My husband is able to ambulate. Problem is he is unable to follow directions to get up out of his chair to walk. The aides have to just about drag him up out of a chair to get him moving. My fear is that either my husband or one of the aides will be injured in the process. Any suggestions? He is at stage 6-7. Hasn't known me for quite a while. This is so heartbreaking.
I don't see the point of getting him up to walk. I think you should do what makes him most comfortable.
When he first went to the NH, we were walking my husband, but he was so unsteady and he kept stepping all over his own feet, we just gave up. Now, when they get him up in a chair, he lops to one side, and grimaces and is so stiff that I've asked them to just leave him in bed most of the time, because that's where he seems most comfortable.
Thankyou all for your suggestions. Bill is still so physically healthy that I feel he needs exercise and some weight bearing. Being upright and weight bearing fosters balance and muscle tone. I'm just not ready to see him become a complete vegetable. He's lost so much already.
bluedaze, do you have the chair that tilts forward to help people get up out of their chairs? My uncle (he didn't have AD, but was in his 90s and weak - could walk, but getting out of the chair by himself was almost impossible without this chair) loved his chair and it kept him up and going for years.
Maybe you could get a physcial therapist to work with your husband? Another thought -do the aids use one of those belts? I don't know the technical name, but physical therapists use them to help lift and guide patients who have trouble ambulating. They are thick webbing belts that go around the patients middle.
My husband in Stage 6-7 also was having a very hard time walking. He has been in a NH since May of 2007. He was wandering everywhere, but, then in Sept. 07, he got his feet tangled while getting up out of a chair, fell and broke his hip. After the surgery, he went downhill very fast. The anesthesia really did him in for about 6 mos... Well, he is starting to smile and trying to say some words again, but, he is not walking. He has been in a wheelchair since Sept. 07. We tried physical therapy for 4 months, but, it did not work, because his brain and his body were just not communicating. My husband was also very physically fit. Jogged about 4-5 miles each day and lifted weights, but, with this disease, there comes a time when they lose the ability to walk. He is now a two person transfer and they use the Hoyer lift on him. They do a really good job of transferring him in and out of the bed and into his wheelchair. The CNA's do this about 6 times a day, so, he does not stay in the same position all day long. The belt that was being referred to in one of the posts is a Gait Belt, it goes around their waist. All the CNA's at the NH are required to have one on them at all times for transfers. They used this for a while on my husband, but, then he got to where he no longer would try to stand. When they tried to get him out of a chair, etc,. he would just try to sit down and not straighten up and it made it hard on the CNA's.
This is a very terrible disease and it seems we are always having to make choices that we really do not want to make. To see my husband continually lose his functions has been so heartbreaking for me, but, I just try to do the very best I can under the circumstances.
I have 2 of those gait belts. One longer than the other and I used them for my Mother to keep her in her wheelchair and bed. She wanted and tried to get up but could no longer stand. The aide also used one to fasten her to her bath chair after she was too unstable to keep herself steady.
I keep the small one handy and I have used it to help my DR up from the floor when he has fallen. It is much easier to help them move with one of the belts. lmohr
Bluedaze, the motorized chairs that lift are amazing. my dad had one and DH loved to sit in it and work the remote up/down/ it raises them up to a standing position from sitting or lying. you may need one of these now. plus the belt thing.i now i wont hesitate to get one when i need it. divvi
My Dad had a lift chair and it really helped. Also the grandchildren loved it. Every time they caught grandpa out of it, they would raise each other up and dump them out and laugh their heads off. Great entertainment if you have little ones around. :-)
I know a lot of time has passed but many of you stated you had used with success the lift chairs for your loved ones. Did you use the ones where the chair lifts completely or the one with the cushion only?
We used the kind that the whole chair lifted up and forward till the person in the chair was standing. Charlie loved it for a short while but after he got to the point that he could not work the remote, he was afraid of it. He got it tipped back one time and couldn't work the remote to get up. He apparently felt that he was trapped in it and tried to climb out over the side. He would never sit in it again. But, while he was able to use it, it was great.