Tumble Form 2 vs. Special Tomato Soft Touch Sitter

So I poured over the decision to pay out of pocket and try the special tomato seat over just dealing with the Tumble Form floors sitter I already own that was provided though Early Steps for my son for several months. There are 3 main reasons for my decision to change seats. 1. The harness in the Tumble Form is HORRIBLE 2. It was heavy and I hated moving it from room to room and I thought the base with the wheels was pretty nice on the special tomato. 3. The tumble form cover is very sensitive...our chair being less than a year old  already has a rip in the base.

There is a great link from adaptive mall that tells you the difference between the 2 seats HERE.

I like that the Special Tomato has a 5 year warranty. The harness is honestly what sold me. Our issue with the tumble form was the straps cutting into my son's neck and him leaning to the left no matter how tight I made it. There is slightly more side support in the special tomato seat, but he still leans but not as bad. I LOVE the harness. It does not cut into his neck anymore. He does not hang to the side and with the new crotch strap he can not arch and make himself slip down in the seat. I have found him on several occasions in the tumble form seat where 1. someone did not put the lap belt on at all or 2. It was not tight enough and he had manage to slouch out of the seat to the point that the clip that goes on his chest was under his neck. Also from the arching the straps were leaving a constant bruise or rub marks on his hip bones from the pressure of his arching or the tightening of the straps. He had bruises were the buckle was as well.

I spent $440 out of pocket for the chair I bought my son...$100 more for wheels on the base, which is crazy..There is 2 vertical screw holes on the base and you have to add the wheels yourself when it arrives in the mail...probably could find some at the hardware store cheaper.

Tumble Form 2 Floor Sitter

Special Tomato Soft Touch Sitter

The holes in the seat are in the same spots minus the special tomato having a 5th hole at the bottom for the crotch piece by the leg abductor making it 5 point. Hmm outside of my love for the wheels on the new base, I probably would have been just as happy ordering the harness for $29.99 from adaptive mall for the special tomato and putting it on the Tumble Form. I do believe it will work perfect! The only difference is you would have to take of the crotch strap piece off which is removable. I like that the belt is thinner personally and that the harness is padded. Seems like we get a more secure fit. The Special Tomato chair also has 2 extra straps attached that you can attach to a chair like a booster seat at a table..this is nice, but I honestly was able to do the same thing with the tumble form. I just unhooked the back strap and weaved it though the back of the chair before I tightened it down.

Love the seat..not really happy his feet hang. My children enjoy pushing him around and the seat is softer and you can squish it with you hand compared to how firm the old seat is. I still have issues with the strap across his legs causing red areas so we pad it with a cloth diaper now. This was the 1st time he sat in the new chair

The old seat. He was sitting pretty good on this day, but usually he leans to the side. The chest strap piece moves up and down and does not allow a tight fit to keep him sitting strait up. Like I said I think the special tomato harness will work on the tumble form seat if anyone else has the same issue and it would be a much cheaper solution that buying a new chair. I just HAD to have the base with the wheels though LOL

Jacob's 1st day of school and bus ride

Well, Jacob actually started school 2 weeks ago...naturally he slept through it.



Jacob's 1st day of school at Achievement Academy 8/6/12

Jacob's 1st wheel chair lift and bus ride 8/20/12...still sleeping

Jacob's brother joined him at his school on 8/10/12...doesn't he look thrilled?

Jacob's NEW CHAIR came in 8/14/12 LOVE this chair. The harness is so much better. like that it has a crotch strap so he can't arch in it as easily or slide down. It is softer and not as hard. Best of all it has WHEELS on the base! We bought this at adaptivemall.com  He also got new glasses...still don't see a difference in his vision.

Jacob leans to the left almost all the time. Drives me NUTS we go this Thursday to Shriner's to see if his spine is the issue.

3 years old and school is starting soon!

I can't believe both my baby boys are 3 years old already and they will both be going to ESE preschool. Jacob is going to a special charter school that I am super excited about. He starts MONDAY!!! We go for his orientation tomorrow. He is getting yet another new pair of glasses that will hopefully stay on his face and help him see. He is doing great since the surgery. He was 1 red area that has recently shown up in the middle of his incision that I am watching. He looks healthier over all...not so sickly and dehydrated. You can tell he is gaining weight when you pick him up. He is a heavy little boy! I am looking for info on how to get him on the waiting list for the state Medicaid waiver program. I hear the list is years long. The long awaited dynasplints he has been waiting on for his legs have so far been a huge disappointment. Night number 2 THEY TORE HIS LEGS UP!!!! So now we wait for them to come out with new padding. They are nothing like expected and $2800 a pair is crazy for what they are. They still allow his legs to bend, but apparently give tention to encourage him to keep them strait. I thought they would force a good stretch. Hopefully they will work, but right now I am really disappointed. The night they left his legs scabbed I made sure I could fit my fingers under the straps and that they were not to tight, but I guess the pressure of him bending his legs all night did it. I am adding pictures at the bottom but I am posting from my phone and have jo clue what order they will end up. I will post again on his 1st day of school.

