ALS News Today Forums Forums Living With ALS Help with difficult transfers

  • Help with difficult transfers

    Posted by nina on May 29, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    I have limbic ALS and have lost almost all use of my legs. Now I’m losing abdominal strength. My husband has been helping me with transfers but some of them are getting very difficult. He’s 72 with a bad back. I wonder how other caretakers and pALS have dealt with this. Hoyer lift? More time in bed? Any other ideas?

    mary-jo-peterson replied 2 years, 8 months ago 4 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • preekers

    Member
    June 22, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    Hello Nina! For transfers, I have a Hoyer lift but we have not used it yet though have been trained. If you have some function, you may want to try a transfer belt— perhaps your husband can put it around your waist, hold on to it, lift you up a bit then pivot to transfer you. Easier than it sounds but best to be trained by a PT. Bought my transfer belt on Amazon.

  • nina

    Member
    June 23, 2021 at 7:50 am

    Thank you Patty. It sounds like you are in the same place I am. We have a Hoyer lift but we don’t use it because it’s kind of scary. We also have a transfer belt which we should be using. We do use a sliding board for one of our transfers. In the meantime we are trying to refine our positioning and technique and see if we can continue transferring as we are.

  • jim-knepp

    Member
    June 24, 2021 at 3:04 pm

    Please have someone show you how to use the Hoyer lift. I was an elder lawyer for 2 weeks shy of 40 years when our common disease forced me to retire. I saw many instances where the caregiver spouse harmed him or herself taking care of the invalid spouse. I had a simple question that I would ask. Who is going to take care of Nina when Nina’s Husband injures or kills himself while taking care of Nina. We have and use, when appropriate, a transfer belt and Hoyer lift. We also have a ceiling mounted SureHands lift which transfers me to and from our bed to and from my power wheelchair.

  • nina

    Member
    June 25, 2021 at 3:42 pm

    Dear Jim, thank you so much for your advice about transfers even though it is difficult to realize there are no easy answers. The time may have come for me to start using mechanical devices. It’s hard to accept. I’m not ready!

  • mary-jo-peterson

    Member
    July 14, 2021 at 9:51 am

    Nina, Sorry for the late post on this subject. I too wanted to avoid using equipment as long as possible. We used a sit-to-stand lift for about a year until my arms could no longer hold me up. We transitioned to the hoyer a few months ago, with great hesitation, but in the end, it works really well for both me and my caregivers. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

  • len-jax

    Member
    July 16, 2021 at 7:48 am

    Hi Nina – I can still do transfers myself but anticipate that I won’t be able to for much longer.  I live in the St. Louis MO area and two years ago I researched sit to stand and Hoyer type mechanical lifts in the area to plan for the inevitable.  I found a company called Handicare that has some awesome equipment and a showroom here.  You can make an appointment to try out all of their equipment in the showroom.

    I spent 3 hours there and tried out sit to stand lifts (powered and manual), ceiling lifts with different slings, floor lifts and lots of other things.  They have several sit to stand models that are powered and use a sling or belt if you need it.  The videos show you how they are used.  They also have several powered floor lifts that were excellent, well made and completely safe.  I have used a Hoyer lift and felt unsafe and glad it was over. (I am sure one would get used to the Hoyer also but the Handicare was great) My wife also felt very comfortable using the Handicare lift.

    They are manufactured here and also have many sling models that are better than most.  I believe they have dealers in other areas of the US and probably showrooms also.  Here is the link to their site:

    https://www.handicareusa.com/product-category/institutional/floor-lifts-institutional/sit-to-stand-lifts-institutional/

    Good luck on your quest!  I agree with Jim, take care of your husband – he is your lifeline!

    Kindest Regards

    Len

Log in to reply.