My husband HATES using his walker. He also likes to stick his cane in weird places. I have a bum knee at the moment and walking was painful this morning, trying to find the damned cane. This afternoon he found it and was walking into the kitchen with it, no walker, when he saw a toothpick on the floor, reached for it, and nose-dived onto the floor!
His glasses pushed so hard into his nose that he has a bright red bridge; I wouldn't be surprised if he has a black eye tomorrow. But meanwhile, there he was on the floor. I got him sitting up, and he felt fine; I SAW the fall so I know he didn't hit his skull. Fortunately our daughter came home as expected, in about ten minutes, and between us we stood him up, sat him down for dinner and he ate and went to bed with no further incident.
BUT NOW HE *MUST* USE HIS WALKER, DAMMIT!! NO MORE GRUMBLING!!
I wish we all had answers to how to make them use the walkers. I'm having problems because my husband chose not to use a cane or a walker to walk down a sloping walk at our home...He fell, I tried to help him up. He wouldn't help. Just let himself be DEAD WEIGHT. ooooh the urge to shout, "SEE! I TOLD YOU SO!! I TOLD YOU YOU"D FALL!!!" but, we don't...we just bless their hearts and try to get them up onto their feet. Wish "oopsie daisy" worked on older men!
He will NOT use a cane unless I hand it to him. It never IF he is going to fall...it's "when".
Vickie-- If he can't get up, you call 911. Imagine him trying to have you stand so he can use you to pull against to get up. Brace yourself. Now, put yourself on crutches. <lol> You don't imagine...you do what you have to.
I am sure that there are places that teach caregivers how to properly get a fallen person up from the floor without hurting themselves. Any ideas? I hurt myself trying to get my DH up from a fall. Can't do that anymore.
Yes, Carosi, I carry my cellphone with me at all times. He did fall one when he and our Shih Tzu were attacked by a german shepherd. Fortunately, I saw him and ran to him (outside) and I don't know how - but I did get him up and sent him in the house - then had to tackle the german shepherd to get our Millie freed! It was horrible. After 10 days at the vet, Millie came home and is now okay. It did set my Dh back some - he kept re-living the event. Guess that old adrenelin starts working overtime in emergency situations. I think I remember you are on crutches?? Oh my....God love you.
The PT at therapy practiced with dh on how to get up from the floor and it is the only way I can get him up. They told him to roll over and get to his hands and knees and put a hand on the bed or a straight chair and climb up. Now that takes a good deal of strength on both our parts. He has managed it a couple of times and I get the "belt I mentioned earlier" and put it around his waist to help with some of his weight. I can do nothing by holding to his body. If they are outside, chances are there will not be a chair. I hope I will have my cell phone on my body at all times. He weighs 169. My Mother only weighted 80# at last and it was harder to get her up then him. They are both pretty dead weight.
The PT gave you good information. I am the one with back and knee problems and have trouble getting up. Outside the house is more difficult but you can use trees, signs, car doors, lawn furniture. The belt is good but for me, I don't think I could tell my DW how to do it. I use a cane or walker outside but nothing in the house. My fears are if I break something. We got a lot of good suggestions on my recent thread "What if I fall!!!"' Bill E
No one has mentioned they use them but does anyone use the belts like they do in nursing homes? My sister used them for our mom and her husband - they wore them all the time whether they liked it or not.. Course, they had senile dementia, not violent like many of your spouses are. My sister told her husband early on, before what I believe was VaD, that either he wear the belt or would have to go to a nursing home. He loved the VA nursing home but not that much.
He was 6'4" and about 190 lbs and stiff as a board and dead weight all the time - my sister was 5'5" about 225 lbs. She built up a lot of upper body strength. It has been a year and she has lost it and wonders how she ever did it.
If you don't use them I urge to get them. They can be invaluable aides.
The only time she couldn't get him up was when he fell on the floor - since we were here to help my hb would go in and it would take all three of us to get him up.
If you look around the nursing home you should see many residents with them on. They are white and remind of wide belt version of what sailors wear. They can probably be bought at a medical supply place or online.
Yes, you can buy them at a Medical Supply Store. I am not sure what kind of one you would wear. I used it around my Mom to hold her into her wheelchair. I also use it to help them up when they fall. I just put it around them at the underarms, fasten it and pull (like you would pull on a dog collar to restrain a dog) They are about 3" wide and really heavy fabric. Yes, I would recommend one.
Ah HA! The nurses used something like that when DH fell and broke his hip a year ago. They held on to it when they had him walking in the halls. I never thought about it being something that would help get them up if they fell down, though. I need one of those portable tools I've seen in auto repair shops that they use to lift engines out of cars. I could put the belt around his waist, hook the hoist to it, and crank, crank, crank him up. Might look odd, but if it works, why not.
I know that I cannot keep lifting him, and helping him get up out of his chair, etc. He's just dead weight when I'm lifting. He doesn't help at all. But you all know how that is... I'm happy to know about "GAIT BELTS". (and I'm not buying a hoist).
