Gonad the Ballbarian: [i2.photobucket.com image 450x641]

pffft! amateurs!

Well that's a silly way to keep your pants up.

Morbid obesity is not a disability.

It is not "glandular" or anything else. It is simple math.

(Calories in) - (Calories out via exercise) - (small percentage for bodily functions) = Fat

moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

Winter survivor

moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

internet dating site "average"

For what it is worth, Medicare only paid 80% of the cost of most of these things, so the little to no cost thing isn't pocket change. Now the people just ordering them and not delivering them, that is high margin!

Rules state that to qualify, you can't be able to safely use a manual chair, it is only based on ability to move around the house.

My b/f and I went to Disneyworld a couple of years ago and I was shocked at how many morbidly obese people were running around on those things. Way more than you would expect. It was really sad, and a lot of them were maybe in their 20s!

I know that some of them might have a real physical disability, but I can tell you that, to me, it looked like the majority of them were just too fat and lazy to bother walking. I kept thinking to myself that if you give up your mobility at that young of an age, what kind of life are you going to have? Not to mention the burden that it puts on everyone else in your family. It made me both sad and angry.

Next time you're in Walmart or Target or whatever, go to the plus sized clothing area.
The rounders are 4-5 feet apart to accomodate the fatties and their wide turning radius.

trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

Thyroid problems.

The_Original_Roxtar: moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

internet dating site "average"

plum impersonator

here to help: Gonad the Ballbarian: [i2.photobucket.com image 450x641]

pffft! amateurs!

Heh. As ridiculous as that thing is though at least he'd be moving under his own power somewhat. They could however have designed that harness a little better. Talk about ultra wedgie.

I've used one of those on one of my patients; it's not a walker. The picture looks misleading. It's a transport/lift used to move a patient from bed to wheelchair to shower-chair and whatnot. He's not using any of his own steam, believe me.

My husband's power chair cost over 35k. Medicare paid a good chunk of it too. What Medicare didn't pay, private insurance picked up.

ALS is an expensive disease though. Luckily Medicare is really good at helping out.

Finding handicapped parking spaces is a pain though. *sigh*

BurnShrike:

You're on Fark. You don't have to be polite, so why don't you tell us what you really think?

Besides, Medicare doesn't cover guns.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28116693/ns/technology_and_science-innova t ion/t/fda-nixes-proposed-prescription-pistol/#.T1qVB3lAJtM

The cripple gun industry needs better lobbyists. Or get in with the assisted suicide people, that thing is probably cheaper than an overdose of whatever they use.

halotosis: As a wheelchair user myself, I refuse to use a powered chair. I go for three to four mile laps in my chair around the lakes near my house for exercise. You have no idea how much upper body strength and endurance it takes. My fiancee often goes with me and jogs, we push each other to go faster. Just because I have a disability doesn't mean being lazy and out of shape. I'm constantly looking for new ways to keep active.

100% agree, power chairs should only be for those not capable of operating a manual chair.

I understand how she pushes you to go faster, but how the hell do you push her to go faster? Is she on roller skates?

At our local Wal-Mart several years ago, a woman was hanging out, telling everyone who used s "courtesy cart" that their insurance would pay for them to have one of their very own.

She was run off after a few weeks when all the local dr's offices called, complaining that they were swamped with angry patients who didn't understand why their doctors said they didn't need their own fun cart when some random chick at Wal-Mart totally said they did.

Must have been working on commission, or as a fabulous real life troll.

/css

As a physician, I get Medicare wheelchair request forms all the time. There are a series of specific questions that need to be answered. How they are answered determines what DME is approved.

I had a patient who needed a regular wheelchair for 3 months present me with one of these forms, and I filled it out as such.

One week later, I get the form back with a note saying form was filled out incorrectly. I fill it out truthfully (the same way).

One week later, I get the form back with a note saying the patient has a power chair and could I fill it out again, this time highlighted with the responses that will get the power chair approved. I fill it out the same way.

