Mom got stuck in her chair tonight- need advice please

1Teresa

My mom hasnt been eating very well the last few days and has gotten real weak. She also has mets in her bones (spine, pelvis and hips). The Home Health people said she needed to get out of her hospital bed everyday, get dressed with panties and sit in her recliner. Today was not a good day though and mom wouldnt get out of her recliner or take pain meds all day and she was in bad pain too. Finally it got late and time to go to bed but mom couldnt stand. She tried and tried but couldnt. I braced her and make sure she doesnt fall, but mom weighs more then me and I cant lift her but her bones are very fragile and a cough can brake a rib so I dont want to put pressure on her to lift her either. My neighbor wasnt home and we were going to call the police but ended up calling my brother instead. My brother had to get out of bed, get dressed and drive across town. He lectured us both about how my mom needs to be in a home and I cannot take care of her because Im not strong enough (it is the same old broken record from him). I refuse to have my mom in a home but really need some advice about getting her up out of a chair, she is tooooo close to being bed ridden and neither of us want that to happen. Please advise..... can we get one of the chairs advertised on TV that lift up? Would medicare pay for that? Do we need a prescription? Are they any good? Would a home built platform under her reliner be enough? Thank you.

Noellesmom

call the doctor
You need to call your mom's doctor and explain the difficulties you are having. Please remember hospice is not just for a patient's final days - they are available well before that to help you care for your mom. Discuss the chair option.

It isn't necessary for either of you to get hurt in the process of caring for her.

Please call the doctor and consider getting hospice help.

geotina

Teresa:
I'm sorry for your troubles. Why is it that those who don't do the work are critical of those that do? Drives me crazy. In the future if mom needs nursing home care that you cannot provide, you will know it, you don't need someone telling you.

When the home nurse comes, have her train you on how to help mom get out of a chair. There are techniques they use and can show you.

As far as the lift up chair, a neighbor had one, and they really did help tremendously. They are not cheap and I really don't know if medicare will pay for one. Check around, is there anyplace you can rent one? That may be an option, renting one for a few weeks and see how it works before you make a big financial investment. A medical supply store should be able to tell you if they are available for rent either from them or another concern. You can rent about anything these days. Maybe a furniture rental store.

Take care - Tina

geotina

Quick Search:
I did a quick google search on lift chair rental and saw a few sites. One site selling chairs does say they will file your Medicare paperwork. From a quick read, it appears that Medicare will reimburse for the "lift portion" of the chair. This company says once you buy the chair, they will file all paperwork for reimbursement to you. From my take of it, Medicare doesn't pay for the whole chair, just the lift portion, if that makes any sense. There is a max amount. Medicare does require a prescription from my fast read of things. Before I buy, I would look to rent and a quick search shows they can be rented.

Anyway, spend a few minutes on the net and you will find the answers you desire.

Take care - Tina

1Teresa

geotina said:

Quick Search:
I did a quick google search on lift chair rental and saw a few sites. One site selling chairs does say they will file your Medicare paperwork. From a quick read, it appears that Medicare will reimburse for the "lift portion" of the chair. This company says once you buy the chair, they will file all paperwork for reimbursement to you. From my take of it, Medicare doesn't pay for the whole chair, just the lift portion, if that makes any sense. There is a max amount. Medicare does require a prescription from my fast read of things. Before I buy, I would look to rent and a quick search shows they can be rented.

Anyway, spend a few minutes on the net and you will find the answers you desire.

Take care - Tina

well surprise surprise!
I guess my brother didnt like being woken up last night!! He bought mom a lift chair today with his own money HA!! It really is making all the difference in the world! I would highly recomend one to anyone who has problems getting up because of being weak. The only problem with it is that I cant control how quickly or slowly it goes up and down. One time today it made mom feel sorta "air sick" she said when it was going up. But at least for now, it helps. We even moved out the hospital bed and put the new chair in it's place. Hopefully, at least for now, the recliner and her bed will do the trick for her. Home Health nurse and Occupational Therapist were here today and both of them liked it for her.

Noellesmom

1Teresa said:

well surprise surprise!
I guess my brother didnt like being woken up last night!! He bought mom a lift chair today with his own money HA!! It really is making all the difference in the world! I would highly recomend one to anyone who has problems getting up because of being weak. The only problem with it is that I cant control how quickly or slowly it goes up and down. One time today it made mom feel sorta "air sick" she said when it was going up. But at least for now, it helps. We even moved out the hospital bed and put the new chair in it's place. Hopefully, at least for now, the recliner and her bed will do the trick for her. Home Health nurse and Occupational Therapist were here today and both of them liked it for her.

Hooray!
Hmmmm....maybe waking your brother up during the middle of the night needs to happen more often!

That's just great news. Happy for you and your mom.