Thomas you are totally right. My mom has been a quad for 10 years now in the Kaiser system and goes to the same facility every time she has a problem. She was their first quad, but not their only one now, and they still don't have any Hoyer type lifts and only recently put together a formal "lift team" who is kind of trained on lifting those who are paralyzed. They don't have shower chairs or shower beds to accommodate her needs when she's in their facility for more than a day or so, aren't even prepared to feed her meals. They still have to weigh her on a loading dock scale, although the family practice doctor did finally get a scale that allows them to weigh her with a lift type sling at the regular office. Her dentist has to schedule her on a special day so they can clear out the room he does the exam or procedure in so she can come into the room with her chair and they use her chair instead of changing her into another one. It would seem that a medical practice would make allowances for a patient who was paralyzed, and it doesn't seem like the equipment is all that cost prohibitive. Shoot, we bought ours second hand, I'm sure they could too. Can't go to DC, but they could at least let us send letters with suggestions, like they do about the Alzheimer's Plan. Thanks for keeping us advised, Mr. RoboDad. Someone needs to lead us, and you've taken the job. Just know there are people surrounding you as you move forth. zuzu

I agree that there are so many people who abuse the privilege of having the disabled placards and it has caused people to resent anyone who uses them. There are people who have them with medical issues that don't always show the outward signs people expect like a walker, chair, O2 tank or obvious limp, which makes the public assume their resentment is justified. I've been in both situations. I've got Interstitial Cystitis, a bladder disease that causes me to have a frequent need to use the bathroom, intense pain, therefore difficulty walking long distances. I also have Fibromyalgia which can cause me to be in extreme pain making it hard for me to walk, affecting my balance and the medications I take sometimes make me weak and fatigued. The thing is that the symptoms wax and wane, so sometimes I'm fine and other times I'm really sick, but I still need to go out in public. I don't have a placard yet, even though my doctor, friends and family members have suggested I get one, because if I'm really sick and put one in the window, then get out and slowly walk to the store people will think I'm abusing the intent of the disabled space. They won't understand the great pain I'min, how tired I am and how grateful I am to not have to walk from the back of the lot.

At the same time my mom who is a quad has an accessible van and a placard too, which they use to park close to any place they take her. She needs it. She is quite sensitive to temperature changes, light hurts her eyes, and if she got wet from rain she couldn't sit around the rest of the time in the store or doctor office in wet clothes. She's 81 and cranky too! I don't mind them using the placard when she's with dad in the van with the ramp. BUT it really frosts me when my dad has the van and she's NOT IN IT uses the placard to park closer to the store entrance. He has nothing wrong with him other than attitude. He had a volunteer job a few years ago as a citizen resource officer with the police department where they live in California and will brag about how he'd give out citations for people who parked in handicapped spaces without placards or called the patrol officers to give them tickets, BUT he sees nothing wrong with doing the same thing himself.

I say give the spaces to people who need them. You know if you do or not each day. There will always be people who abuse the system. It'll come around to bite them eventually. And my dad? One of these days when I'm with him and he pulls his little trick there'll be a phone call to the parking police reporting the misuse of a placard and he'll have to answer an officer's questions. I'm just warning him.

Several years ago on New Year's Day there were flooding rains in Petaluma, CA where my parents live. Mom's a quad and they live in a mobile home park that's prone to flooding. I saw the news that morning from 3000 miles away in NC and called to encourage them to leave before the streets became impassable. My Dad said everything was fine, then mentioned he was standing in the carport and could see things floating down the road. I told him I thought he should get Mom and her power chair into the van before it got any worse and take her to an accessible hotel that was on higher ground. He didn't. An hour later they called to tell me the fire department was doing a mandatory evacuation and were carrying Mom out to an ambulance, had her manuel chair and they were leaving the van and power chair behind. Mom ended up sitting in the manuel chair for the rest of the day. I was able to get in touch with a friend, who happened to see the news and was on her way with her husband to check on Mom and Dad. Her husband got permission from the fire department to go to the house later that evening and get the power chair, hoyer and van which they drove to a hotel to stay for the night. Lesson learned? Barely. My Mom gets anxious every time there's tons of rain, and Dad says it's not going to flood. He doesn't plan to leave. I've since made a personal trip to the local fire station to thank them and to alert them to the fact that Dad's stubborn. They shared with me the City websites for alert and evacuation information so I can monitor it from NC, and I can call the fire station or police to have them check on my parents and "encourage" an earlier evacuation so Mom has her power chair and hoyer lift, along with the van. Thankfully he does have a "go bag" that does have several days worth of meds, changes of clothing for both of them, toiletries, snack foods and bottles of water, and "The Football" - our family version of the famous bag that always stays with the President. It's a copy of all of Mom's medical records, doctor's names and contact numbers, her medications and dosages, her legal records including HIPPA, DNRs, Living Will, HCPOA, Will, family and friends email and phone numbers, financial and insurance information, Medicare infor., everything someone is likely to ask that you won't have the answer to because it would be at home. So that's how we've tried to prepare for evacuations, and just like you, they're ready for several days staying in home too.

The fire safety stuff - as the former "Fire Lady" my parents house is another long story, so we've let the fire station know that there's only one way out for her and we'll appreciate them doing the best they can. The rest I pray about and leave with God. Thanks for your preparation reminder. (oh, my childhood friend's husband has a rare form of Parkinson's and lives in Spokane. He saw the man in the photo on the news and decided to see just how far he could go. He was gone for three hours enjoying the neighborhood, snow and shopping. She sent the same photo story claiming it wasn't her Bob!)
Deborah