Three days later, I get the form back (highlighted again) and a phone call to verify that I understand that the patient has been provided a power chair. I check the boxes the same way and hand write "This patient does not need a power wheelchair."


Folks, DME companies and home health agencies are soaking Medicare for billions. With a "B". Docs are so flooded with paperwork, many just have an assistant rubber stamp anything that comes in the door. Even if you sign, you are often getting forms 4-6 weeks after the fact, and you can't go back through every chart each time something needs signed, so you end up going off memory.

martid4: [www.fohguild.org image 600x375]

I want a t-shirt that says "I hate fat lazy farks"

SpaceyCat: Having had to use a mobility scooter (not powered) to get around after foot surgery (can't use crutches very often due to sternum problems), they suck ass, but they do serve a purpose. I was SOOOOO happy to be able to just walk around again once the foot healed up enough to tolerate it.

\getting up three flights of stairs after foot surgery was lots of fun
\\thankfully I was smart enough to wash the damn stairs before I scooted my ass back up the stairs

They have scooters you can kneel on that use your own power. I've seen it done after foot surgery.

SpaceyCat: They're called "knee-walkers". Basically a little scooter that has a handle bar w/brakes for steering and a small padded platform that you can put your knee on.

Oh, boy. Here comes a CSB...

My friend Carey is a cute, skinny little rock n' roller and local gadfly. She recently broke her ankle real good, causing it to swell up horribly and earning her the sobriquet "Cankey". After surgery, Cankey was hurting like mad and couldn't go anywhere or do anything. Her doctor gave her two options: crutches or the knee scooter. She picked the scooter, which is good because crutches suck (BTDT).

So now Cankey is scooting all over the place, hither and yon. A few nights ago she scooted on over to the local dive bar for some liquor and good times. Some douchebag in the bar proceeded to quietly post to Facebook that he saw some chick at the bar using a knee scooter rather than crutches like a "normal person" would. He wrote that Cankey was just an attention whore who should learn to blend in more.

As you can imagine, this being a small city, this douchebag's FB post went to this person and that, including one of Cankey's pals, who immediately held up her Android to show Cankey what they guy wrote.

Cankey, being no shrinking violet, scooted over to the guy and read him the Riot Act about mobility, pain, agony and freedom. The guy could only take it. She was right, and he was a douche. The moral of the Cankey story: being a douchebag on the Internet doesn't play real well in the real world.

/CSB.

moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

Fast-foodie

<b><a href="http://www.fark.com/comments/6985760/75477075#c75477075" target="_blank">Eatin' Queer Fetuses for Jesus</a>:</b> <i>halotosis: As a wheelchair user myself, I refuse to use a powered chair. I go for three to four mile laps in my chair around the lakes near my house for exercise. You have no idea how much upper body strength and endurance it takes. My fiancee often goes with me and jogs, we push each other to go faster. Just because I have a disability doesn't mean being lazy and out of shape. I'm constantly looking for new ways to keep active.

100% agree, power chairs should only be for those not capable of operating a manual chair.

I understand how she pushes you to go faster, but how the hell do you push her to go faster? Is she on roller skates?</i>

She doesn't push me, I don't even have handles on my chair. I HATE being pushed. But you give me idea's... I could attach a tow line to my chair and pull her along behind me like a water skier. This is going to end badly.

"They're motorized couches," said Dawn Etman, a nurse and program manager of the Florida Hospital Tampa rehab unit.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I agree - I have seen many people in these scooters that are just.. fat and lazy. I kinda wanna just, tip them over. (like a cow. o.O) but don't.

