Below are images of the equipment that Ava uses on a regular basis. This equipment really helps maintain her health and keep her growth, breathing, etc. as normal as possible. It’s all about trying to provide Ava the best quality of life and growth that we can!
 Ava's Pantera Wheelchair made the biggest impact on her quality of life! Ultralight and easy to maneauver, highly recommended! |
 Avas Koala Powerchair - This chair is awesome! It raises and lowers, goes up to 5 mph, and last 20 miles on a charge. It lets Ava go places shes never been before - the zoo, school, the mall, etc - with full autonomy like a toddler! |
 Leg Braces - KAFOs (Knee Ankle Foot Orthotics) - Ava uses these for support while in her stander |
 Foot Braces - AFOs (Ankle Foot Orthotics) - Keeps Ava's Feet From Contracting Inwards |
 Rabbit Rolling Stander - Ava stands in this for 1-hour, twice per day, to keep her back & bones straight |
 |
 Cough Assist - The mask covers Avas nose and mouth, then forces air inwards to make her take a deep breath, quickly reversing and sucking the air out, forcing Ava to make a very strong cough to bring up phlegm. Ava needs this if she accidentally chokes on a drink or has a bad cold, since her chest muscles arent very strong. |
 Ava's Eurostyle Bathtub - With it's pommel, good back support and arm rests, this bathtub is GREAT for Ava. At three years old, she's STILL using it and loves to splash a bit and have fun. |
 Ava's scoliosis brace (TLSO) - Ava wears this back brace daily to help control the curvature in her spine. |
 Ava's Toilet Chair - This chair can be positioned over a toilet to hold Ava upright, or can be used standalone with an attached catchbasin. |
 Tumbleforms Sitter - This sitter is adjustable and allows Ava to recline while eating, playing games, watching shows, etc. |
 Adjustable tray table - This adjustable table is ALWAYS in use by Ava, for eating, playing, coloring, etc. Highly recommended! |
 Ava's nebulizer - Ava inhales a medicine named Albuterol daily to help keep her lungs clear. |
 Ava using her nebulizer as a baby. |
 Ava's MyGo Chair - This chair has been wonderful for Ava. It holds her steady while she eats or plays, it can be rolled around the house, and it raises or lowers using an easy foot pedal. Highly recommended also! |
 Ava's Wheelchair Van - A modified Ford E-150 with a Richo lift, we bought this van used after many fundraisers! We can now transport Ava and her Koala powerchair everywhere! |
Hack
1July 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Hi, my name is Angela, i am 19 years old and i have a 6 month old daughter who was just recently diagnosed with SMA, ( not sure what type she has yet) this website has been very helpful for me because i have no idea what kind of equipment i will need for her.. and now i know
I am very sorry about Ava by the way. she looks like a happy little girl! well just wanted to drop a line!
2August 29th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Hi there. I have a daughter who is 3 1/2 named Rayanna. I would like to know the name of the walker stander that you have on a youtube video. We returned from China one month ago where she received 6 cord blood stem cell treatments and she has improved tremendously. I hope that Ava recovered well from the RSV. Rayanna also had that at 2, along with Mono and strept back to back. The mono made the SMA progress tremendously. She crawled before then, and she doesn’t anymore. She loves the thought of standing and dancing and I think she would really enjoy one of those. my email is rochra@yahoo.com Thanks!
3November 22nd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
hallo liebe Ava ! Du bist ein süsses, tapferes Mädchen, ich wünsche Dir alles Gute für die Zukunft!
An Deine Mama: Ich habe im SMA Forum diese Seite angeklickt, wegen der Hilfsmittel. Unser Sohn Korbinian ist nun 1 Jahr alt und seit seinem 10. Monat ist die SMA ausgebrochen. (Wir wußten daß er erkranken wird) Mein erster Sohn starb vor 12 Jahren an SMA. Diesen Kommentar schreibe ich deshalb, weil mir bei den Bilder, der Tumbleforms Sitter aufgefallen ist. Den hat schon mein erster Sohn vor 14 Jahren gehabt, das Ding war einfach super und es hat mich nun sehr an meinen Sohn erinnert, als ich ihn hier wieder sah. Es wurde uns damals auch gesagt, der sei nun ganz neu aus den USA! Man sieht sich im Leben immer 2X – heißt es, auch wenn es nur ein “Ding” ist, scheinbar! liebe Grüße Gudrun
4February 13th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Hi, my name is Denica from Macedonia, I have a son diagnosed with SMA 2 for now. I also would like to know the name of the walker stander that you have on a youtube video, where can be foun, how much it costs and on what age Avva was able to use it for the first time or when is recomendable if you can tell me. From the video it seams like great way to move in the room independable but I’m not sure if my son can use it on the age of 1,5 year? Please write me on my e-mail. Thank you and god bless you Avva
5February 13th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
One more question from me. Can you write me the age when was Avva started to wear/use every each item of your equipment for our information, cause I’m sure its important to know on time when is the best time for any of this. I ask like this cause in my country there is no proper support for this kind of question, and we are pushing our doctors to prescribe something that we learn from internet, but not on their’s iniciative. That’s why I whant to know on time and do some effort. Thank you very much.