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Bob’s Wheelchair Blog

Our company president, Bob Gouy, has a unique perspective on seating and mobility issues, shaped by decades of experience helping clients, healthcare professionals and employees get the information they
need to make the best decisions.

Welcome to Bob’s Blog.

Nerves Pave the Path to Greatness

Guest blog by Ian Ruder, Consumer Advocate, Portland, OR. CELA (Continuing Education and Legislative Advocacy Conference)

Standing in the 100-year-old marble halls of Russell Senate Office Building at 8:45 a.m. waiting for Sen. Jeff Merkley's staff to open the giant wooden doors and let me in for my first meeting of the day, I thought I had everything under control.

It was my first time lobbying on Capitol Hill as a consumer advocate and considering the majestic setting and importance of what we were doing, I was somewhat surpised I wasn't nervous. But I'd memorized all my talking points about complex rehab, I knew what the hoped for "takeaways" were and if anything went wrong, my friend, Kevin, a whip-smart rep from United Seating and Mobility, had my back. I was ready.

Minutes later, inside the office with other constituents, the senator walked in and walked over to me. My mind went blank. I'm fairly sure that in between stuttering and awkwardly pausing I said something about complex rehab, durable medical equipment and what a pleasure it was to meet him. Honestly, I'm just glad there's no audio recording and that I look good in the photo the staff photographer took.

If you fast fowarded the tape of my day on Capitol Hill seven and half hours to our last of nine meetings with different representatives, staffers and senators you would see a different scene. No more stumbling. No more stuttering. All those talking points? Kevin and I had them down cold.

He'd talk about the need for a separate benefit then I'd tag in with details on how such a benefit resembled what had already been done with orthotics and prosthetics. He'd talk about how reimbursement cuts hurt complex rehab providers, then I'd tag in with an anecdote about the impact of reduced access. Back and forth we went, answering questions, hitting our points, and feeding off each other like two politicians making the Sunday morning TV rounds.

Despite the hectic schedule of running back and forth across the Capitol and navigating the maze-like buildings, we were both energized. There was something about seeing the looks of emerging recognition on the faces of the people we met with that was invigorating. In many cases the staffers had admittedly no knowledge of what complex rehab was before we met with them. Mere minutes later, most were asking questions enthusiastically and many expressing a desire to follow up or learn more.

Even the most cynical of the cynics couldn't have helped but come away optimistic about the future.

It wasn't until about 5 p.m. when Kevin and I sat down on a shady bench in front of the Capitol and looked down the shimmering water along the National Mall that it struck us; we were dead tired. We laughed, exchanged fist bumps and sat back thinking about all we had accomplished.

"So what do we do next?" I asked.