They only time I've used any motorized device is when I broke my tibia/fibula...I was on crutches, and when I went to the grocery store, they have those motorized shopping carts. I was SO happy to be able to use one. Walking around on crutches grocery shopping is hard work, and painful. Also, only had a 3 month handicap parking permit which was helpful, but I didn't always use it. All better now.
Weird thing was, one time exiting the store (while in said handicap parking space) I was approached by a man and his wife, and they talked about how nice it was to be able to park in said spaces. I agreed (I had my crutches, cast on leg) but when I looked at them they were..walking.. normally, and seemed normal. No idea what conditions they had but it seemed like it was something that really didn't require a permit. Oh well =\

SpaceyCat:
Pretty useful when you have a foot or lower leg injury.

I spent six months on crutches. I'd have laughed at your ass if I'd seen one of those.

halotosis: She doesn't push me, I don't even have handles on my chair. I HATE being pushed. But you give me idea's... I could attach a tow line to my chair and pull her along behind me like a water skier. This is going to end badly.

Yes, someone could wind up hurt, and end up in a wheelchair.

Make food costs scale with body fat %. All extra cost is added to national healthcare fund for problems caused by obesity. Problem solved.

/yes I know there are lots of problems with this

trippdogg: There's a reason they call them power chairs:

[www.redundancycom.com image 500x375]

/hot, like a dozen Popeye's biscuits and all the honey they'll give you

How do I know you didn't read the thread?

/Cold like real butter

Gonad the Ballbarian: [i2.photobucket.com image 450x641]

pffft! amateurs!

Try that in a gravel parking lot :)

/That would be funny

halotosis: <b><a href="http://www.fark.com/comments/6985760/75477075#c75477075" target="_blank">Eatin' Queer Fetuses for Jesus</a>:</b> <i>halotosis: As a wheelchair user myself, I refuse to use a powered chair. I go for three to four mile laps in my chair around the lakes near my house for exercise. You have no idea how much upper body strength and endurance it takes. My fiancee often goes with me and jogs, we push each other to go faster. Just because I have a disability doesn't mean being lazy and out of shape. I'm constantly looking for new ways to keep active.

100% agree, power chairs should only be for those not capable of operating a manual chair.

I understand how she pushes you to go faster, but how the hell do you push her to go faster? Is she on roller skates?</i>

She doesn't push me, I don't even have handles on my chair. I HATE being pushed. But you give me idea's... I could attach a tow line to my chair and pull her along behind me like a water skier. This is going to end badly.

Ha ha darn I shoulda put a ;) in my post so that you would know I was just playing with your words and trying to be funny. I think what you are doing currently is really badass, but if you did the tow-rope thing that would be epic. On a side note, have you ever tried adaptive skiing?

CSB time:

Mr Theologian survived a car accident years ago and he had various complications, like no frickin' rotator cuffs, compressed spine with stenosis, arthritis, and fibromyalgia. He did not want to use a scooter as he feared he'd grow dependent on it, but he reluctantly gave in. He called one place and they sent his doc the proper forms. A few days later, they told us that my doctor was more thorough in determining his need and filling out the form than any doctor they knew.

Eatin' Queer Fetuses for Jesus: moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

Fast-foodie

Glandular problem

chi_tino: Eatin' Queer Fetuses for Jesus: moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

Fast-foodie

Glandular problem

chi_tino: Eatin' Queer Fetuses for Jesus: moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

Fast-foodie

Glandular problem

Slow metabolism

MadTheologian: CSB time:

Mr Theologian survived a car accident years ago and he had various complications, like no frickin' rotator cuffs, compressed spine with stenosis, arthritis, and fibromyalgia. He did not want to use a scooter as he feared he'd grow dependent on it, but he reluctantly gave in. He called one place and they sent his doc the proper forms. A few days later, they told us that my doctor was more thorough in determining his need and filling out the form than any doctor they knew.

I enjoy stories of those that only use the tools they need only as long as they need. It seems to me they heal faster and become stronger for it. My fil isn't like that. He tore his rotator cuffs and sat for a year and got terribly out of shape. Suddenly he couldn't do anything and whined about doing anything. He not only started using the courtesy carts, he borrowed his mil's powerchair until the VA hooked him up with his own. I knew it was all in his head and told him so. It changed when he got a motorcycle. He loved it too much to take his truck that held his powerscooter. Which bikes require work to operate and when he arrived he was without his scooter and had to walk. He lost some weight and now he is in Texas without that stupid scooter. I hope he decides to give it to somone who does need one.

