As a casualty of the downturn in the economy, my wife and I find ourselves moving out of our home into a “pre-fabbed” home. That’s just a nice way to say trailer home. We’ve picked the place out and it’s in a very nice “neighborhood.” We’ll be moving in next week. But here’s the catch. It doesn’t have a wheelchair ramp for my power scooter.

With my knee so bad and my legs so weak, I can’t get up and down those stairs every day. So I need some help building a wheelchair ramp. Does anyone know where I might find plans to add a wheelchair ramp to a “pre-fabbed” home with a porch? Any help would be very greatly appreciated.

I had a check up with my physician last week. I like her a lot. She’s a good doctor and has always seemed to take my best interests to heart. As a routine part of the check up, we got discussing my eating habits. Now I’m no nutrition fanatic, but I’ve always tried to eat pretty healthy. I like vegetables and consider my diet pretty balanced.

But then the topic of diet soda came up. I always thought I was making a better choice by going with the diet soda. But my doctor advised me to give it up‹not to pick up sugar soda in its place, but to drink more water. She said for me particularly, she’s worried about kidney stones and said there’s pretty strong evidence that ties diet sodas with caffeine to kidney stones.

Three years ago, diabetic neuropathy took my feet. It was horrible and traumatic. I’m still suffering in many ways.

After my surgery, I was able to receive a power wheelchair through my medicare benefits. It wasn’t free, but I can tell you that I never could have afforded it without the help from medicare. I believe medicare paid 80% of the cost.

Because of that medicare benefit, I have been able to still get around and maintain a little independence.

But I’ve been reading a lot about the mess that our elected officials have made of medicare. What if my granddaughter someday faces a challenge like mine? Where will the funds come from for her power wheelchair? Or for her medications? Or prosthetic?

It’s not right. There will be no funds for future generations. The system will be bankrupt. So many of those who are working today are paying into medicare and they’ll never be able to benefit from it.