Went to the Rehab Hospital to-day for my 6 month appointment with my FES. l have not been using it much as l find it such a fiddle to put on and the ‘wires’ a nuisance. lt prevents me from wearing some of my favourite things.
So l went with the intention of handing it back - but the lovely physio fitted me with a newer type that uses better electrodes and it has a ‘blue-tooth’ foot switch - so no wire running up the leg.
lt is such a better design altogether. So here l am walking around the kitchen with no rollator - feeling more confidant.
Am l now wired for sound!
brilliant result.
I am a lot happier with the wireless kit. It was always a gamble trying to reconnect the wire after I went over a door frame.
I am pleased for your new found freedom.
Mick
I agree with your post.
The New FES Linq is fantastic.
Although I have just had to fit a new battery to the footswitch and had to sync the whole bluetooth again! This was annoying as in middle of town and had no idea how to re set it.
Not sure if its just mine or not. Would be interested to hear others views.
My Odstock wireless footswitch broke. They wanted about £300 for a new one. I decided not to bother. I’m OK with the wires. Better than no FES. And for the small amount of walking I can do, it’s no great hardship to suffer wires. At least I’m still staggering up and down the kitchen a few times a day. I’m determined to keep up just a tiny little bit of walking ability.
Sue
I tried to get a wireless FES, but whoever pays for it (the CCG I think) wouldn’t stump up the cash, so I have the wired version - which I agree, is really fiddly.
I like the look of the Linq, I was considering upgrading myself (I’m still getting used to the FES, so I’m not sure whether I’m sticking with it or not at the moment, crunch time for that decision is my next appointment at the end of June).
While I remember, as I did mean to post but keep forgetting - my last batch of electrodes practically fell to bits within a couple of days - did I just get a bad batch, or are they really not that robust? They’re the blue PALS ones (I’ve reordered them off Amazon for this once, I thought it was probably the quickest way to get some new ones)
Don’t your CCG pay for your electrodes? I thought if they paid for FES, then everything would be covered.
Admittedly, mine won’t pay for FES at all. But at least what I pay to Odstock covers electrodes, wires, all other peripherals. The expensive bit was just the first year, now I pay just £300 per year, which seems worth it to me.
Sue
They do, but I wanted the electrodes asap, and they were less than £20, so I just went for it - unbelievably, I got through two pairs of electrodes in 5 days, changed them thinking I had at least eight weeks (so plenty of time before see FES physio next), and then was out of them less than a week later.
My FES physio isn’t local (she does local clinics, but only once a week), so she’d have ended up posting them or I’d have had to wait till Thursday - it’s a lesson learnt, Sue, I’m not going to get so low on them again.
Jo x
Not sure how helpful this is likely to be, but you can order all FES products direct from Odstock in Salisbury. A phone call to explain the order is urgent usually generates a fast response.
http://odstockmedical.com/how-to-order