 40 pounds and it is getting more difficult for me to carry him, not only because of his weight but because of how tall he is. He is about 3 feet tall and with me being so short it is very hard for me to carry him. It is also difficut for my nurses to lift him and also lift his chair.
Everyday when he goes to school I have to bring his chair out to the bus by dragging it down out front stairs and then putting it on the bus. Then I have to carry him to the bus. Doing this is taking a toll not only on the chair but on me. Because I have to carry him all of the time I have bursitis in both shoulders and sometimes I cannot lift him. So the main thing that I need is a what is called a porch lift. That is a lift next to the front porch that can bring the chair down with out dragging it. But in order to do that we have to have a bigger front porch and walk way. If we had a lift I could put him in the chair inside the house and then bring him and the chair to the bus at the same time.
Another thing that is very difficult for me is put the chair in my truck because I need two people to lift it. I also have a hard time just putting him in my car. My truck is high and sometimes it is hard for me to lift him his car seat because the seat is high. He also doesn’t really like riding in the car because of the car seat. It is so unconfortable for him to sit in for any amount of time and with all of the doctor’s that we have to go to it is very hard and tiring for him and me. He cries all of the time in the car and it is very hard for me to listen to and not be able to do aything about it. So I think that a modified van would be very helpful. But only if we raise enough money.