The trick is don't decide if some one is lazy on first sight. Watch them for awhile, the lazy ones will reveal themselves.

chi_tino: Eatin' Queer Fetuses for Jesus: moothemagiccow: orbister: Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: Marine1: BurnShrike: JohnAnnArbor: trivial use of my dark powers: Mattyb710: old_toole: The Onanist: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: oldfarthenry: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: God Is My Co-Pirate: Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: King Something: America sounds fat.

We're big boned.

Husky.

Jolly

Morbidly jovial (props to brap)

Rubenesque

Overtly plump

Portly

[img.photobucket.com image 200x436]

Over-inflated

A potential fuel source.

Drought and famine resistant

Sweaty, smelly fat f*ck.

Santa-esque

Burlesque performer

Gourmand

Fast-foodie

Glandular problem

Slow metabolism

Great personality

"The seven states - Florida, California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina and Texas - account for 43 percent of what Medicare spends each year on power wheelchairs and scooters. All told, this category has grown from $259 million in 1999 to $723 million in 2009."

This is how you make statistics lie. Yes, the 7 states listed probably make up about 43% of scooter spending for Medicare. They also make up about 43% of the population.

California- 12.11%
Texas 7.49%
New York 6.68%
Florida 5.76%
Illinois 4.38%
Michigan 3.51%
North Carolina 2.87%

42.8%

The Electoral College gives small states a distorted view of their size. If you add in Pennsylvania 4.31%, and Ohio 3.99%, 9 states have more than half the U.S. population. (These are 2001 census numbers, but it's a mix of states that are gaining and losing population, so the totals should be similar.) But it's scary that just 7 states account for 43% of scooter usage, even if that's there percentage of the population, so we'll use that number! When you throw in the fact that Florida is in there, a state that is a old age punch line in countless jokes, (although I haven't actually looked at their age spread) then the 43% may sound even kind of stingy.

I hurt myself at a concert. For three weeks, I had trouble moving if I stayed in place too long. My husband had to help me put myself out of the bed (it's a high bed, and I am short). He would hold me upright until I could get my muscles working. At work, if I got stuck behind a counter helping someone for even five minutes, I'd stiffen up and get really limpy. It hurt like hell, but I did it to myself. The only way to not suffer abjectly was to keep moving. I was like a machine that was rusting, rapidly.

About three days into the injury, we had to go to Target and I was moving so slowly that my husband asked if I wanted the motorized cart. I couldn't take it; after all, I didn't have a broken bone, nor had I had surgery. So he just put me on the front of the shopping cart like I was freight and wheeled me around. The cashier looked at us like he thought we were both high or escaped from the loony bin.

Not fat, though I may sound it. Definitely too old to do what I was doing.

My brother and I volunteer at our small hometowns summer festival. We have a yearly wager on these people (we each write down a number, closest wins). In our town of 200 we counted 38. Of course we were selling funnel cakes and Frito Pies, so we were in prime location to see our voluntary obese cyborg neighbors.

here to help: It's fat lazy f*cks like that who are making it a b*tch for me to get one.

/not fat
//just can't move around very well

I know what you mean. I am one of those fat farks, but I swore and be damned if I was ever going use one of those carts. Due to severe arthritis, I couldn't walk very far without stopping to take pressure off my knees. I knew where all the "hubby benches" were. Then damned if I didn't slip and fall and break my foot. I finally had to relent and use one of those.

It was the most humiliating day of my life. To this day I have to walk with a crutch. I have to use the cart occasionally, but I make it a point to go early in the morning, or late at night to minimze the humiliation.

The weight's coming off and I look to be getting new knees soon so maybe I can rejoin the ambulatory.