You would be surprised at how much easier it makes it, even with dead weight. My sister would move him from bed to the walker (it was easier to sit him on the walker and push him around the house than a wheel chair) to take him to the bathroom, to eat, even set him in the shower. Towards the end he had little strength and she used her bent knees to push his legs to get him onto the bed.
I have been thinking about the "falling business". I think, most of us, should not make much of an attempt to get them up, if they are not able to help themself. All we need is for we caregivers to throw out back out, break something or whatever, then there would be two patients. When my Mother was in late stage and unable to help herself ANY, occasionally she would just pass out at the dining room table. I could no way get her to the bed and my dh and myself would ease her down to the floor on a blanket and pillow then I would call a friend to help carry her into her bed. And she weighed less than 80# at that point. A 80 some friend of mine tried to help her 90 year old dh up by herself and fell over him and broke her leg. Maybe it would be a good idea for us to get a "plan of action" to use when the situation arrises. Also, I highly recommend buying a gait belt.
Also, I about gave up on the "walker and or cane business". Unless they are completely dependent on it and dedicated to using them I could never figure out a way to make them. Frustrating.....
He's okay this morning. His nose doesn't even look as bad and there doesn't seem to be any sign of even a black eye, nor is he sore. As I said in the other thread, I don't know how I'd use the gait belt once he was down flat on the floor, even if he had it on. He doesn't generally need me to walk along holding it; this is the FIRST TIME he's ever fallen and seems quite stable on his feet if he has something to hold onto. I THINK he did catch on (for the moment) that he shouldn't go picking something up off the floor. He's shorter than I am now, weighs maybe 130 (to my 180) so it's more a question of dead weight. But he can't KNEEL; his bad leg is essentially extended at all times. The way they tell you to get up from a fall is the way I get up from whatever I am doing on the floor. I tried to get him to do that but he basically can't.
If my daughter hadn't been home I'd have called a neighbor sooner than 911, I think - I don't think our guys would just help him get up, they'd take him in, which is what I do not want! So we picked him up under his arms, one on each side, and got him up far enough to sit on a stable chair. From then on he was ok.
I think that if it's possible to bring a kitchen chair to them, and we hold the stair steady, sometime they can pull up on it,...at least most of the way. I haven't tried that, but looking around the room and thinking....that just makes sense. OR, maybe an ottoman...Oh me oh my!
briegull, call your local paramedics on their non-emergency number and ASK if they would come and help someone who was down on the floor and who couldn't get up on their own or with the available family help. I think you would be surprised.
Also, I've called the paramedics on myself three times. And in each of those times they didn't make the decision to take me to the hospital until after they arrived. I don't think they were really convinced the first time until I passed out on them <grin>. I literally didn't come to until I was "talking" to the doctor in emergency and I spent 4 days in the hospital. But it isn't a given that if you call for help that they will automatically head for the hospital with the patient.
I have bad knees myself, and the description of how to get up is how a physical therapist taught me as well. Except he used a pillow under my knees to deal with the pain. If I know I'm going down, I get a pillow. Of course if I end up on the floor pillows aren't available. Mostly I make it up anyway by scooting over to something solid to use to help me heave myself up.
I was trying to talk him into scooting to the stairs on his behind, then lifting himself up one stair step, then another. That's what I did on the island one time when I broke my ankle and couldn't go into shore to get it set until the next day - bed was upstairs. I fortified myself with brandy and made it! But he said it hurt his hands. That was his sole contribution to the dilemma!
I agree that when there is no one to help, best alternative is a pillow and blanket. If they can roll onto their side I would even consider a blanket on the floor under them especially in the winter.
My sister is unstable and has a service dog (portugese water dog). If (when) she falls, she can lean on the dog to help get up. One time she fell in a snowbank and did not have the dog with her. She had her cell phone so called me. Our 2 daughters got her up, uninjured.
As I've gotten older, getting up has gotten harder. Tricks I've learned.
Once landing has been accomplished and determination of damage completed, get all extraneous apparatus out of the way. Proceed in whatever manner possible, (army belly crawl if necessary) to nearest solid piece of furniture. Verify that it is in an immovable position (wedged in corner, someone bracing, nailed to the floor, whatever). Roll and rise to hands and knees, and as quickly as possible get close enough to rest some of your weight on the piece of furniture. Get one foot up and under you. Grab the furniture and while pushing to raise yourself with the foot, pull and/or push as needed with your arms to get up, bringing the oter foot under you as quickly as possible. If at that point your feet are under you but your upperbody is still low on the furniture, work your arms free and shift them to the arms of the chair or some other slightly higher thing and wlk your bodyt up. If there is someone to help with this process they can help by helping "pull up" (lift at the hips) when getting your feet under you, and/or pulling up or back on your shoulder as you're lifting the upper body. It was lots easier when I was younger, lighter, and more flexible.<lol>
Personally, when there's no one to help, my Lift chair works great at helping. Use the controller to get the lift help..