Nissen Fundoplication

Way behind on posting! Jacob had his Nissen Fundoplication done on July 5th. He did WONDERFUL. He went back around 7:30 am and did not get out of recovery and into his room until around 12:30. The 1st days was the worst. He was crying a lot and was not allowed to eat. We think he was having some withdrawals from being off a few of his medications that could not be given IV. They gave Valium to help with that. Day 2 he was back to his normal self for the most part. He did not require anymore pain meds by day 3 and we left the hospital on day 5. He still has his gaging and dry heaving episodes, but NO VOMIT! He is already gaining weight. He is 30lbs now! This big boy will be 3 years old tomorrow (July 18th) Jacob seen the nurse practitioner today and they released him to go back to normal Jacob activities including full baths. :-)

Day of surgery just out of recovery

Day 2 watching TV

Day 2 He earned diaper hand after knocking his IV out. Smiling for Mickey Mouse Club House now

The day we left he hospital. We switched the long tube back out to his AMT Mini One

Riding home from the hospital

I've been a little crafty lately. We made a new head rest for Jacob's Seat2Go with the help of Jack's aunt. She has co workers the work metal.  I also made him and a friend a weighted blanket. These are his birthday gifts and of course he will get another Mickey Mouse DVD

The head rest that was custom made for us

The new improved head rest in Mickey Fabric and the old one is the blue 1 above it He was constantly getting his head around the old one

The weighted blanket I made Jacob

The weighted blanket I made for a friend

Surgery Date

Jacob is having a nissen/fundo July 5th. I worried, but can't wait for it to be done and over with. I am praying for exceptional results!

Drive Medical Seat2Go Small Vs. medium

For anyone out there like me that searches all over the Internet trying to find the best product for their child and are unsure of sizing I though I would take pictures of the 2 sizes of the Seat2Go while I have the chance. I recently bought the small size for my son who is 39inches and around 29lbs. As previous post show he was just about to tall for the small. So, I searched the Internet and found a medium NEW for 1/2 the price on Ebay. I was surprised how much wider the seat it, but not as tall as I thought it would be.

I also notice on the small older seat there is 2 straps that secure it to the chair 1 on the bottom 1 on the back. The bigger seat only has 1 on the back. The bigger size with the wider base looks like it could be a better floor sitter than the small. My son being a little top heavy in it was able to make himself fall sideways unless I tucked him into the corner of the sectional on the floor.

Sizing: The Small Seat2Go measures 8" inside WIDTH x 9" inside DEPTH x 12" inside HEIGHT, while the Medium Seat2Go is 12" inside WIDTH x 12" inside DEPTH x 14" inside HEIGHT. 



The new seat

Every brace he has except for thumb splints We were working on long sitting and stretching leg muscles

Taking a dip in Jacob's pool

He got really mad when brother and sister splashed him going down the slide

Moving Forward

I am loving getting to stay home with my baby boy now. It has been a month since I worked and his baby sister turned 1 month old yesterday! We have been dealing with all the government paper work over the past month. Prior to me not working, we qualified for no help with Jacob due to income. As I have ranted before I don't expect the government to support my child, but with high health care costs unless you have a high income it is nearly impossible to cover the co-pays and procedures!

The great thing now is Jacob does qualify to get his SSI back as of June 1st. We had to fill out all the paper work again to have him deemed disable again since it has been more than a year since we qualified. He was approved in less than a month PRAISE GOD! The biggest part of him getting his SSI back was to get his medicaid back to help cover his costs. He is covered under my husband's private health insurance and now medicaid will cover 2nd!!!! It was nice not having to pay $150 to pick up his prescriptions the other day. Best yet, all the procedures he had done in May are COVERED as well. They started his medicaid from May 1 instead of June 1st!

We have an appointment next week with a surgeon to move forward with Jacob getting his fundoplication. Not sure when it will be done. We have been holding off on getting it done for so long because we could not afford the cost of having it done. I look forward to the day I don't have to worry about him vomiting every day and worrying about his lungs. On this note not sure if I mention the results of his test. We were told that the Ph Probe study indicated he did need the Fundo. The gastric emptying study on the other hand came back normal according to the nurse even though the tech told my husband he faild the 1st hour and nearly failed the 2nd. His GI doctor has been out of the country so hopefully we will be able to tell me more about this later. They are not going to refill his E.S.S which DOES make him vomit less...

We had his IEP for his new school this past week. We met with his teacher and the physical therapist at the new school. I pray things start to click with him there. He will have constant stimulation from 9am-2pm Monday through Friday. Then we will start getting him out patient therapies since he will no longer have any early intervention services after July 17th.

I ordered him the next size up in the Seat2go. It should be here on Monday. I am hoping I am not wasting my money and he fits better in this one better!!!