Monday, July 14, 2025 – Day 335
Monday, July 14, 2025
Good morning! Welcome to a new week!
Today’s post is all about finding a practical solution. No emotional, philosophical or social engagement thoughts…just pros and cons dealing with an ALS problem.
Before we go there, Happy Birthday to Mike and Beth’s granddaughters, Lainey and Lilly, who turned 8 over the weekend! Hope you had a great party!
Yesterday, I reached out to my brother Tim and asked if he could come over and bring down our trailer hitch from storage…packed into the recesses of the garage…the one we normally use to transport extra gear on road trips. I wanted to see if we could use it to carry the new power wheelchair when we travel.
Long story short: Tim got the hitch down and helped me size things up. But after taking measurements, we discovered the chair is just too wide to fit on the platform. Too bad. It would’ve been a simple, temporary solution—probably good enough to get the chair up north in a couple of weeks. But no dice.
So, I went online to brainstorm some transport options. The chair weighs in at a hefty 436 pounds, which pretty much rules out manually lifting it in and out of a vehicle. I’d need multiple strong helpers at both ends of every trip, and let’s be real… that’s not practical.
Here are the options I’ve come up with so far:
- Buy a new trailer hitch with a built-in ramp and use the 2011 Yukon to transport the chair. The 2023 Buick Envision is out—it just can’t handle the weight. This would cost a few hundred bucks and could be installed fairly quickly. It’s the most affordable short-term fix.
- Install a hoist/lift system in the back of one of the vehicles. Think of it as a small crane that swings the chair into place. It would save the heavy lifting but still require transferring me into a car seat for travel.
- Retrofit one of our SUVs so the chair could be driven up a ramp and secured in the back—basically turning the cargo area into a wheelchair bay. Again, I’d still be transferring to a regular seat for the ride.
- Buy a fully converted van, already outfitted with a ramp or lift so I could drive the wheelchair right in—and then stay in the chair for the ride. This is the most future-proof solution, especially if I eventually lose the ability to transfer. But the price tag is steep—anywhere from $50K to $100K depending on the model and conversion package.
Options 1–3 are all viable if I can still transfer in and out of the chair. Option 4 becomes essential if/when that’s no longer possible—and to be honest, it would probably be the most comfortable and least physically demanding option right now.
At minimum, I could go with the trailer hitch option for now. It’s relatively cheap, gets us moving, and buys us time to make a bigger decision. But it’s not ideal for winter travel—hauling a 436-pound power chair through slush and salt isn’t my idea of a good time. Ideally, I’d like to make a decision in the next month or two. I don’t want this hanging over my head, and I definitely don’t want to rush into the wrong choice—that just leads to spending more money in the long run.
There are other considerations that will come into play…such as:
- Storage: If we do buy a trailer hitch, where are we storing it when not in use? I hate to add more stuff to our jam packed garage.
- Insurance: How does adding a hoist or trailer hitch affect our auto policy? If we get rear-ended…is the chair covered. Heck…it cost $25k!
- Resale/Trade-in value: If we retrofit or buy a van, can we recoup any of the cost down the line?
Anyway… that’s the dilemma for now. The easy solution I had hoped for didn’t pan out, so it’s time to start gathering quotes. Not excited about this part—but hey, we knew it was coming when we ordered the chair back in early May.
If anyone has suggestions or has dealt with something similar, I’m all ears.
Hope you all have a great start to your week. Love you guys! ❤️
