Are there any power wheelchair and portable oxygen concentrator users on DU?

[Ziggysmom]

I'm looking for any advice you can share regarding companies or models you recommend, or those to avoid. Insurance and cost is not a factor. We already know Medicare won't cover the power chair unless you need it in your home. My husband is able to walk fine, just not long distances and he is on O2 continuously. WC Portability using our RAV4 is needed, too.

My husband has pulmonary hypertension and COPD, and I'm looking for ways to get out and enjoy life more. Just a damn baseball game or walk in the park would mean so much. He hates being pushed in a manual chair. Since he cannot fly anymore, we want to focus on little day trips closer to home. Any suggestions about accessible things to see or do in Wisconsin and bordering states are welcome, too.

Thanks in advance to any suggestions! I love how DU is like an extended family. ❤️❤️

[gibraltar72]

1. I have become slightly knowledgeable about mobility scooters.

Does your husband need a wheel chair or would a scooter work? They make scooters that come apart in about three pieces. The newest batteries give great range. I see nice used ones on several of the selling sites. I think most that break down end up with heaviest part being under 60 pounds.

[Meowmee]

2. We are applying for an electric wheelchair for my father

Apparently it will be covered by medicare I was told. His health has been destroyed by covid and he is completely immobile now without help so he will be using it at home hopefully. It is a 3 month long process at least though and I don’t know what will happen. My hope is that he can move around a bit at home by himself but with each hospital stay he is getting weaker.

He also had an Inogen portable oxygen concentrator and a larger one. The larger one was old and was garbage, it released a strange odor that made my asthma act up. We never used the portable one because the hospital never gave us the charging cord so I can’t comment on how good it was. It seemed a bit heavy to me for a portable. But overall if you are paying for it yourself or if insurance will pay I would get a new one if possible whichever brand you select. The hospital said he should be using the larger concentrator at home because the portable ones would not produce enough o2 on a sustained level for him when needed.


When he left the hospital his pulse ox was not low enough with activity the day before he left so eventually medicare would not cover it. Even though he now has chf and valve failure after covid and it was low enough 3-4 days before- he was on oxygen that whole stay and has needed it again at 9 subsequent stays including one with acute respiratory failure. He just got home again and I am not sure if he now needs it again because he was having trouble breathing there last night and needed 02 but was released and then he was having trouble again on the way home.

Medicare is atrocious about under which circumstances it will and will not cover things. If you are getting the concentrator through a supplier as a rental be careful because they will sometimes ask for a credit card to charge you in case it is denied. I had to get on the phone with the company the hospital arranged the 02 devices through a few times to straighten things out. Maybe you know all of this already.

I was looking at this wheelchair a while back.

https://www.ezlitecruiser.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=foldable%20electric%20wheelchair&utm_content=electric_wheelchair&utm_campaign=us_search_pm&gclid=CjwKCAjwx8iIBhBwEiwA2quaq4QaNmqYLPkoDOYGEeDaoXbPf6llLrTL5Ipi3_9V2Sp6cKKujpfzPBoCCeoQAvD_BwE